Catcher In The Rye Critique

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J.D. Salinger. It is narrated by Holden Caulfield, a cynical teenager who recently got expelled from his fourth school. Though Holden is the narrator and main character of the story, the focus of Salinger’s tale is not on Caulfield, but of the world in which we live. The Catcher in the Rye is an insatiable account of the realities we face daily seen through the eyes of a bright young man whose visions of the world are painfully truthful, if not a bit jaded. Salinger’s book is a must-read because its relatable symbolism draws on the reader’s emotions and can easily keep the attention of anyone.

“I swear to God I’m a madman” (149) Holden Caulfield says, revealing the wicked nature of J.D Salinger’s 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye. The book follows 16 year old Holden Caulfield in his days spent alone on the streets of New York City after getting kicked out of prep school. During this time Holden goes on an alcoholic rampage, fueled by hate and filled with anger towards anything he sees as phony. The book has been the cause of major controversy since its release, with schools across the country banning it from the realms of teaching for decades. Now, it is read in many high school literature classes because of its alleged similarity to the way teenagers think. The Catcher in the Rye should not be taught to young, impressionable teenagers in public schools because of its rampant profanity, glorification of alcohol and tobacco use, and narration by a mentally ill, generally horrible person.

Holden is quick to judge people before he even knows anything about them. Holden after leaving Pencey is staying at a hotel. He has nothing to do and no one to call so he goes down to the lobby. When he gets down there he sees a group of people and says to himself, "except for a few Pimpey-looking guys and a few whory blondes"(77). Holden is

In the course of the story, Holden is suspended between adulthood and childhood. Several of his actions and words show evidence of his confusion between adults and children. Admitting to his immaturity, Holden says, “I was sixteen then, and I’m seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I’m about thirteen.” (p. 9) Sunny, the prostitute is an example of Holden’s attempt to be an adult, but realizing he is stuck in childhood. Another example is when he asks his cab driver where the ducks in Central Park go during the Winter when the ice is

“You'll have to jump.' 'I'll jump.' 'Jump!' Major Danby cried. Yossarian jumped. Nately's whore was hiding just outside the door. The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off” (Heller 350). Yossarian ends his dialogue in a cheery and fun way because he is finally going to be free from the oppression of the US military. This also shows his increased morals, because in the beginning, he would have just killed the girl for trying to kill him. He also uses arrangement to show America at the time like, “ Heller's satirical masterpiece tells us something about the madness of America” (Pilger, John). This shows how the novel portrays the insanity of the war at this time and how these people need help or to get out. The main part of the novel is just the insane adventures Yossarian goes on throughout his horrifying experience.

Although he is reasonably cynical towards people who are conspicuously phony, such as Marty who overtly lies about catching a glimpse of a movie star, his negativity and scathing criticism of others often extends beyond the realm of reason. When discussing fighting, he says, “I can’t stand looking at the other guy’s face, is my trouble. It wouldn’t be so bad if you could be blindfolded or something” (117). Holden’s negativity is so extensive that it even drives him to irrationally resent the face of another man who is challenging him. This testifies to Holden’s struggle with an unusually cynical outlook. Moreover, he resists the formation of intimate relationships with others, finding flaws too great to ignore in every acquaintance. His history teacher at Pencey, Mr. Spencer, wants to understand Holden’s refusal to do schoolwork. He is sorry that he has to fail Holden and reaches out to him, trying to connect with him on a personal level and influence him for the better. However, Holden dismisses him as senile, phony and pathetic and refuses to engage Mr. Spencer. When he wakes up to Mr. Antolini creepily patting him on the forehead, Holden reveals that similar “perverty” stuff happened to him as a child several times. Thus, he clearly struggles with a natural trust deficit with everyone he meets, which explains his insecurity and the brash cynicism he utilizes to justify his alienation from others. Another example of this is Holden’s relationship with D.B. Although he suggests that they were once close, he now considers D.B. a phony because of his work in the film industry. Thus, he sabotages a potential genial relationship and justifies doing so with his prejudices against his brother’s field of work. Holden’s cynicism and alienation from others reveals emotional damage and psychological problems relating to

Salinger’s tone is a pivotal part of what makes Holden stand out as a character. The tone is mainly cynical and depressed, the latter being evident in a scene right after Sunny, a prostitute Holden hired, left after Holden expressed that he only actually wanted to talk to her. Salinger writes, “What I really felt like, though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would’ve done it, too, if I’d been sure somebody’d cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn’t want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory” (117). His depressed tone lingers throughout almost all of the book, as numerous ordinary things depress Holden greatly. This depression is amplified as Holden goes through life judging others and fully isolating himself, and because he craves companionship, his cynicism causes more pain to himself than to others. As Holden’s younger sister Phoebe says, “You don’t like any schools. You don’t like a million things. You don’t” (187). Holden actively dislikes many things, mostly so he can label them as “phony” and be able to dismiss them. The tone creates the lense of negativity Holden views the world through and is integral in uncovering the effects of said negativity.

