Summary Of ' Salinger 's ' The Rye '

Holden as a character displays the alienation of himself through his behaviour. Holden is not the same as many people and believes that everyone is a ‘phony’. Throughout the novel Holden realises more and more that he is different and sees the world differently to others around him. Holden has created an identity for himself and doesn’t want that to be diminished therefore he alienates himself from the rest of society to decrease the chances of that happening. Holden’s old school, Pency Prep, has the motto “since 1888 we have been shaping young boys into splendid, clear-thinking men.” (pg. 2) This increases Holden’s motivation to leave the school as it will be shaping his identity into something he doesn’t want to be; a man. Holden is all about protecting those younger than him from the dangerous world of adult hood and by alienating himself he feels he has a better chance of

Despite his longing for acceptance, “His efforts to connect with any stereotypical kid his age result in abject failure“(Privitera 204). Salinger thoroughly emphasizes this through Holden’s relationships with Stradlater and Ackley, with both of whom he has a strenuous and artificial relationship, demonstrated by his internal, flippant commentaries on his peers as he discusses them in the book (Salinger 31-40). Holden’s peers ostracize him due to his more introspective and introverted nature, as seen in Stradlater’s angry response to Holden’s reflective response to this writing assignment, saying that he doesn’t “do one damn thing the way [he’s] supposed to”(Salinger 47). These difficulties stem not from deficiencies of his peers, but rather a problem of Holden’s refusal to accept anything different from what he expects, making excuses about his reasons throughout the book to cover his actions. His rationalization of his internal wants and desires impedes any proper connection he could possibly make with his peers. He, “Subconsciously longs to be accepted yet feels he cannot make the connection”(Privitera 205).

Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye has been into continuous dispute and controversy since its publication in 1951. Some critics think that Salinger 's narrative of the human plight is engrossing and enlightening, yet incredibly depressing. The leading character, Holden Caulfield, serves as the basis for critical discussion due to his psychological conflict. Salinger 's portrayal of Holden, which encloses incidents of dejection, nervous breakdown, impulsive spending, sexual exploration, and other wandering behavior, have all assist to the controversial nature of the novel. Yet the novel is praised by its piercing advocates, who argue that it is a critical look at the problems facing American youth during the 1950 's.

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel about a teen/adult named Holden Caulfield that took place in the 1950’s in New York which is the perfect setting for a kid to become an adult because of its size, but Holden Caulfield was telling the story in a mental hospital in California. Throughout the novel Holden is transitioning from a kid to an adult and he takes us along with him to experience what it is like to become an adult. Due to the fact that Holden is maturing, J.D. Salinger, the author of the Catcher in the Rye, decides it is appropriate to disregard censorship and so the book contains a lot of vulgar and inappropriate scenes. J.D. Salinger published the Catcher in the Rye and about ten years

J.D Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye has been a hit on the shelves since its publication in 1951. It tells the story of Holden Caulfield, a lost adolescent who journeys to find his place in the

The Catcher in the Rye is a book that not only grabs a hold of your emotions, but also transforms you into the life of Holden Caulfield. In 1951, J.D. Salinger published what is still being taught in schools all around the United States. Todays adolescents can still relate to the emotions displayed by Holden throughout the entire novel, much like the adolescents in the 1960's could. For instance, Holden is trying to find his way around life at such a young age. At the time, the age group "teenagers" did not yet exist. Holden was still a child, trying to be an adult. Today's children can also relate to this because, as teenagers, we jump into an age where we don't have our bearings yet. We begin to take on more responsibilities, but we still

The character of Holden Caulfield has been built by Salinger to represent the stereotypical juvenile delinquent. He wears his hat backwards (p.15), swears using words like “goddamn” (p.18) and “crumby” and uses a lot of slang such as “chew the rag” (p.23) meaning to chat and “bucks” (p31) meaning dollars. Holden also involves himself in fights (p.36-39), smokes and flunks out of school these are all actions of rebellion against the expectations of adults. These behaviors highlight Holden’s attitude towards himself and others, and how others may perceive him as a person. Of course, we only appreciate this

Holden believes that Pencey Prep and all the other prep schools express insincerity that are ruled by adults. He concludes that school is nothing, but full of deception, lies, and cruelty. For instance, he believes that the school motto, “‘Since 1888 we have been molding boys into splendid, clear-thinking young men,”’ is completely a lie because they are phonies (4). As a result, Holden does not apply himself to school because he doesn’t appreciate what education holds for him in the future. In other words, since Holden considers adulthood to be a world of phoniness, then prosperity will just lead him into that type of world.

