J.D. Salinger’S The Catcher In The Rye

J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye
This paper proposes to delineate the characteristics of Holden Caulfield, the adolescent protagonist
hero of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and illuminate the reasons as to why this prototype of
brooding adolescence, displaying a rather uber–cool style of disaffection, disenchantment and
disillusionment became an indispensable figure of interest, in literary circles as well as popular
culture. The paper seeks to take issue with the wider dimensions attached to the 'incapacitation and
debilitation' Holden is often accused and address Salinger's vision behind etching Caulfield
precisely the way he is. The paper also wishes to foreground the socio–political implications that
reverberate within the rubric of the novel, Holden's characterization and his abhorrence at the
'phoniness' that surrounds him– an aspect of the novel that has oft been overlooked by critics,
reviewers and commentators alike in their attempt to mete out an avalanche of critical inquiries into
the overarching framework of timeless, transcendent morality, which manages to escape the roots of
context that bred it. Also, an important aim of the paper is to collate critical attention on Caulfield
into a cogent effort to place him in his rightful position as a remarkable hero of literary merit, akin
to the oft–discussed analogies and comparisons of him with Huck Finn, David Copperfield, Stephen
Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, Peter Pan, Natty Bumppo, Quentin Compson and the like. Towards the
end of such a
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Mysterious ways of J.D. Salinger Essay
J.D. Salinger could be considered one of the greatest, and most contrevertional authors of our time.
We only know limited things about him and his work. He has been pushed off into the woods due to
betrayal by his loved ones, and people close to him. Negative criticism of his work has also
contributed to making him leave. Not to mention the biggest factor which made him want to be left
alone, phoniness. These are the reasons that I believe why he wants to be left alone and not give
interviews, this is also what fuels the press to keep chasing after J.D.
To give a brief biography of what J.D. did up until his name was heard of, here's how it all started.
In 1934 J.D.'s father ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Franny states "I'm just sick of ego, ego, ego. My own and everybody else's. I'm sick of everybody
that wants to get somewhere, do something distinguished and all, be somebody interesting. It's
disgusting –it is, it is. I don't care what anybody says"(Salinger 29–30). Along with Franny another
one of Salinger's characters (probably his most well known) Holden Caulfield has the same set of
views. He also would like to abolish all of the phonies out there.
While reading any work by Salinger I think that he is trying to get you to look beneath just what you
see on the surface, past looks, and money. After the Herriges interview he says that the first two
passages that came into his mind where from A Perfect Day for Bananafish, and Zooey (129). In
both of these stories the characters talk of not wanting physical aspects to be looked at. This is what
I believe what Salinger is trying to do, get us to look at a person from the inside, who they really are.
Again, in the Eppes interview he tells her that about why he doesn't give autographs. He feels that
they are meaningless, and that no author with respect gives them out (234). These are some of the
reasons I feel that Salinger retreated to the woods, because these things happening in today's society.
Money and looks are what seem to matter these days.
Again the

Anything but a Failure in Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Throughout Catcher in the Rye, a novel by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield has
just been expelled from school because he failed almost all of his classes. Some may see Holden as
a failure since he got expelled from school but I believe he is not a failure and that getting expelled
is due to personal reasons. If you were to look up the definition of a failure you will find that failure
is a lack of success. People may take different views of success. For Holden, he may define success
as simply passing one or two classes at school. Others view success as getting an A in every class,
always doing your homework and showing up to class every day. The view of failure and success
varies from person to person. After failing ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
I felt so depressed, you can't imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that
sometimes when I get very depressed. I keep telling him to go home and get his bike and meet me in
front of Bobby Fallon's house."(Salinger) This quote clearly shows Holden isn't over the death of his
brother. He loved Allie and still, when he gets very depressed, talks to him. If Holden had received
proper treatment earlier for his depression and was able to talk with someone about the death of his
brother, he would most likely not failed out of numerous schools. He wasn't failing; he was trying to
cope. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden was only in high school. He had so much more time left in his
life and the best part of his life hadn't even started. Your teenage years and high school is the time to
make mistakes, learn from those mistakes and move on and fix them. The quote, "Fail early, fail
fast, fail often" is significant and meaningful, especially at this age. Failure often leads to success.
Yes, Holden had some failures in his young life but, Holden himself, is not considered a failure at
all. Look at all the success stories of athletes, musicians, and politicians. What do they often start
with? Failure. In order to succeed, you must fail. You are only considered a failure once you give up
and Holden never gave up. He attempted the extra credit essay in a class, although he did

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Sallinger
1 Explain the title.
'The Catcher in the Rye' refers to a line in a poem by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. The main
character, Holden Caulfield, explains himself what is meant with the title. He liked the idea of
catching and saving the children in the rye from the cliff, where they fall into the grown up world.
2 Who is the author? What nationality is he?
J.D. Salinger was born in New York in 1919 and died in 2010. He had Jewish parents. 'The Catcher
in the Rye' is his only novel. He also wrote some short stories, the most famous one is 'Franny and
Zooey'. He is one of the most famous Jewish–American novelists after World War Two. His books
belong to the 'minority novel' written by Jewish and Negro writers in America. 'The Catcher in the
Rye' made him extremely popular, particularly among high school and college students. Young
people felt that Salinger put his finger on what was important in the struggle between the individual
and established society.
3 In what area/country is the story set?
Initially, the story is set at the boarding school (Pencey Preparatory school). After that, Holden goes
to (his parents) in New York City.
4 When is the story set?
The story is set nowadays and takes place over a period of four days.
5 Who are the main characters?
Holden Caulfield is the main character of the book. He is a sixteen–year–old boy who has just been
expelled from Pencey Preparatory School. Holden has a big mouth. During the story, he smokes and
drinks a lot.
Ward

