J. D. Salinger Biography

Caulfield is exceedingly sensitive to the things that he perceives as “dirty” or “evil”, and he feels responsible for the negative things in the world he is beginning to notice as he matures. After going to Phoebe’s school and seeing “fuck you” written on the walls, Holden visits the museum that he frequented as a child and declares that when he is dead, and “[has] a tombstone and all…it’ll say ‘Fuck you.’” (204). As Holden becomes an adult and returns to the places he went as a child, including the school and the museum, he begins to realize the amount of negativity and the number crude things that surround him in the world. By describing the way that his tombstone will have expletives on it, the author reveals how deeply the evil in the world affects Caulfield. The duality of a young, innocent child growing up in an “evil” world is too much for Holden to comprehend, and his attempts to come to terms with the juxtaposition of youth and evil in the world result in the expression of many symptoms of depression, including anxiety attacks. Caulfield attempts to come to terms with the idea that although everyone is surrounded by evil, the people he considers both the most valuable and most impressionable, the youth, do not understand the magnitude of the negative forces in the world. After considering the graffiti that he is sure will mar his tomb stone, Holden confesses to the

J.D. Salinger had a pretty good life growing up. He was born in New York City on January 1, 1919. Salinger’s academics weren 't one of his priorities, but he did want to become one of the most famous authors. After failing several prep schools, he finally graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania (Telgen 117). He went to numerous colleges including Columbia University but didn 't graduate from any.

“The Catcher in the Rye” is about a sixteen year old teenager talking about the story of his mental break down. It is really impressive because J.D. Salinger’s writing style is very direct as if Holden is talking exclusively to me and telling me about his struggles between childhood and adulthood. “The Catcher in the Rye” illustrates Holden’s hope to protect childhood innocence from adult phoniness.

The Catcher in the Rye was J.D. Salinger’s first step onto the literary playing field. This commencing status left Salinger, as a serious author, unique as a sort of liberated agent, not confine to one or more schools of critics, resembling many of his contemporaries were.

In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the main character and narrator Holden Caulfeild walks many different paths of life. He jumps around different aspects of his life throughout the book, showing the reader many different sides to himself. This theme is presented through the author’s technique in crafting the characterization and symbolism. J.D. Salinger develops a puzzle of a personality for Holden throughout the book, to show the complexity and multitude of sides to Holden’s character.

JD. Salinger’s 1951 book, The Catcher in the Rye, shows us how society treated their confused and changing teenagers during their transition into adulthood. The book’s main character Holden Caulfield is being pressured into growing up even though he doesn’t feel ready, to lead an adult life. He is still struggling socially and mourning for his deceased brother whose death turned Holden upside down and into a negative, hopeless person from a young age, which causes him to be distracted, indifferent and to flunk every school he goes to.

The coming of age novels, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, and A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, both interpret the lives of adolescent boys journeying through their conflicts and inner confusion to reach the level of maturity. Salinger and Knowles both discern the literal ways a typical teenager grows up with the help of literary elements such as plot, setting, character development, conflicts, irony, symobolism, theme, and point of view.

The coming of age novels, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, and A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, both interpret the lives of adolescent boys journeying through their conflicts and inner confusion to reach the level of maturity. Salinger and Knowles both discern the literal ways a typical teenager grows up with the help of literary elements such as plot, setting, character development, conflicts, irony, symobolism, theme, and point of view.

Jerome David Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, is a work of fiction and a

J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye presents a look into the mind of Holden Caulfield, a popular literary icon numerous teenagers have rightfully found themselves relating to at some point. While the familiar emotions of Holden were welcoming for me, his anecdotes and witty remarks proved entertaining as well. The story chronicles Holden’s exploration through New York post-expulsion, with his point of view influenced by his growing alienation with the world. He represents that growing sense of unease at growing up and facing a reality that is not always pretty, and, in his case, a need to save children from having to face that reality. I personally admired the fact that he was not just an angry teenager in the world as stereotypes suggest.

In the bildungsroman Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger employs the struggle of individuality, inevitable maturation, and the childhood corruption of adulthood to reveal Holden’s alienation from society.

Jerome David Salinger, also known as J. D. Salinger, is a fascinating author best known for his novel, Catcher in the Rye. Although Salinger only published one novel, he wrote several short stories for magazines like The New Yorker and Story. A large number of these stories went on to be compiled into books such as Nine Stories, Franny and Zooey, and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction. Despite the fact Salinger has not published any stories in over 45 years, his reputation is still quite popular. Salinger's stories are studied in high schools and colleges, introducing thousands of individuals to his writing and ultimately increasing his fan base. Catcher in the Rye continues to sale 250,000 copies a year

J.D. Salinger (Jerome Davis Salinger) was said by some people to be one of the best American Authors of past century. Salinger’s works reflects the many experiences he had as a child. One of the more common focuses tends to be his fascination with protecting the innocence in children.

Jerome David Salinger’s only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is based on the life events shaping main character, Holden Caulfield, into the troubled teen that is telling the story in 1950. The theme of the story is one of emotional disconnection felt by the alienated teenagers of this time period. The quote, “ I didn’t know anyone there that was splendid and clear thinking and all” (Salinger 4) sets the tone that Holden cannot find a connection with anyone around him and that he is on a lonely endeavor in pursuit of identity, acceptance and legitimacy. The trials and failures that Holden faces on his journey to find himself in total shed light on Holden’s archenemy, himself.

Salinger and Boock both tackle the fears around the question of, “Who am I going to be, when I become an adult?” The two writers help create, shape and attempt to answer this through the narratives of their characters. The genre of ‘Adolescent Fiction’ gives the authors the opportunity to sculpt the lives and minds, giving their readers a glimpse or a chance to once again reminsce an age period that almost every human would experience once. Within the adolescent period the individual themselves will go through the motions of confusion, survival or coping, and then finally acceptance. But why not mastery? Salinger’s protagonist Holden in Catcher in the Rye strives so hard to remain in a state of mind where the outside ‘Phonys’ can not reach him. Boock’s Dare Truth or Promise third- narrative helps her audience to understand the inner turmoil that arises once two teenage girls named Louie and Willa meet for the first time. Three characters are in a race against time. Time becomes their enemy and friend within the two selected texts. It is reason why Holden, Louie and Willa are not able to fully master their own personal fears, instead they learn how to cope with what awaits them. In this essay I will be discussing how Boock and Salinger’s work contributed and enhanced the genre of adolescent fiction. Being a pathway between the loss of childhood and the beginnings of adulthood.