The Catcher in the Rye is one of American author J.D. Salinger’s most controversial works. The novel is narrated by Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old who has just been kicked out of his fourth school. The novel tells the story of Holden’s misadventures with sex and alcohol in New York City as he attempts to find direction in his life. The novel was first published as a short story titled “Slight Rebellion off Madison” in The New Yorker in December of 1945, and the book was published by Little, Brown and Company on July 16th, 1951.
The novel has sold more than 65 million copies worldwide and is one of the most influential novels of all time. The novel continues to be censored or banned from schools for its vulgarity and themes such as teenage rebellion. The Catcher in the Rye is assigned reading in high schools throughout the world despite continuing controversy over its content and viewpoints.
The novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J. D. Salinger consists of an interesting protagonist, Holden Caulfield, who is a troubled teenager that struggles with the transition into adulthood. The novel takes place primarily in New York City during Christmas break when Holden decides to leave his school after being suspended for fighting with another student.
The novel follows Holden’s adventures over the few days he spends there before returning home to eventually finish high school. The eponymous catcher in the rye symbolizes innocence for Holden and portrays himself as the protector of children from all the problems of society. Overall, The Catcher in the Rye can be seen primarily as a Bildungsroman, which is usually concerned primarily with growing up rather than morality; The Catcher in the Rye is no exception to this.
The novel can also be seen as a Bildungsroman because it portrays Holden’s transition into adulthood, however The Catcher in the Rye does not actually show him maturing through his experiences in detail which would make it more of a traditional example of a Bildungsroman. Although The Catcher in the Rye is generally considered to be an excellent example of literature from its era, The Catcher in the Rye has received much criticism over the years for its use of profanity and sexual references.
The main focus displayed throughout The Catcher in The Rye is that society needs saving by innocence represented by Holden’s character. The novel The Catcher in The Rye written by J. D. Salinger is a Bildungsroman that has many characteristics of this genre and The Catcher in The Rye can be seen primarily as a Bildungsroman; even though The Catcher in The Rye does not actually show Holden maturing through his experiences in detail, The Catcher in The Rye still portrays his transition into adulthood by following him on several adventures throughout the novel.
The eponymous catcher in the rye symbolizes innocence for Holden and portrays himself as the protector of children from all problems of society. The main focus displayed throughout The Catcher in The Rye is that society needs saving by innocence represented by Holden’s character.
The Catcher in The Rye By J. D Salinger The novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J. D Salinger is considered to be a very controversial novel due to its exciting, mature content and use of strong language. The book has been claimed to be one of the most widely read books while also provoking many different responses because of its somewhat dark thematic elements (1). The purpose of this paper is to explore some of these elements, primarily through the actions and thoughts expressed by one of the main characters, Phoebe Caulfield.
The essay will be analyzing aspects such as loss, innocence, rebellion and emotional maturity including how each are portrayed. The novel The Catcher in The Rye written by J. D Salinger follows the story of Holden Caulfield. The novel starts with Holden getting expelled from Pencey Prep, a “prep school” in Pennsylvania, and he is sent home to his parents while waiting to be accepted into another school (2).
The whole novel revolves around this short period of time and mainly takes place within New York City and Holden’s heads. The novel The Catcher in The Rye written by J. D Salinger contains many areas that can be analyzed such as loss, innocence, rebellion and emotional maturity; however The Catcher in The Rye has been criticized for its use of strong language (3).
The main character Holden Caulfield uses words such as “f*ck,” “hell,” “bastard,” “goddamn,” and many others in The Catcher in The Rye written by J. D Salinger (4). The novel The Catcher in The Rye written by J. D Salinger has been labeled as a tragedy as well as an anti-hero novel where the protagonist Holden Caulfield is not held with strict judgement but rather he is accepted as the troubled, sixteen year old boy that he shows to be throughout The Catcher in The Rye written by J.
D Salinger (5). The word “phony” sets the mood for The Catcher and The Rye and it accurately describes the first few chapters of the book. Holden does not want to go back home to his parents after being expelled from Pencey Prep so he goes to a hotel instead. The hotel is full of “phoniness,” and Holden does not want to be in a scene where everyone is faking their feelings so he sneaks out the window at night and goes to a bar in The Catcher in The Rye written by J.
D Salinger (2). The novel The Catcher in The Rye written by J. D Salinger starts with images of snow, coldness, and darkness setting the tone for the entire book that continues into everything else that happens throughout The Catcher in The Rye written by J. D Salinger. Throughout The Catcher in The Rye written by J. D Salinger Phoebe Caulfield, Holden’s younger sister, is described as innocent, wise beyond her years and extremely mature for her age.
The word “innocence” has many different meanings because it can be interpreted in two ways; either the definition of innocence being pure or youthful so Phoebe’s innocence can be interpreted differently depending on whose perspective you are looking at the novel The Catcher in The Rye written by J. D Salinger from (6). The appearance of Phoebe throughout The Catcher in The Rye written by J. D Salinger is that she appears to be pure and naive but when Holden looks into her thoughts he realizes that Phoebe knows more than he thought about sex and other things that people may not tell children (6).
