J. D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye is a novel written by J. D. Salinger that was originally published in The Saturday Evening Post on December 16, 1951 before being released as a novel on July 16, 1953 through Little, Brown and Company. [1] The story follows Holden Caulfield, an adolescent who struggles with depression and is seen as a social outcast. The novel follows Holden after he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and sets off to New York City where he plans to live by himself for three days, but ends up staying longer than planned. 2]
The story explores the mental state of Caulfield as he reflects back on his adolescence and how it has impacted his life. [3] The Catcher in the Rye is an influential novel that was required reading for many high school students; however, the book was banned from public schools because of its controversial content such as sexuality, offensive language and blasphemy. [4] The novel also contains themes of teenage angst and alienation, which were popular throughout post-World War II America.
The novel has stayed in print since it was first published and sold more than sixty million copies by 2008. [6] The novel’s controversial nature has led to the book being banned from several schools. The novel become popular after its publishing and is considered a “classic” for teenagers for its themes of teenage angst and alienation. [7] The Catcher in the Rye is a coming-of-age story that follows protagonist Holden Caulfield, a seventeen-year-old boy who struggles with depression and insecurity.
The novel starts off with Holden suffering from depression after he leaves his boarding school called Pencey Prep where he had been attending for about six months due to problems following his grades. The rest of the story is him trying to figure out what he wants to do in life while he waits three days before returning home. [8] The character’s alienation comes from his attitude towards many people around him, the fact that he is still a virgin at seventeen years old and his struggles with wanting to have sex despite feeling unworthy of it.
The novel follows Holden through New York City where he reflects on key events in his life which led to him being depressed. The novel explores how Holden views the world around him and why he has become so isolated from everyone including himself. [9] The novel uses the protagonist’s journey into adulthood as its theme with Holden experiencing self-discovery while trying to deal with his inner feelings. The novel received a positive review after being published with reviewers praising Salinger for capturing post-World War II America. 10] The novel has received praise for its realistic portrayal of teenage angst with most critics agreeing that Holden is stuck in adolescence surrounded by the adults in his life. [11]
The novel remains popular with teenagers who can relate to Holden’s struggles and alienation. The novel was adapted into a Broadway play in 2013, which was successful amongst both young and old generations. The success of the 2013 musical led to productions in various different universities including California State University Northridge (2013), University of Michigan (2014) and the University of Iowa (2016).
The novel The Catcher in the Rye ends with a quote from Robert Burns poem The Cotter’s Saturday Night, which closes out Holden life of innocence. Holden Caulfield is trying to prevent children from falling into adulthood by preserving their innocence and naivete. The novel opens up with Holden depressed after flunking out of Pencey Prep, seeing Mr. Spencer commit suicide because he thought he failed his team members who are now dead, and his brother Allie dying from leukemia.
These tragic events lead up to Holdens decision to become the catcher in the rye so he can save all of the innocent children who are falling off the cliff into adulthood. The novel The Catcher in the Rye ends with a Robert Burns poem The Cotters Saturday Night, which closes out Holden’s life of innocence. This novel is written in an interesting and unique style because it has nothing to do with any other styles that i have read about before.
The author breaks all the rules of structure when writing this story. The Catcher in the Rye is not broken down into chapters or sections, but rather just one continuous part. This book also lacks punctuation marks which makes many parts of it hard to follow along with what he is trying to say. The emotions are expressed by how much description Salingers puts into his words, thus creating an emotional connection for reader so they can better understand the tone that The Catcher in the Rye is trying to convey.
The themes of The Catcher in The Rye also focuses on innocence because Holden wants to preserve it for all the children around him, rather than let them fall off the cliff into adulthood. The novel The Catcher in The Rye ends with a quote from Robert Burns poem The Cotters Saturday Night which closes out Holden life of innocence. This novel was not written very well because there is no structure and at times hard to follow along with what he is trying to say because it lacks punctuation marks.
Another thing i did not like about this book is that it never tells you exactly when or where this story takes place, but if I had to guess I would say during the 1950s. The emotions are expressed by how much description Salingers puts into his words which creates an emotional connection for the reader so they can better understand the tone that The Catcher in The Rye is trying to convey.