Holden’s ordinary world consists of struggling to apply himself in school and belief that education is “phony”. On his date with Sally, an old friend, he tells her why he refuses to apply himself, “You ought to go to a boys school sometime...Its full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac some day, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty

The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is a book written by J. D. Salinger that was published on July 16, 1951. Over the years it has been a target of controversy and an abundance of debate on whether the book should be censored, and if it is okay to teach it in the schools. The book contains a plethora of crude language as well as topics including sex and alcohol. What critics do not see, however, is censoring such a book would be a waste of time and is not necessary. The Catcher in the Rye should not be censored.

People’s first reaction to the book was shock due to the subjects of both adolescent sexuality and profanity. This led to wither a huge liking to the book or an equal big disliking. Gale Student Resources in Context states within one of their articles about the topic, “For example, Salinger’s open discussion of adolescent sexuality and his use of profanity throughout the book have offended many readers since it was first published. The novel has been banned in schools many times over the years” (The Catcher in the Rye). As blatantly stated, the book has been banned due to the very controversial topics and suggestive themes within the book. Despite being placed in a different time era,this language is very vulgar to some of those who read it, even in the fifties. Despite being heavily targeted by countless individuals who are provoked by the book, there is always two sides of an argument. The Catcher in the Rye’s profanity and rebellious tone created a huge liking to many individuals who felt emotions similar to Holden’s. People would go to as far as to say that Holden was their hero or even a fallen angel. An article on the impact Salinger’s novel had on people claims that people wanted to read the book more after seeing the controversial topics others didn't like. DISCovering U.S. History explains this as “On university campuses … The Catcher in the Rye was being

Written in 1951, J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye continues to be a popular book amongst Americans. Although The Catcher in the Rye has been banned in many public school settings in the United States it continues to stay atop some of the greatest books of all time lists. Whether people are in their teens or in their fifties they find themselves drawn to Holden Caulfield. At some point in their life they could relate to a sense of alienation, caused by money and wealth. Humans are wired to be jealous and want what others have. Holden Caulfield has the opposite problem, he has money and wealth which he inherited from his hard working parents. However, he himself is not motivated to work hard, graduate prep school and earn his own wealth. Instead he despises hard working students at the many prep schools he drops out of. Holden also has a big number of family complications. An area to explore is how wealth can contribute to feelings of alienation and despair. Holden Caulfield has a complex relationship with money, not wanting to associate from it, but benefiting from it. A further look into the 1950’s may give an insight into the troubled mind of Holden Caulfield.

In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist Holden Caulifield views the world as an evil corrupt place where there is no peace. Holden has a phony phobia that restricts him from becoming a fully matured adult. In Holden's attempted journey in becoming a fully matured adult, he encounters many scenarios involving friendship, personal opinions, and his love of children. His journey is an unpleasant and difficult one with many lessons learned along the way; including the realization that he is powerless to change the world.

Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye has been pronounced a literary classic for its atypical portrayal of adolescence, to effectively convey the protagonist’s alienation and confusion. The introduction of The Catcher in the Rye is underpinned by disorder and confusion through a stream-of-consciousness narration, which digresses from one subject to another. Consequently, Holden’s multitudinous thoughts and feelings appear to lack a cohesive pattern. Additionally, Holden’s prevalent ascription of other students as “phony” (Salinger, p.3) alludes to his alienation and isolation as a form of self-protection; he rejects those he does not understand. Furthermore, the vocabulary encapsulates typical adolescence dialect of the 1940s, and resultantly, alienates contemporary reader. This is typified through Holden’s use of colloquial speech, in particular, his exclamation “that killed me” (Salinger, p.42) to express his amusement. Therefore, the introduction of Holden’s disjointed monologue in The Catcher in the Rye foreshadows Salinger’s unique interpretation of adolescence.

Just as J.D Salinger, Holden’s socioeconomic background was at least middle-upper class (even though many of Holden’s actions and what he says demonstrates he belonged to the high-class) Holden struggled with family and class expectations. His family and culture expect for him to be reasonably successful at the prestigious High school to which he belonged, and then, after he was done with it move on to an Ivy League school. Holden’s problem is that he is incapable of seeing himself in that role, so he