J.d. Salinger Essay
Born on January 1, 1919, Jerome David Salinger was to become one of America's greatest
contemporary authors. In 1938 Salinger briefly attended Ursinus College in Pennsylvania where he
wrote a column, &quot;Skipped Diploma,&quot; which featured movie reviews for his
college newspaper. Salinger made his writing debut when he published his first short story,
&quot;The Young Folks,&quot; in Whit Burnett's Story magazine (French, xiii). He was
paid only twenty–five dollars. In 1939, at the age of 20, Salinger had not acquired any readers. He
later enrolled in a creative writing class at Columbia University. Salinger was very much interested
in becoming an actor and a playwright, which was quite odd because he would later in ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
She looked as if her phone had been ringing continually ever since she had reached puberty. Muriel
has an indifferent attitude about life. She seems simple and very insecure. Muriel finds it funny that
her husband calls her &quot;Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948.&quot; This tells the reader
that she lacks self– esteem. Her simple attitude shows when she is talking to her mother on the
phone about going to Bingo one night: &quot;Anyway, after Bingo he and his wife asked me if
I wouldn't like to join them for a drink. So I did. His wife was horrible. You remember that awful
dinner dress we saw in Bonwit's window? The one you said that you'd have to have a tiny,
tiny.&quot; Muriel implies that she disliked the lady because of what she was wearing. She
alienates herself from society by believing that she is better that everyone else. Because of Muriel's
personality, Seymour cannot confide in her or feel any love in his marriage. This is why he turns to
the little girl at the beach for companionship. Seymour finds a friend and a listener in Sybil. But the
friendship of Sybil cannot mend Seymour's broken heart. He gains some strength in himself when
he finds a friend in Sybil, but he cannot seem to get past his failed marriage. Seymour is so
desperate for love that he commits suicide: Then he went over to one of the pieces of luggage,
opened it, and from under a pile of shorts and undershirts he took out an Ortgies caliber 7.65
automatic.

The Laughing Man by J.D. Salinger
J.D. Salinger (Jerome Davis Salinger) was said by some people to be one of the best American
Authors of past century. Salinger's works reflects the many experiences he had as a child. One of the
more common focuses tends to be his fascination with protecting the innocence in children.
Salinger was born in New York City an attended public school until he switched to the exclusive
McBurney School. In attending this school, Salinger was called an "academically unexceptional
student". After this he was sent to the Valley Forge Military Academy. During his time there he
added to the literary magazine and yearbook. After this he went on to NYU for a short amount of
time.
Teddy, a short story that details a young boys life, is an example of Salinger's struggle with the
corruption of a child's mind by the pursuit of knowledge. In this story Teddy McArdle is an
extremely smart boy. Similarly to the other stories in Nine Stories, this one also is about the loss of
childhood innocence and trying to get it back, even though it may be too late. Just like the others,
this one also features an adult and child relationship/interaction. Like Salinger, Teddy is interested in
eastern philosophy and believes that he has lived thousands of lives through incarnation. He also
believes that at one point in time he was very close to enlightenment. He said that the reason he
didn't reach enlightenment was because he fell in love with a girl. In his next life he said he didn't
want that to happen

Essay on J.D. Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye
J.D. Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye The novel The Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. Salinger,
contains many complex symbols, many of the symbols in the book are interconnected. A symbol is
an object represents an idea that is important to the novel. I believe the most important symbol in
this novel is Holden's idea of being the "catcher in the rye". Holden Caulfield, the main character in
the novel, is not the typical sixteen year old boy. Holden has many characteristics that aren't typical
of anyone that I know. Holden is very afraid of growing up. He feels the adult world is "phony",
everyone in it, and everything associated with it. Holden never actually states that he is afraid of
growing up, or that he hates the idea ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In Chapter 21 Holden decides to visit his sister Phoebe. Phoebe is much younger than Holden, and
loves her older brother dearly. Phoebe does not agree with Holden's reluctance to grow up though,
she actually gets mad at him. Holden has been kicked out of countless private schools, and after
being kicked out of Pency Prep, he goes to visit Phoebe in the middle night, to avoid being seen by
his parents. When she first sees him she is very excited, but then she realizes the only reason that he
would be home early would be if he had gotten kicked out of school. For the rest of the time he is
talking to her in her room practically the only thing that she says is "Daddy's gonna kill you." After
she gets mad at him about it, he thinks that Phoebe stops listening and if she is, she does not
comprehend what he's trying to say, it is then that Holden says two of the most important things in
the entire novel. When Phoebe asks Holden what he wants to be when he's older, Holden responds
with two answers that let the reader get to know way more about him, and many of his intentions
much better. The first thing he says is that he wouldn't want to be a lawyer like their father. But the
only way he'd want to be a lawyer is to held save innocent people and do pure things of that sort,
even then he's not sure if he'd be doing it to save innocent people, or just to look mature and
responsible to other adults. Here we can see

Essay on A Perfect Day For Bananafish By J.D. Salinger
A Perfect Day For Bananafish
By J.D. Salinger
A Perfect Day For Bananafish was written in 1948 by the American writer Jerome David Salinger.
This was just three years after the ending of World War II, where Salinger was stationed in Berlin,
Germany. From further analysis of the short–story I have come to the conclusion that Seymour is
Salinger's role model. Seymour has just returned from World War II, as well as Salinger had when
he wrote the story. Seymour returns to his native country very confused, dysfunctional and with
some psychic issues.
From the conversation between Muriel and her mother, we acknowledge that Seymour didn't act
normally after he has returned from the war. He destroyed "all those lovely pictures from Bermuda"
for ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Muriel, Seymour's wife, and her parents, are representing the kind of America the soldiers in World
War II return to. They are unaware of what exactly has taken place and what kinds of unexplainable
cruelties these soldiers have experienced. On top of that, Muriel and her mother seem very self–
centered and extremely shallow, which doesn't make it any better for Seymour to return to, even
though they seem to show great concern for him and his kind of behavior. For example, we are
being told about Muriel that "she was a girl who for a ringing phone dropped exactly nothing. She
looked as if her phone had been ringing continually ever since she had reached puberty."
Muriel's mother is also extremely concerned for Muriel because now Seymour has some psychic
problems, she sees him as some loony maniac. In spite of this, we know how Seymour behaves in
the episode on the beach with Sybil, and Muriel's beliefs about Seymour are therefore somehow not
entirely correct, even though Seymour does act like one in the elevator on his way back to his hotel
room.
To explain the tragic ending it's important to know that Salinger, at the time he wrote the story,
showed great interest in Zen attitudes. According to Zen attitudes suicide is not a failure, but a
triumph, which