In the book, Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caufield, the main character is a negatively charged person, doesn't want himself or others around him to grow up, and suffers from depression because of his brothers death. This is obviously Holden's way of alienating the entire world and delaying the consequences of facing reality. Alienation is a big theme in Catcher In The Rye, and something that Holden depends on most often.

A few minutes later, Sunny comes up to his room. She is nothing like what he expected, young and clean faced. Suddenly uncomfortable, Holden attempts to talk with her awhile before they begin. Sunny is slightly bemused but obliges him. After asking her about her life outside of and concerning work, Holden finds himself no longer willing to go through with it.

When asked what Holden’s demeanor is, most would say cocky, confident, and close-minded. However, when Holden starts to talk about an old friend and minor character Jane Gallagher, his feelings and attitude change entirely. His tough exterior expeditiously melts into a sensitive side that is rarely seen. In most instances when discussing girls, Holden has something negative to say. Despite that, while in a club in New York, he comes across three girls who interest him. Suddenly, his thoughts about them change when he says, “They started giggling some more, I’m not kidding, they were three real morons” (Salinger 70). Although he is interested in talking to them, Holden is pessimistic about them and their behaviors. Nonetheless, when Jane Gallagher is brought up, Holden transforms into a different person. He becomes very invested in his descriptions of her and her good qualities. “You never even worried, with Jane, whether your hand was sweaty or not, All you knew was, you were happy. You really were” (Salinger 79). Throughout his course of discussing her, he doesn’t mention a single negative word about Jane. Even when talking about how his hand gets sweaty when holding hers, he also mentions that this doesn’t matter, and he is happy with her no matter what. In the movie ‘Stand By Me’, this same event happens with the Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern. These four boys are on a search to find the dead body of Ray Brower, who is believed to be hit by a train. Throughout the movie, their main concern is finding the body and proving to the town how tough and brave they are for finding him on their own. However, when they see the body, a wave of guilt floods over them. They feel bad that this tragic event happened to Ray. In fact, they don’t do not take the ownership of finding his body, and instead anonymously call the police. In both The Catcher in the Rye and Stand By Me, the situations with subtle, minor characters bring out

The source of his depression becomes more evident after he asks Sunny if she feels "like talking for awhile" (95). Holden feels that he needs to talk to Sunny in a desperate attempt at making a connection with her. He wants to like her. He needs to like her or else he will lose all desire for her. Holden also shows sensitivity to a woman's needs when he admits to himself that he'd be willing to sleep with Sunny, to "get some practice on her," in case he ever

tombstone. Holden applies the term “phony” not to people who are insincere but to those who

He recognizes that children are not phonies, they say what they want, do what they want, and do not care what others think. However, he sees that adults are the exact opposite. Their world, the phony world, is something he has no interest in being part of. As a result, Holden distances himself from maturing, consequently preventing any meaningful interaction from occurring for the duration of the novel. Holden uses phoniness to define himself subconsciously. When he labels everyone around him as phony he gives himself an excuse to alienate himself from others.

This passage proves that Holden is dissatisfied with the boys at his school, he believes they are fake and he does not social well with them. Although Holden doesn’t want to interact much, when he does end up interacting with people, he usually gets the short end of the stick. For instance he invites Ackley, a boy he meets at Pency Prep, along to the movies, but Ackley won't return the favor by letting Holden sleep in his roommate's bed. ‘“I’m not worried about it. Only, I’d hate like hell if Ely came in all of a sudden and found some guy-”’ (Salinger 49). Another instance is when Holden pays Sunny even though they don’t have sex, and ends up getting scammed. At a young age, Holden lost his younger brother, Allie. This had a huge traumatizing effect on him; Holden felt useless because he was unable to help his brother. Holden turns his emotions into anger; stating that he punched out all the windows in the garage. Another time Holden felt unable to help was when his peer, James Castle, was harassed and bullied, leading to James’s suicide. Holden says, “... and there was old James Castle laying right on the stone steps and all. He was dead, and his teeth, and blood, were all over the place, and nobody would even go near him. He had on this turtleneck sweater I'd lent him”’ (Salinger 170). Holden feels that society had

"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of