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'The Catcher in the Rye' by JD Salinger: A Review

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The Catcher in the Rye Introduction The Catcher in the Rye, a novel by J. D. Salinger, was first published in 1951. The novel deals with the themes of identity, belonging, connection, and alienation. The protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is a cynical sixteen year-old with prematurely gray hair that makes him appear older than his age. Holden is caught at the awkward age between adolescence and adulthood as he searches for his identity. Set in the 1940s, the story begins with Holden recovering from a breakdown stemming from his expulsion from Pencey Prep School. He has already flunked out of three other schools. This man/child is torn between his desire to take on the trappings of adulthood and his desire to preserves the innocence of childhood. The title is a reference to the way Holden sees the world and his desire to preserve its purity. The scene in which the author reveals the source of the book's title takes place in Chapter 22. Holden has left school and snuck back into his parents Manhattan apartment. He is speaking with his ten year old sister Phoebe in his older brother's bedroom. Phoebe is six years Holden's junior, yet in many aspects has a superior understanding of him and the ways of the world. She is distraught that Holden has been expelled from another school, "Daddy's going to kill you. He's going to kill you" (224). As way of explanation for his latest failure Holden tells his sister, "It was one of the worst schools I ever went to. It was full of

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