An Analysis of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye
In J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is portrayed as a young, troubled
individual. He tells us his story from the mental institution where he is currently residing. Holden is
a 16 year old going through many different adolescent changes. He is expelled from his prep school
for flunking too many subjects. He drinks, smokes, sees a prostitute, is punched by her pimp, goes
on dates, spends a great deal of time in the park, and really does not do a great deal else. Holden is a
very hard person to figure out and analyze. Throughout the whole book, Holden constantly changes
his mind about things and has various conflicting thoughts. The experiences that Holden goes
through illustrate the divide between adults and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Adolescents today are afraid of change for many different reasons. One of the biggest reasons is the
fearing of growing up and getting older because getting older means you are closer to death
(Hennessy, 2010). The death of Holden's brother, Allie, is what caused Holden to not want to grow
up and to keep his childhood adolescence. He states that people live for a while but will eventually
just die. Holden decides to "numb himself" to his feelings about life to the point where it seems like
he is no longer truly living but is just going through the motions day by day. Going through
adolescence can be a difficult time. At some times it may feel like everyone is against you. This is
similar to what Holden experienced in Catcher in the Rye. He continuously tried to alienate himself
from society; he suffers from a self–imposed delusion that he is different. Throughout the story,
Holden realizes that growing up indicates that he should assume responsibility in a world where he
thinks only superficial and insignificant issues occur (Abdulatif, 2010). Holden is caught in the
transition of his life– from the state of childhood into adulthood. According to the article "Alienation
in Adolescence in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye," alienation is a feeling that inflicts
adolescents due to certain reasons. As they grow up, adolescents tend to face certain psychological
disturbances. They somehow feel indifferent to their

J.D Saligner, The Cather in the Rye
Holden Caulfield's Psychological State: An Analysis In J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye,
the main character Holden Caulfield's life is affected by an inability to connect with others and an
intense fear of sexuality. Many readers may infer that Holden has a fear of adulthood and sexuality
because he is unable to move past his younger brother Allie's death. While Holden's fear and
rejection of sexuality may be linked to his inability to move on, Holden's deeply negative reactions
to hints of intimacy may stem from a deeper cause: an unresolved, unwanted sexual event in his
past. The biggest indicator and closest mention of such an event comes up when Holden stays the
night at his former schoolteacher Mr. Antolini's house. Holden awakes to Mr. Antolini petting
Holden's head in the middle of the night. Although this may have been an innocent act, it brings up
an intense reaction from Holden where he "was shaking like a madman. [He] was sweating a lot,
too." This occurs "when something perverty happens," which Holden says has "happened to [him]
about twenty times since [he] was a kid" (Salinger 193). Victims of sexual abuse "may experience...
nightmares or flashbacks" and Holden acts as if he had a flashback to previous abuse (Adult
Manifestations par. 4). Though Holden does have a history of exaggerating and lying, his reaction is
a clear statement that some unwanted sexual event occurred when Holden was a child. With such an
event occurring in his childhood,

J.D Salinger’s Franny and Zooey Essay
The Pessimistic and Bitter Franny Glass of J.D Salinger's Franny and Zooey
Young adulthood is often a time for maturing spiritually. Franny Glass, the protagonist of J.D
Salinger's novel, Franny and Zooey, began to question her religious beliefs, during this time of
spiritual growth. Franny's quest for religion caused her to become pessimistic, bitter, and
emotionally unstable. Franny held many strong beliefs that caused her to view her surroundings
pessimistically. After spending three years contently in college, Franny changed her view of the
college experience. She decided that college was "one more dopey inane place in the world.';
(Salinger, 146) She failed to see college as a place that allows one to increase his or her ... Show
Similarly, Franny felt she was "sick of liking people and wished to g–d she would meet somebody
she could respect. Franny's extreme bitterness caused her to feel no respect towards others. As a
result of Franny's problematic religious questions, she viewed her surroundings very bitterly. During
Franny's young adulthood, she underwent a period of emotional instability. She felt as if she was a
patient "in a lunatic asylum'; (Salinger, 192), and her brother, Zooey, was "another patient';
(Salinger, 192) who attempted to treat her. By comparing herself to a patient in an asylum, Franny
acknowledged the fact that she was emotionally unstable. Even though Franny was "losing weight
like mad and worrying Bessie and Les';(Salinger, 149), she still refused to eat or seek help. Although
Zooey constantly advised Franny that she "[didn't] have enough sense to eat, when someone
[brought] her [food]';, Franny was so overwhelmed with her religious quest that she disregarded her
need for food. As a result of Franny's pessimistic views

The Battle of Adolescence in The Catcher in the Rye by...
Adolescence is stressful and confusing to say the least, and is a time in one's life where one begins
to discover who they are and what they want as they transition into the adult world. In J.D.
Salinger's classic American novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden, is a
downhearted teenage boy used by Salinger in order to portray universal themes to the reader
including isolation, loss of innocence, and the phoniness of the adult world. Through Salinger's use
of symbolism, the reader is able to ponder Holden and his struggles as he embarks into adulthood in
order to come to a deeper understanding of the themes Salinger's symbols represent. One of the most
widely recognized symbols of the book is Holden's curiosity about the ducks in Central Park.
Holden longs for answers to his question of where the ducks go in the winter. "The ducks. Do you
know by any chance? I mean does somebody come around in a truck or something and take them
away, or do they fly away by themselves–go south or something? (107). As the ice freezes over the
pond and winter comes, the ducks leave, able to escape the brutal winter and the ice for a more
pleasant, warmer climate to the south. Holden longs to avoid being apart of the adult world that is
engulfed with phoniness, but is unable to understand how to do so. "The fish don't go no place. They
stay right where they are, the fish. Right in the goddamn lake... Their bodies take in nutrition and all,
right through the goddamn seaweed and

