A "bildungsroman is a special kind of novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of its main character from his or her youth to adulthood."(Bildungsroman: A Literary Device). In The Catcher In The Rye, the author creates a successful bildungsroman through the characterization of the novel's protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Throughout the novel, Holden uses a jarred voice filled with cynicism and the overall tone is clearly depressing. The "conflict between Holden and the values of society"(Bildungsroman: A Literary Device) is quite clear as he believes that the world of an adult is filled with pain and disappointment. In The Catcher In The Rye, the methods of characterization used to develop Holden, are his actions throughout …show more content…
However, during his encounter with Sunny he refuses to have sex with her and thinks about calling Jane as deep inside he craves real affection. This shows that he is steadily maturing into a sensible adult. His sensible nature is also displayed when "misadventure piles on misadventure, but he bears it all with a grim cheerfulness and stubborn courage. He is finally saved as a result of his meeting with his little sister Phoebe."(Burger) Holden's ability deal with aspects of society directed to adults such as liquor, sex and nightclubs shows that he is maturing into an adult. At the end of the novel, Holden cries and says that "he felt so damn happy, to tell the truth" when he sees Phoebe riding the carousel. He is overwhelmed with joy because Phoebe displays the innocence he wants to protect but also knows that she is out of his reach and have to face the world of an adult at a certain point. This shows that he has finally grown into an adult and knows what an adult must go through in society. All this shows that Holden has grown into a sensible adult from an immature teenager through his actions and helps in creating a successful bildungsroman.
The author of The Catcher In The Rye also uses Holden's speech and language as a method of characterization. Holden narrates the entire plot in a colloquial teenage language filled with profanity which is nothing like what a matured
Yardley suggest that J.D. Salinger was unsuccessful in his syntax and diction in The Catcher in the Rye to weaken the praises of people who believe the book is exceptionally good in speaking like a teenager. Yardley says his attempts “only produces an adult’s unwitting parody of teen-speak,” which is a complete understatement. He claims Salinger was oblivious to what teenage language is usually like, using small examples like how Salinger uses “ya know” instead of “y’know.” Salinger was an adult writing in a teenage voice, which creates a lot of complication. He obviously didn’t know how a teenager spoke or acted, which ended up making the book a little bit peculiar. The character Holden Caulfield supposedly behaves like a child, but the way he speaks isn’t very child-like. He drinks alcohol and has grey hair, but he also becomes absorbed into
Literature has always relied on techniques to catch the reader’s attention and format the story, and “the Catcher in the Rye” is no exception. Salinger brought many different writing styles into his novel to make it a bestseller. With his knowledge, Salinger was able to depict the persona of Holden to the reader without directly stating his characteristics. Salinger proves Holden is a lonesome figure who wanted to fit in but struggles to be accepted. The Catcher in the Rye depicts Holden as one who struggles with his sexuality and adulthood and wants to save children from adulthood because of the difficulties that it has brought himself. Salinger greatly expresses Holden through the use of metaphor, imagery, symbolism,
The relationship between Holden and Phoebe forms a major theme that the novel aims to deliver. The fact that he is having this conversation with Phoebe, a child who is anything but simple and innocent, reveals the oversimplification of his worldview. Holden himself realizes this to a degree when he acknowledges that his idea is “crazy”, yet he cannot come up with anything more pragmatic; he has trouble seeing the world in any other way. His “catcher in the rye” fantasy reflects his innocence, his belief in pure, uncorrupted youth, and his desire to protect that spirit. On the other hand, it represents his extreme disconnection from reality and his naïve view of the world. Phoebe exposes to Holden a living embodiment of childhood. And it is a scene with her where she exposes to Holden the illogical nature of his supervisory actions, indicating that his desire to preserve her innocence will only halt her own inevitable development. Phoebe is the Greek word for “protector of children” (Bloom 2009, p185). Within the novel she is Holden’s protector. She comforts him, provides him with financial security, and protects him from getting in trouble with their mother. Reiff describes this reversal of roles between Holden and Phoebe as “Now, instead of saving the world by protecting the children, Holden wants to reject the world and shut himself off from evil by becoming a ‘deaf-mute’ in the West. It is Phoebe who rescues him from this total withdrawal” (Reiff 2008, p71). Phoebe forces Holden to view her as a human—living and progressing— rather than as a forever preserved child, and it is this humanization that causes Holden to accept her eventual progression into
A bildungsroman is a tale of growing up, and the changes around it. There will be plentiful physiological, sexual, and mental changes in a person during this period, therefore making it one of the most important sections of life. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in this piece, is a flawed individual. Everyone has their kinks and issues, some more than others. Holden, with a diagnosis, could be described as an individual with co-occurring Bipolar I disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
On the contrary, an acceptance for Holden came from Phoebe, his sister, whose innocence he admired greatly. Phoebe was the one who supported Holden when he felt rejected and depressed. Holden saw that his mission was to protect this childish innocence from the adults and their phoniness, and Phoebe listened and accepted this “crazy” idea (Salinger, 191). Phoebe agreed to get in the carousel when she and Holden both understood that she was a little old for the ride. This acceptance from Phoebe forced Holden into adulthood; she wanted him to let go of his childish dream and to be a
When he realizes that no one he meets truly cares about him, he starts to walk down the blocks of New York City begging Allie to keep him from disappearing; this “feeling of disappearance while passing the street implies his fear of dissolving in the mad society” (Dashti and Bahar) with no one to save him from this fate. However, he actually ends up being restored by the essence of purity that he strives to preserve: a child. Phoebe actually listens to his problems (unlike the rest of society) and keeps her childish nature intact as seen as she rides the carousel and reaches for the golden bell, showing that she is not afraid to dream. Because of her, Holden feels truly happy for the first time in the entire novel. Although Holden’s depression is still prevalent by the end of the novel, it is clear that he has successfully influenced Phoebe to keep her innocence against all societal odds and, in return, she has saved him.
