Catcher In The Rye Salinger's Legacy

J.D. Salinger’s novel, Franny and Zooey follows the story of Franny, a college-aged girl in the midst of an identity crisis, along with her brother, Zooey who is shown criticizing his family and himself throughout the piece. Both Franny and Zooey’s quasi-depression stems from the loss of their suicidal brother who once taught them about religion and spirituality and is often displayed throughout the novel through Salinger’s creation of characters and complex symbols. The book has become increasingly popular and relatable as it highlights themes of mental illness and loss of innocence in a young adult. Salinger’s overall message is relevant and relatable today to the audience as the characters overcome their egotistical peers, societal expectations and mourning of a loved one.

Salinger isolated himself in the 1950s in Rural New Hampshire, until his death in 2010. People say he was working on a new book, which would be set in the modern era, showcasing his original natural talent in a new light all together. However no evidence was brought to light following his death, and many suspect he became an isolated

Early in Salinger's life, he faced one the cultural illnesses widespread in the North Eastern states of America.  It was the virulent disease of anti-Semitism.  Salinger lived in New York City, where he was raised as the son of Jewish parents.  The 1920's and 1930's were a time in America when Anti-Semitism was written into the policies of many institutions.  His heritage automatically deprived him from attending the best colleges: Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth.  He was prevented from belonging to certain social clubs, from certain professions, and from the rank of officer in the U. S. Military.

One of the greatest American Literature writers, J.D. Salinger, was familiar with a rough childhood by experience. He was able to parallel his experiences to the experiences of Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in The Catcher in Rye. In this novel, Holden experiences conflicts that most youth are not familiar with. The conflicts in Holden Caulfield’s life are caused by various forces and circumstances.

Jerome David “J.D” Salinger’s masterpiece, The Catcher in the Rye, is a world to the disillusioned protagonist Holden Caulfield. The story follows Holden Caulfield following his eviction from his private school, Holden leaves school two days early to travel New York before returning home. He interconnected with many different folks along the way and fascinatingly, the character of Holden Caulfield holds a remarkable similarity to J.D Salinger himself. The Cather in the Rye was based on J.D Salinger’s life, the world in which he lived, and the world in general has influenced the production of the novel. They both have a comparable childhood to each other and

The writing style of Salinger is what makes this book amazing. He writes the book as if he were rambling on and on about something. With this style of writing, the constant stream of thoughts from Caulfield allows the audience to connect with him on a deeper, more emotional level. I noticed several different patterns he repeated in this book. One of the more prominent patterns was his tendency to state something then reassure himself in the next sentence. For example, when Salinger wrote,” I said it suave as hell. I really did.”. This technique made Caulfield come across as insecure and unsure of himself. Salinger also contradicted Caulfield’s beliefs in this novel numerous times. When Salinger writes, “I’m very fond of dancing, sometimes…”, it makes Caulfield’s character split into two different sides: one side of Caulfield wanting to conform to society to not feel lonely while the other not wanting to be a phony. Salinger repeats many different

     The next example demonstrating Salinger’s spiritual focus through the prayer which Franny reads in the little green book. The book is first seen when Franny explains to Lane that this specific prayer is where you repeat the same phrase “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me” over and over until it becomes part of you. Franny also explains that she likes this prayer because it helps purify her mind and it becomes almost like a heart beat. When Zooey helps Franny though her breakdown he says to her, “You can say the Jesus Prayer from

Salinger was born in New York City an attended public school until he switched to the exclusive McBurney School. In attending this school, Salinger was called an “academically unexceptional student”. After this he was sent to the Valley Forge Military Academy. During his time there he added to the literary magazine and yearbook. After this he went on to NYU for a short amount of time.

Salinger calls the readers to open their eyes to the truth about society. The story acts as a message to readers warning them of the shallowness and materialism present in the adult world. He believes the true form of innocence is only feasible in the youth of children. He also plays on the idea that when people become aware of the social decadence present in the world around them, they can no longer function properly in society. Salinger suggests that all adults are inevitably tainted by the cruelty that will ultimately lead to their own demise. This is an important topic to Salinger considering it is a reoccurring theme in several of his works. His actions in the war may have had a large impression on the way he views the world and the morality of others. Salinger uses his experiences to write stories for readers to view the world from his eyes. He wants readers to see society for what it really is and not be susceptible to the materialism, greed, vanity, and dishonesty that accompany it. Others should look deeper into their role in society and try to enlighten themselves on what is moral and what is

In the beginning of the novel the characters slowly develop, as Salinger asserts, “The first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like…”(1).With

each year. It has become a staple for most school curriculums in the US and UK. The widespread success of his novel pushed Salinger to long for privacy. He refused as many interviews as possible and even had his photo removed from the back covers of each book. To escape the public eye he fled to England for two months.

The first impression of the main character and the details Salinger explains

J.D. Salinger, a contemporary American writer, is one of the most popular, but at the same time and most mysterious writer of the 20th century. He was born in New York in 1919, where he first attended public school, later military academy and three colleges. In 1940 he began publishing stories in magazines.

Salinger was born on January 1, 1919 in New York, New York, right after World War I ended. He only had an older sister named Doris and his father owned a cheese and ham import business. His father was Rabbinic which is a form of Judaism in which it reinterprets the Jewish concepts. His mother in other hands was Scottish. This was considered a mix marriage because of their background and people in the society looked

“So I got the ax. They give guys the ax quite frequently at Pencey. It has a very good academic rating, Pencey. It really does.” This excerpt is a prime example of Salinger’s use of commas and periods, causing more frequent pauses as though it’s multiple thoughts adding onto each other. This, combined with mostly shorter and simpler sentences, is very effective in its way of creating a thought-like structure, similar to how my own thoughts develop. These mixed together create an endearing way of telling his story, more so than a simple narrative.