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Is this book about baseball? Is the main character an outfielder? Do I really have to read all of it, or
can I use SparkNotes? These were the first questions that came to my mind when I received the first
assignment notice that we would be reading The Catcher in the Rye for English class. The title is
most likely the single most important word choice that the author must make. J.D. Salinger uses the
title in the book to allude to more than just when Holden sees the young child singing. J.D.
Salinger's title, The Catcher in the Rye, alludes to the conflict Holden faces of sexuality when
growing up. The first reference made to the title of the book is when Holden is found in his usual
setting of roaming the streets of Manhattan depressed. He passes by a family that is leaving church.
When he walks by he notices the little boy is singing "If a body catch a body coming through the
rye". For a moment, this makes Holden not so depressed because he is a fan of little children and
their innocence to the world. The references to the title of the book disappear until a few chapters
later when Phoebe corrects Holden that it is "if a body meets a body". She also corrects him on the
fact that it is not a song, but rather a poem written by Robert Burns. Delving deeper, I looked at the
entire poem by Robert Burns. The poem reads as the following: "Coming thro' the Rye" (1796)
Coming thro' the rye, poor body, Coming thro' the rye, She draiglet a' her petticoatie Coming thro'
the

Many people have different aspects and impressions on a teenager's life. Some say society is the
problem for their misbehaviours while others say it is the child who is responsible. Catcher in the
Rye by J.D Salinger tells a story of a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield who gets kicked out from
school to school. He never pushed himself in academics or anything and ended up failing, at most,
everything. He re–tells what happened to him in New York after he got kicked out of Pencey Prep
and secretly spends two nights in New York City. What is a misfit? A misfit is a person who is
unable to adjust or fit into his or her current situation. While Holden surround himself with members
of society who push Holden down throughout the story, he is a misfit in his own ways. Three
important elements that cause him to become a misfit: not accepting his little brother's death,
growing up, and backing out on reality. Holden has a couple of siblings in the novel one in particular
who he keeps bringing up is his little brother Allie who died of leukemia. Holden has had a hard
time accepting his death. Allie and Holden were very close and Allie's death affects Holden in a very
negative way. He has a hard time letting his brother go; almost as if he does not want to forget and
move on. "My brother had this left–handed fielders mitt glove....you'd have liked him"
(Salinger,38). Holden has to write a writing arrangement on any topic for his teacher Stradlater, and
he picked Allie's

A Perfect Day for Banafish by J.D. Salinger
I used to drew on the bills when I was five year old, my mom stoped me and told me I should not
draw on the bills because those bills are not regular paper. I will not draw on the bill any more since
I understand bills can fulfill my wants. Every adults live in material life, there is impossible for one
can go back to innocence. Similar to time goes by, from innocence to materialism also irreversible.
In the story " A perfect day for bananafish", J.D Salinger narrates that a return world war II soldier,
Seymour Glass, who has mental trauma vacationing with his wife in Florida. His wife parents worry
his mental condition and he has difficultly communicate with other people; he meets sybil and share
the store about "bananafish"; he finish himself after finds the innocence. In the short store, Salinger
uses the characterization, symbolism, and irony to illustrate that is futile search for innocence. The
protagonist in "A perfect day for bananafish," Seymour, is a world war II soldier who returns home
with mental trauma. According to the dialogue between Seymour's wife and his parent in law, he
crushes his father in law's car; his mother in law wants them divorce because she worries her
daughter accompanies with a psychopath. But his wife does not care his mental condition. "" When I
think of how you waited for that boy all through the war–I mean when you think of all those crazy
little wives who – "" Mother, "said the girl," we'd better hang up Seymour may come in any

Immaturity of Holden in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in...
Immaturity of Holden in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye In J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the
Rye, the main character, Holden, cannot accept that he must move out of childhood and into
adulthood. One of Holden's most important major problems is his lack of maturity. Holden also has
a negative perspective of life that makes things seem worse than they really are. In addition to
Holden's problems he is unable to accept the death of his brother at a young age. Holden's
immaturity, negative mentality, and inability to face reality hold him back from moving into
adulthood. Holden's immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is
physically mature, he acts more like a child. "All of a sudden I ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Carl is in college, and he is more adult like than a teenager. Holden asks Carl childish questions, and
Carl does not like it. Holden does not recognize that he is immature, and he cannot grow into
adulthood without maturity. Holden is unable to accept realities of life because of his negative
personality. He claims that many people are phony and that they try to do things to make them look
better than they are. Holden also thinks of many things as depressing. "It was really nice sightseeing,
if you know what I mean. In a way, it was sort of depressing, too, because you kept wondering what
the hell would happen to all of them" (p. 123). Holden always finds a down side to a situation. He
fails to recognize the good sides of life, and this prevents him from seeing advantages in adulthood
that are not present in his life. The death of Holden's brother Allie at a young age adds to Holden's
negativity as well as stopping Holden from accepting inevitable change. Allie dies immaturely of
leukemia. "I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist,
just for the hell of it" (p. 39). Holden is in the hospital because he broke his fist, and he was unable
to attend Allie's funeral. Holden has trouble accepting Allie's death because he never said goodbye
to Allie. His relationship with Allie is similar to his maturity. Just as Holden is unable to accept his
brother's death, Holden is not able to accept that

Alienation and Isolation in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D....
In Touch with Society In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger discusses the ideas of alienation and
isolation. He notes that if one is unable to keep up with society they lose touch. Salinger portrays
alienation and isolation through literary devices such as symbolism. Some of the symbolic features
use in the novel is Holden's red hunting hat which shows Holden's uncommon desire compared to
society's desires. Another significant symbolic feature is the catcher in the rye; this represents
Holden's idea of protecting children from maturing as adults and facing reality. Another literary
device is tone, although Holden seems preoccupied, he constantly tries to seek companionship
throughout the book. J.D. Salinger also portrays irony, it is ironic that Holden calls the people
around him loners and phonies when he, himself is a loner and a phony that refuses to accept taking
on responsibilities and growing up. The literary devices used in this novel, further support Salinger's
recurring theme of alienation and isolation. One of the literary devices in this novel is symbolism.
Holden's red hunting hat is the symbolic feature that alienates him from society. Ackley tells Holden
"Up home we wear a hat like that to shoot deer in, for Chrissake... That's a deer shooting hat"
(Salinger 30), meaning Holden's hat is only worn while hunting. Holden does not seem to care much
for Ackley's opinion and he wears it anyways. This shows Holden's individuality and his uncommon
desire compared

