The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye is a famous novel written by author J.D. Salinger in the year 1951. The book was originally published for adults the book has since become popular with adolescent readers due to its themes of teenage confusion, angst, alienation and rebellion. It has been translated into almost every single one of the world’s major languages. An estimated 250,000 copies of the book are sold each year, with a calculated sales amount of more than 65 million books. The book’s main protagonist and antihero Holden Caulfield, has become an icon for the teenage rebellion of the 20th and the 21st century.
The novel was included in the Time’s 2005 list of the best 100 English-language novels written since the year of 1923, and it was named by Modern Library and its reader’s as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. The book has been frequently challenged in the United States of America and other countries, for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality. The book is also popular because it deals with complex issues such as identity, belonging, connection and alienation. History: A variety of older stories which were written by Salinger, contain characters which are similar to those included in his novel The Catcher in the Rye. While he was a student at Columbia University, he wrote a short story which he named “Young Folks”, writing the story in Whit Burnett’s class. One of the characters from his story has been described by people as a “thinly pencilled prototype of Sally Hayes”, and in November 1941 Salinger sold his story “Slight Rebellion Off Madison”, which featured his soon to be iconic character Holden Caulfield, to the The New Yorker newspaper. However it was not published until December 21st 1946 due to the second world war. His story “I’m Crazy” which was published on December 22nd 1945, in the years issue of the Collier’s magazine contained written material that was later used in his iconic book The Catcher in the Rye. A ninety-page manuscript about the character Holden Caulfield was accepted by The New Yorker newspaper for publication in the year 1946, but the story was later withdrawn by its original author (Salinger). The novel ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is written using a subjective style using the point of view of its protagonist Holden Caulfield. The book is written following his exact though processes, and there is a flow in the seemingly disjointed ideas and episodes. For example in one chapter of the book when Holden sits down on a chair in his dorm, minor events such as picking up a book unfold into discussions about experiences he has had. Writing style: Modern day critical reviews agree that The Catcher in the Rye accurately reflects the teenage colloquial speech of the time in which the book was written, and words and phrases that frequently appear in the book include:
Interpretations Author and writer Bruce Brooks stated that Holden’s attitude does not change throughout the book, staying the same as it did at the start at the end of the story. This implies that there has been no maturation in Holden, which differentiates the novel from young adult fiction. In contrast to this opinion, academic and writer Louis Menand believed that teachers assign the novel to students because of the novel’s optimistic ending, in an aim to teach adolescent readers that “alienation is just a phase”. While Brooks maintained his belief that Holden does act his age, Menand claimed that Holden thinks the same way an adult would, given his ability to accurately perceive people and their motives. For example Holden is able to work out his younger sister Phoebe’s motive when she states she will go to the West with him, and Holden immediately rejects the idea as ridiculous and unlikely to happen much to his younger sister’s disappointment. Other authors highlight the dilemma of Holden’s state in which he is between adolescence and adulthood. While Holden believes and views himself as smarter and as mature as adults, he is quick to become emotional. Throughout the book he often states the phrase “I felt sorry as hell for…” which shows he is an emotional person, who does care for people even if he does not show this. Writer Peter Beidler in his book ‘A Reader’s Companion to J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye”’, identifies the movie that the young hooker Holden has called to his room “Sunny” refers to in chapter 13 of the book. ‘Sunny’ states that in a movie ‘a boy falls of a boat’, and the movie this event occurs in is Captains Courageous which Spencer Tracy stars in. ‘Sunny’ states that Holden looks like the boy who fell of the boat in the film. It is learnt in the book that each of the Caulfield children has literary talent: D.B Caulfield writes screenplays in Hollywood and Holden reveres D.B for his writing skill which is Holden’s own best academic subject. Holden despite this despises Hollywood industry-based movies, considering them to be the ultimate in the term “phony” as the writer has no space for his own imagination, and he describes D.B’s move to Hollywood to write films as “prostituting himself”. Allie who is Holden’s younger deceased brother wrote poetry on his baseball glove, an item Holden still has, and his younger sister Phoebe keeps a diary. The term “catcher in the rye” is an analogy for Holden, who admires children’s attributes which he struggles to find in adults. Such examples of the attributes he cannot find in adults but can find in children include: innocence, kindness, spontaneity and generosity. ‘Falling of the cliff’ could be a progression into the adult world from that off childhood which surrounds him and he strongly criticizes. Later Holden and his sister exchange roles as the “catcher” and the “fallen”, and he gives her his hunting hat, the catcher’s symbol and becomes the fallen as Phoebe becomes the catcher. |