The Catcher In The Rye is a novel written by J. D. Salinger, who was born as Jerome David Salinger on January 1st, 1919. The protagonist of the story, Holden Caulfield, is a teenager going through a rough time in his life. He looks back to his past and decides that he must go out of his way to protect the innocence of children, even if it kills him. The full title of The Catcher In The Rye is The Catcher In The Rye: Holden Caulfield’s Story. The book was first published on July 16th, 1951.
Author Salinger came up with the concept for this book while working at a publishing house during World War II. He had been looking through short stories written by authors that he worked with and decide that he himself would like to write a novel about what it was like being young in New York City after the war ended.
Salinger’s inspiration for The Catcher In The Rye did not come from one source in particular, but rather many things throughout his life. Holden Caulfield’s experiences are based off of Salinger’s own, but The Catcher In The Rye also takes inspirations from the death of Salinger’s father. The character of Holden Caulfield is very different from Salinger himself, but The Catcher In The Rye does include many things that actually happened to Jerome David Salinger.
Author J. D. Salinger was drafted into World War II at the age of 18, causing him to take a break between his three years at Ursinus College and his life as an author. He was stationed in England for several months before he went to Europe and fought in France during the Battle Of The Bulge (also known as The Ardennes Offensive). His duty was to interrogate German soldiers. As he told The Paris Review, The Catcher In The Rye was “a reaction against the war and all that nonsense.” The isolation and loneliness Holden Caulfield feels also reflects Salinger’s own experience as a soldier.
After World War II ended in 1945, Salinger went back to school at Columbia University. It is this time period where many of the things that happened during The Catcher In The Rye (such as Holden Caulfield meeting with Mr. Spencer) actually take place in real life.
The book was not published until after Salinger had already finished college at Columbia University and started writing short stories for magazines such as The New Yorker and Collier’s Weekly Magazine. While living and working in New City, he decided upon the title The Catcher In The Rye, which was based off of a line from The Great Gatsby. The first draft of The Catcher In The Rye took him only three weeks to write. The novel made it all the way to the top of The New York Times Bestseller List.
J. D. Salinger’s most well-known novel The Catcher In The Rye never received any awards for book or author recognition. Despite this fact, many young adult readers consider The Catcher In The Rye their favorite book and would even say that Holden Caulfield is one of their most beloved literary characters ever created.
The Catcher in The Rye ‘s first line, “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap…” The title The Catcher In The Rye could connect with Holden’s mention of The David Copperfield because The Catcher in The Rye has many similarities to The David Copperfield .
The characters have similar backgrounds. Both Holden Caulfield and David Copperfield have an absent father figure. Suzy Gonzales’ father died when she was younger. The only connection between Holden’s dad is through a letter. On the other hand, The David Copperfield ‘s father abandoned him and his mother.
The The Catcher In The Rye takes place in the 1940’s, with Holden as an older narrator. The The David Copperfield is set around the same time period as well. Both stories involve a lot of traveling. The characters both go on a journey that no one expects them to take. If The Catcher In The Rye had been written after The David Copperfield , it would not make sense for Holden to be confused about who he should tell his story too; or for Holden to think that it would be better if he stayed in one place with someone instead of moving constantly because “that way I wouldn’t have become such a pain in the ass.”
The Catcher in the Rye has many themes, one of them is Holden’s struggle with growing up and his anxiety over the “phony” adults he encounters. The title The Catcher in The Rye is said to be taken from The Illiad, by Homer, where it refers to The Achaeans who built a wall of The Trojans to protect the city from The Plague. The analogy Holden uses is where The Achaeans were The Catcher In The Rye, as they protected The City of Troy from The Plague, as though it was a game. The reason Holden constantly refers to himself as “The Catcher in The Rye” is that he constantly rejects the idea of growing up and becoming part of society’s corruption.
He constantly speaks about how all adults are phonies, using phrases like “You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful because there isn’t anyplace” and “You never really feel at home anywhere”. He constantly feels endangered by his parents constantly trying to push him away into adulthood, such as The Holden The Catcher In The Rye met on the other side of The Wall. It’s as though The Wall represents his fear that as soon as he turns 16 he will be forced to “move out” into The World and The Adults will have ultimately won, thus abandoning The City Of Troy.
In conclusion, The Catcher In The Rye really has nothing to do with a catcher in a rye field, instead it’s a very complex analogy used by Holden about how all adults are phony and absolute hypocrites who only care for themselves and don’t want anyone else to become happy or fulfilled. Holden constantly finds himself overprotected from The Adult World by anything he finds enjoyable. He finds himself constantly playing The Game Of The Wall in The City Of The Rye by The Catcher In The Rye.
Related articles: The Catcher In The Rye Theme of Love The Catcher In The Rye Theme of Rejection The Catcher In The Rye Theme of Frustration The Catcher In The Rye Theme of Isolation The Catcher In The Rye- Holden’s Struggle With Growing Up and Society’s Corruption The novel, The Catcher in the Rye, details Holden Caulfield’s trials and tribulations during his three days in New York. He becomes frustrated with the adults around him, who he sees as “phoniness,” and so he decides to leave school a few months to go on a journey that he believes will bring him to maturity.
The Catcher in the Rye has become one of the most controversial novels due to its subject material, which involves teen angst and sexuality, but also because it was considered “obscene” by many school administrators during the time of its publishing. The novel is seen as a coming-of-age story, though Holden struggles with growing up more than he actually does with maturation. The major theme of The Catcher in The Rye revolves around Holden’s struggle with adult hypocrisy on many levels, which causes his frustration for his parents’ generation and forces him into becoming more of an adult himself after spending three days away from adults.