Catcher in the Rye Essay Throughout Catcher in the Rye there are a lot of small parts of the story
where it would be linked to the book and to the text all together. J.D. Salinger created a lot of
important passages that would be associated with what type of message that he was trying to convey
to the audience. Salinger would develop certain characters like Phoebe through her description and
actions to have a influence on Holden, thus causing him to change as a character and reveal sides of
him that the audience hasn't seen before. Phoebe really influenced Holden throughout the entire
book. When he takes her to the movies Phoebe is able to differentiate and tell if Holden is taking her
for a good or bad movie. Yet she does not mind if the movie is bad or good. "You'd like her...she
knows it's a pretty good movie" (67). Holden talks a lot about about his sister in this part. Since he is
talking a lot about her it shows how important she is to Holden. By doing this it displays how great
Phoebe is. Phoebe is this super smart person and Holden likes to compare her to Alie. Through
Holden's dialogue it seems that he really emphasizes on how he loved the red of hair of both Phoebe
and Alie. Both of them did have red hair that Holden liked a lot and both are really young when
Holden describes them. This shows that Holden likes them being young and Salinger emphasizes on
how Holden loves kids because of their innocence. Holden wants to try to preserve this innocence in

J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye
Responsibility is considered to be a natural addition to life as people grow older. Holden Caulfield
struggles to accept his responsibility in his life throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye. During
the course of the novel, Holden experiences the sudden pressure of responsibility caused by his
actions. As his counter attack to the unwanted situations he faces, Holden does what most people
would do and rejects the direction his life is now headed. Holden Caulfield shows his revulsion to
accept responsibility through his self–proclaimed adulthood, confusion of independence, and being
blinded by his own emotions. Holden does not realize his misconstrued state in life. He believes he
is an adult; however he is clearly a young man who has lost his way in life. He has every confidence
that the world works in the way he imagines and even says: "It's funny. All you have to do is say
something nobody understands and they'll do practically anything you want (Salinger 84)." Holden
displays a sense of arrogance in the way that he envisions that he is better than the rest of the world.
Holden believes he is an adult who knows how to handle himself, but he must constantly rely on the
guidance of his little sister Phoebe for direction in his life (Svogun n.p.). Holden is just a boy who
portrays himself as more than he is, but soon realizes that what he believes himself to be is in fact
not genuine. In modern times, numerous teenagers are eager to be adults. They glorify the idea of

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger, consists of many minor characters. There are more than
about sixty characters in the novel in which only three of them are major characters (Holden, Allie,
and Phoebe) and the rest minor. Many of these characters are just mentioned with no lasting impact
on either the novel itself or Holden. Salinger uses minor characters in the Catcher in the Rye to tell
the readers about Holden and his views about the world. The first minor character seen in the
Catcher in the Rye is D.B. Caulfield, his older brother. D.B. is a successful screenplay writer for
Hollywood. Salinger uses D.B to illustrate Holden's view of Hollywood. "Now he's out in
Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute" (Salinger 4). To Holden, D.B is someone who sold his talents
for money. Holden views people in Hollywood as people who sell their talent. Salinger also uses
D.B, towards the end of the novel, to convey Holden's view of war. According to Holden, the army
was "full of bastards as the Nazis were" (Salinger 103). Holden would rather volunteer to sit on top
of a bomb and die then to go to war. Mr. Spencer is another minor character Salinger uses to
illustrate Holden's view of adults. Holden sees Mr. Spencer as someone old and dependent. Mr.
Spencer is someone who doesn't "know his ass from his elbow" (12). This shows Holden's view of
adulthood, an old age where they become dependent on others and become ill and old. Holden
doesn't see adults as smart either, mainly

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Essay
Holden's Valuable Accessory "The Catcher in the Rye" is a 1950's novel written by J.D. Salinger. It
tells a story about a teenage boy who travels to multiple locations throughout New York after being
kicked out of his school, Pencey. Throughout the book, Salinger uses numerous amount of
symbolism to show the feelings of the main character, Holden Caulfield. One of the most recognized
symbol is Holden's red hunting hat. It is present in many situations and has abundance amount of
symbolic characteristics. The red hunting hat plays an important role to Holden and represents his
individuality, safety, as well as his strive for childhood innocence.
In the beginning of the story, Holden buys the red hunting hat while in New York for a ... Show
While Holden was leaving Pencey, Holden places the hat on his head before saying, "[...]Sleep tight,
ya morons! I'll bet I woke up every bastard on the whole floor. Then I got the hell out" (Salinger 29).
Holden does not voice his opinions, but with his hat on he feels protected enough to say what he
feels. The hat gives Holden a sense of strength and protection to live in the world in which he calls,
"phoniness". Holden's hunting hat symbolizes the fight between himself and wanting to remain a
child forever. Towards the end of the novel, Holden feels like he no longer needs the hat so he gives
it to his little sister, Phoebe, "Then I took my hunting hat out of my coat pocket and gave it to her.
She likes those kind of crazy hats" (Salinger 97). Holden is trying to protect her from the phoniness
world by giving her a valuable piece of clothing that kept him protected. While Holden and Phoebe
were on the carousel ride Holden says, "My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection, in a
way; but I got soaked anyway" (Salinger 114). Although, the hat gave him protection from the rain
he still says that he got soaked anyway. At this point Holden realizes that the hat does not protect
him from the rain and realizes that he cannot be protect from adulthood forever by wearing his hat.
Holden now believes nothing cannot remain the same forever and has to face that fact that he is soon
entering