The author has put in plenty of themes, messages, ideas, issues, and motifs. The character, Holden Caulfield is alienated from society, is experiencing the painfulness of growing up, thinks that the adult world is full of phoniness, and is sick of hearing about the American Dream from his teachers. JD Salinger has created a book that has raised plenty of questions and controversy towards the readers. The Catcher in the Rye shows how a teenage mind works. JD Salinger has used a stream of consciousness writing style where the character (Holden Caulfield) talks in first person as he presents his thoughts and feelings to the readers. The setting has taken place in the early fifties and the book uses a lot of profane words. The New York
Firstly we look at the genre of Bildungsroman. It can be defined as a story that revolves around the topic of “coming of age”. If this were to be the genre it is classified as, it would mean that Holden grows at a steady rate throughout the novel through various experiences or personal revelations. So much so that the reader would notice and the character in the beginning would differ (possibly greatly) from the character in the end of the novel. This would be the case of Catcher in the Rye, had it not been for the end of the novel. The story follows a steady progression for Holden, dealing with a number of scenarios and
Firstly, the most prevalent theme, which is underlying throughout the entire story is the reluctance to age. In reference to many analyzes, The Catcher in the Rye is a bildungsroman, of which portrays Holden’s spiritual enlightenment. Holden perceives all adults as immensely flawed and as phoniness. He sees children as pure, gentle, innocent. Holden sneaks into his family's apartment.
The Catcher in the Rye, like many other great works, was met by scornful criticism and unyielding admiration. However, many literary critics also marveled at Salinger's use of language, which was used to make Holden Caulfield, the main character, extremely realistic. Such language includes both repetition of phrases and blatant cursing, in order to capture the informal speech of the average, northeastern American adolescent. Through Holden's thoughts and dialogues, Salinger successfully created a teenage boy.
A common word Holden employs the use of is ‘phony’. This is seen when he says “For instance, they had this headmaster, Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life” (Salinger, 13). Other uses of vernacular include the words galoshes, crumby, flit, dough, chisel, swanky, and swell. These words add to the emotion and descriptive quality of the novel. “Some guy next to me was snowing hell out of the babe he was with” is an example of vernacular that helps to describe Holden’s thoughts (Salinger, 142). An example of slang used to add detail to the writing is, “I had a feeling old Ackley'd probably heard all the racket and was awake” (Salinger, 46). The particular language selected in the writing of The Catcher in the Rye also helps the reader relate to the main character, and is therefore an effective style of writing in many situations.
The critical lens presented in the Catcher in the Rye is very evident in the main character Holden. Using the psychoanalytic lens to read The Catcher in the Rye shows the struggle Holden has trying to deal with the "Phonies" in his everyday life that he just can't relate to. This inability to connect with the people around him reveals his emotional instability and personal flaws. The majority of his issues lye within his subconscious and he doesn’t realize the way he treats people.
It causes him to be even more depressed facing this issue, but he needs to solve it. Similarly when Phoebe is on the carousel, Holden is worrying about her falling, but it causes him to recognize that “the thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring you have to let them do it, they fall off, they fall off." (211). This causes Holden to understand that this is life and he must accept everything. One might object that this does not cause Holden to mature. However, to Holden from how he despises the society and avoiding it to now being about to at least admit this issue, not avoiding it and later start to go to school. He might not fully mature, but it is a huge step for him to becoming mature. Children will grow up including Holden and follow the way life works no matter what. Hence, Phoebe induces Holden 's way of viewing the world. Hence, the relationship with Phoebe changes Holden 's perspective of the world.
The catcher in the rye is written in an informal, slangy way which is told through flashbacks of Holden’s memory which links to the writing fashion known as 'stream of consciousness writing'. Examples that make the use of slang would be when he use words like “boozes” : "so he boozes all the time," (pg138) and “swell” : “He was telling us all about what a swell guy he was," (pg17). To illustrate the informal writing some examples would be the “moron” : Moron - "Get your dirty stinking moron knees off my chest" (pg44) and “Snappy” : "I made it very snappy on the phone because I was afraid my parents would barge in on me right in the middle of it." (pg. 174).By J. D. Salinger’s using these techniques of writing he builds the story and links
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and The Catcher in the Rye both depict bildungsroman. A bildungsroman being defined as “a novel that recounts the development of an individual from childhood or adolescence to maturity, to the point at which the protagonist recognizes his or her place and role in the world” (Murfin & Supryia 39). While Holden Caulfield is an unusual