The Writings of J.D. Salinger Essay
The Writings of J.D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger, known as J.D., is an American short story writer and novelist. He was born
on January 1, 1919 and is still alive at the age of 81. J.D. Salinger was born and raised in Manhattan.
He went to prep school at Valley Forge Military Academy from 1934–1936. He spent 5 months in
Europe when he was 18 or 19 years old. Then, in 1937 and 1938 he studied at Ursinus College and
New York University. From 1939 to 1942, he went to Columbia University where he decided to
become a writer. Salinger published short story collections and one novel. His best known work,
The Catcher in the Rye, was published in 1951. The short stories he wrote were "Nine Stories" in
1953, "Franny and Zooey" in 1961, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
By the time they make it through the end of the story they have changed for the better. One of these
characters that he writes about in this situation is Holden Caufield in The Catcher in the Rye. He
starts off in a bad situation because he has just flunked out of his third private boarding school. He
finally gives up life on his own in Manhattan and returns home in solitude where he finds happiness.
The critics found these situations that the characters were in debatable (Hamilton 113).
In "Franny and Zooey," Franny and Zooey Glass are an example of Salinger's misfit characters of
the 60s. They are brother and sister who are super–intelligent freaks and cannot deal with society or
reality. The controversy comes when they must chose between Salinger's two worlds – the real or
phony. Their older brothers teach them Zen Buddhism and many other religions and philosophies.
Salinger uses this religious theme with these two characters to show how they have to deal with
their world of religion and how they have to stop using religion to deal with their problems (Green).
This religious theme was a controversial one for the author. Salinger often uses religion for comfort.
He leads his characters on a journey for happiness through religion. It is a way to free them. Salinger
uses much of the Zen philosophy to attain this freedom. The Zen Philosophy was a new sect of
Buddhism that

In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a very complex
and interesting person to take into consideration and psychoanalyze. His various traits make him a
different person from the rest of the phonies in the world. Holden says, "All you do is make a lot of
dough and play golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink Martinis and look like a hot–shot. How
would you know you weren't being a phony? The trouble is, you wouldn't." What Holden doesn't
realize is that he is a phony as well. This is ironic because he says you don't know if you are a
phony, but he is. Salinger's life is reflected in the book, there are many similarities to his life and
Holden's. Holden is a perfect example of Freud's ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Honest to God, we could have a terrific time" (Salinger 137). This is his dream for himself and
Sally. He wants to run away with Sally but she is more reasonable person. She tells him they can't
just do that. He gets mad and they start arguing. Him imagining the vision is a way to escape the real
world. "However, according to Freud, when the desired object... isn't available, the ID [unconscious
urges and desires], is able to achieve some partial gratification by forming a mental image of the
desired object" (Nevid 470). According to Freud, by imagining himself and Sally he feels a little
better and has a brief good moment. This comes crumbling down when Sally doesn't agree. They
automatically start arguing with each other. Another instance of him imagining things is his hunting
hat. "I sort of closed one eye, like I was taking aim at it. 'This is a people shooting hat,' I said. 'I
shoot people in this hat" (Salinger 22). He imagines shooting people. He gets mad when Ackley says
it is a dear shooting hat. He says he doesn't like phonies, so most likely the people he shoots are the
people he doesn't like. The hat can represent his inner child since children usually play pretend guns.
Like Freud said this is what Holden does to get some gratification by using his imagination. Holden
also says that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. This would be his true dream to help children.
His fantasy worlds are a way to balance his emotions as he goes from the real

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Sallinger
Holden Caufield, a college kid who goes to Pencey he especially hates phonies and dislike adult,
Ackley, strathader and Mr Spencer, he also likes to comment on a lot of people especially is friends
and teachers. Holden is denying his maturity and his loss of his brother by acting if he was there
around him every day. In the book (Catcher in the Rye) one of the major symbols are the ducks and
where they go. In Catcher in the Rye the ducks represent the youth and the willingness of exploring
the world. The ducks also represent curiosity because Holden doesn't know where they are going
when the winters hits. Holden doesn't want to know because he hates changes and hates when
people leave. Even though he knows it's only temporary and the ducks will come back in the spring,
he still doesn't want to know where the ducks are going. Just like his brother he doesn't want to
accept his brother death. He will always be thinking that is brother is with him unendingly, almost
every day he would talk to his brother who is dead and acts like he is still alive. By acting that way
we know that Holden doesn't want to grow up and doesn't want to know the truth because he thinks
that the truth will hurt it. Holden is scared of the pain that he will have if he believes that his brother
and the ducks are gone. Holden will always have the same mentality when he will be a young adult
and a full grown adult. When Holden ask about the ducks with the taxi driver and the taxi driver
says "They go

J.D. Salinger is Holden Caulfield
Jerome David Salinger is an odd character with a colorful background. He was a young man unable
to complete college and obtain a degree, yet he was made very popular due to his writing abilities.
"Despite his slim body of work and reclusive lifestyle, 'Salinger' was one of the more influential
twentieth century American writers." states Biography.com, "His landmark novel, Catcher in the
Rye, set a new course for literature in post World War II America." The Catcher in the Rye told a
story of Holden Caulfield and his struggle to find something pure in a world filled with "phonies"
(Biography). It is arguable that some of Holden's experiences could be comparitively
autobiographical to Salinger's real life. Much like J.D. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
While attending Ursinus College, Salinger wrote a column in the school's weekly newspaper, and
many described his pieces as entertaining and laughable (Notable Biography). He also fell in love
with a woman by the name of Oona O'Neill writing her letters almost daily, and was heartbroken
when she married someone much older than herself (Liukkonen). Readers of The Catcher in the Rye
can clearly see Salinger's romantic rejection in his writing. When Holden's roommate, Stradlater,
goes on a date with Holden's friend, Jane Gallagher he is filled with jealousy and feels that
Stradlater too old for Jane and will make sexual advances towards her because he is more sexually
experienced (Salinger, J.D., 52). Both Salinger and Holden share many failed attempts to find a
relationship that is worthwhile. Holden's failed attempts are, Sally Hayes, Jane Gallagher, the
prostitute, and the three older woman in the lounge. Salinger's include his first love, Oona, and his
two marriages that left him in divorce. Salinger returned home and began taking night classes at
Columbia University from professor Whit Burnett (Biography). Biography.com says, " Burnett
wasn't just a good teacher, he was the editor of Story magazine, an influential publication that
showcased short stories." Burnett would give Salinger's life an entirely differently

J.D Salinger is a very known american writer whose literature became very popular. His books
revolved around many ideas such as his view on children. Children in many of his books have an
innocence that Salinger grasps onto and makes adults corrupt. Also, he shows how children are
teachers to adults but can still be foolish.
Purity in children are expressed throughout many stories by Salinger. In Catcher In the Rye, Holden
repeatedly expressed "Did you ask her if she still keeps all her kings in back row?"(42). He kept the
idea of purity with jane(the girl he asked about) and only saw her as still a child and not as a teenage
girl already having sex. The thought of someone maturing and losing their innocence is portrayed as
a bad thing in many stories. For instance, when the words "F*ck You" were written on the walls of
Holdens little sister Phoebe school, he instantly assumes someone older snuck in who doesn't belong
around children came and did it. In his mind, he doesn't see children writing swear word or having
sex; he sees them doing the opposite and trying to ignore them. When dealing with children, adults
tend to ignore reality and dumb down to their level and way of thinking. As shown in A Perfect Day
for Bananafish by Salinger, Seymour (the adult) meets with a Sybil (young girl) and makes up
imaginary creatures such as a Bananafish and they look for it. Also, they talk about things they
enjoy, but keeping a sense of humor :
"Do you like wax?" Sybil asked.
"Do I

Evil and Corruption in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D....
Evil and Corruption in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden views the world as an evil and corrupt place where there is no
peace. His view of the world does not change much through the novel. However as the novel
continues, Holden gradually comes to the realization that he is powerless to change this. In the book
Holden succeeds in making us think that the world is crazy. Shortly after Holden leaves Pencey
Prep, he checks in to the Edmont Hotel in Manhattan which was "full of perverts and morons. There
were screwballs all over the place." His situation only worsens from this point on as the more he
looks around this world, the more depressing life seems. Around every corner ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
At one point he thinks about heading out west where he would pretend to be a deaf–mute and live a
quiet life. At another point Holden proposes to Sally to escape this world with him. It is finally to his
younger sister Phoebe that Holden reveals his whole plan. Although Holden describes the situation
in a very attractive manner, he basically tells Phoebe that he wants to prevent children from growing
up. He blames the world's evil on adults and believes that when he stops the children from growing
up he will save their innocence and the world. It takes most of the book before Holden begins to
realize that he is helpless to stop this corruption. Finally, he realizes that not only is there nothing
that he can do, but there is nowhere he can go to hide from it. It takes Holden awhile to understand
this. One good example is when Holden is delivering the note to his sister. He encounters an
expletive written on the wall. Holden careful rubs this off with his hand so as to protect the innocent
children from reading it. Later on he finds the same expletive scratched into the surface with a knife.
He discovers that he can't erase this one. Even in the timeless peace of the Egyptian tomb room at
the museum there is an un–erasable expletive. This situation is the beginning of Holden's
understanding that his dreams of protecting youngsters are hopeless. Ironically enough, it is one of
the "innocent" children that he

Corruption in Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
If you were to witness something corrupt, what would you do? Would you try to stop it? Or would
you just look the other way and pretend it was not there? In today's society, corruption is almost
everywhere, and too often, people just look the other way, allowing it to continue. In writing The
Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger attempts to show people the evils of a corrupt society, and how it
can harm anyone. He does this through Holden's experiences at Pencey and in NYC, as well as the
uncertainty and confusion that Holden feels about sex.
While he is at Pencey, Holden experiences corruption many times. This may be one of the reasons
that he does not try in his classes. At some point, he joins a secret fraternity, not because he wants ...
Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
But when the prostitute arrives, she is around Holden's age, is nervous, and just wants to get it over
with. This makes Holden even more uneasy, because he realizes that she might have been like any
other girl his age, but she has been corrupted. This is one reason that he is unable to go through with
it, the other being that Holden does not feel like he can connect with her. Another time this
confusion and uncertainty is shown is when Holden is thinking about Stradlater and Jane. He is
worried that Stradlater will corrupt Jane, a girl whom Holden still cares for, by seducing her to have
sex with him. Stradlater is "unscrupulous" (40), and most of the time he does succeed in having sex
with the girl; once, he got close to doing it with Holden and Holden's date in the car with them.
Stradlater is corrupt in this way, because he is promiscuous and corrupts the girls he dates. But even
Stradlater is not as corrupt as Luce, the Student Advisor he had while he was at Whooton. While
Holden is waiting for Luce to arrive at the Wicker Bar, he thinks about the time when he went to
Whooton, another private school, and Luce was his Student Advisor. Instead of advising the
students, Luce would "give these sex talks...late at night, when there [were] a bunch of guys in his
room" (143). These "guys" were young boys, and the fact that Luce is

Catcher in the Rye Essay Anyone who has lost a beloved relative to cancer or other illnesses can
understand how difficult it is to return to a normal living routine and move on with their lives
without the relative. In J.D. Salinger's novel, Holden Caulfield has to deal with the loss of his
younger brother to leukemia. A few years after his younger brother, Allie, passed away, Holden finds
himself being kicked out of yet another boarding school, this one being Pencey Prep in
Pennsylvania. Holden decides to leave school three days before he is supposed to go home and
catches a train back home to New York. In those three days, Holden thinks about his late brother a
lot, attempts to speak to people in his own cryptic way with confusing questions, speaks to his
younger sister, Phoebe, in the dead of night, and works his way towards an emotional breakdown,
all while ignoring his own needs to keep himself well. Sleeping and eating a precious few times,
Holden makes himself sick and delirious in a short 72 hours. In Salinger's novel The Catcher in the
Rye, one can tell by analyzing the novel that Salinger uses the red hunting hat and the museum to
show that dealing with the death of a loved one can be overwhelming for young people who don't
know how to cope properly. One way that J.D. Salinger explores dealing with death is through his
use of Holden's red hunting hat. When Holden first uses his hat, he states, "I took off my coat and
my tie and unbuttoned my shirt collar, and

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Our beliefs shape our perception of the world around us and the people in it. These beliefs have
shaped Holden Caulfield's perception greatly of the world around him, the protagonist from J.D.
Salinger's novel ''Catcher in the Rye''. In this case, these beliefs begin to force Holden into having a
disillusioned perspective of his surroundings. He is unwilling to accept many of life's realities
including; change, dishonesty, and conformity. Thus by him not being able to accept this, he is
ultimately unable to find happiness in life.
Holden is unwilling to accept the reality of change in his own life. This fear is especially evident
when he goes to the museum; The museum cases are very symbolic in the novel as Holden sees it as
being a never changing atmosphere which brings him comfort in knowing. Holden doesn't want to
grow up and the museum reinforces this. ''Certain things should stay the way they are. You ought to
be able to stick them in one of those big cases and just leave them alone.'' (Salinger 16–25.).
Through this quote he's making an explicit connection between the Indian Room at the museum
(where the displays stay the same) and the children (who are always changing). He looks around the
museum and see's many children that will eventually grow older. He despises this growth and fears
for them. The museum conveys Holden's idolization of a world in which he wishes to live in; it's a
world which represents his ''catcher in the rye'' fantasy, a world where everything

Analysis Of Grey 's Anatomy And Anatomy
Over the course of years Medical TV shows give excitement to viewers. Recently, Grey's Anatomy
has grown to be a very popular show, but has been numerously compared to Scrubs. When more
attention is called to this, similarities are present. For example, the storytelling of each show, the
platforms, and the classification of characters. There are even claims that lead to believe Grey's
Anatomy copied Scrubs.
In Grey's Anatomy, it starts off with Meredith Gray being the main character and narrating
throughout most of the episodes. She is an intern at a new hospital along with 4 others who will be
alongside of her. On the first day of being an intern doctor they are assigned to a resident in which
that resident is in charge of showing ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
When looking at the platforms of the shows, it is noticeable that in Grey's Anatomy the main
character is a woman who narrates the show and is best friends with another intern woman. On
Scrubs J.D. also known as John Dorian is the narrator, but he is a man and is best friends with a
male intern. The interns in Grey's Anatomy are more competitive and confident in performing daily
procedures, but in Scrubs the interns try to be competitive and are not very confident in hard
situations. Another difference is that In Grey's Anatomy the scenes are centered around drama and
romance that there is going on around the hospital, with some humor and on Scrubs it is more about
jokes and sometimes drama. And of course, the nurses are viewed differently in both shows, In
Grey's Anatomy the nurses are not treated well and are ranked lower than the doctors. In Scrubs the
nurses are a big help and include funny aspects of them being better than the intern doctors. It is
obvious that there are no two shows that are exactly the same, but these are some aspects that make
them somewhat different but parallel.
Getting an overview of the 2 shows can be wide opening for there are characters in Grey's Anatomy
that resemble some from Scrubs. When classifying the characters in both shows, many similarities
are present.
Taking a closer look at Dr. Cox from Scrubs and Dr. Karev from Grey's Anatomy it is noticeable that
in the hospital both characters seem to

The Catcher in the Rye a novel written by J.D. Salinger, the book starts off with Holden Caulfield,
main protagonist, talks about his experience alone the weekend before he went home after getting
kicked out of Pencey Prep.Holden seems to be embracing the growing up mentality yet he is
frighten of adulthood he is trying to keep his innocence. Holden's attitude toward life in general is
perplexed. He pretends to be an adult by drinking heavily, yet he complains like a child. Holden's
thoughts aren't what an average sixteen year old boy would think about. He describes death in a
peculiar way and he pretends to be injured often yet he hasn't been in that position before. He is a bit
violent and sexual for a kid his age. He lies about his age to certain people he meets. He tries to lose
his virginity to a prostitute but he doesn't go through with it. Holden isn't a straightforward guy
because he shys away with his lies. In other words, Holden tries to act like an adult at times, but he
is actually extremely terrified of the adult life. Throughout the book, Holden tries to talk and act as a
mature person around other adults, yet can't restrain himself from acting as an immature teenager.
Holden at a young age obviously lost his innocence; he talks about the many things that annoys him.
He curses and judges everything that he sees. Holden interprets people's action differently because
according to him, everyone has different motives. In Holden's mind, he seems to think that

J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey Essay
J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey
Works Cited Missing
In the novel Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger uses the Glass family to deliver his beliefs on religion
and society during this time. One way in which he does this is by delivering the novel into two short
stories. One deals with Franny, a young female who is at a crossroad with her beliefs, and the other
deals with her brother Zooey who tries to help his sister through her difficulties. Once this book was
published in 1961, it was an instant hit and made its way to the best–seller list. Over the years there
were many critical essays written discussing Salinger's intended purpose for this novel. In A Preface
for "Franny and Zooey" John P. McIntyre explores whether Salinger's main ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
In Salinger's work, the two estates–the world and the cutely sensitive young – never really touch at
all...Zooey and Franny and Buddy (like Seymour before them) know that the great mass of
prosperous spirituals savages in our society will never understand them"(McIntyre 2). What is seems
McIntyre is trying to say is that these characters' ideas about religion and society don't mix at all.
They are two totally different entitles, and if they were to mix, then it would ruin the whole purpose
of the novel itself. If these two did mix then the lessons learned through the novel would be lost.
Franny along with the reader learn that it's important to honor others even if they are hard to deal
with for example like the feelings that Franny has towards her college professors. Also that this
separations shows that the story is about love just as much as religion and spirituality.
The next example demonstrating Salinger's spiritual focus through the prayer which Franny reads in
the little green book. The book is first seen when Franny explains to Lane that this specific prayer is
where you repeat the same phrase "Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me" over and over until it
becomes part of you. Franny also explains that she likes this prayer because it helps purify her mind
and it becomes almost like a heart beat. When Zooey helps Franny though her breakdown he says to
her, "You can say the Jesus Prayer from

The Importance of Censoring in The Catcher in the Rye by...
J.D. Salinger was an American author well known for his best seller The Catcher in the Rye, a
considerably influential novel that portrayed the feelings of alienation that were experienced by
adolescents in North America after World War II ("J.D. Salinger Biography"). Salinger's work
appeared in many magazines, including a series of short stories which inspired many new authors
("J.D. Salinger Biography"). His inspiration for Pencey Prep boarding school in The Catcher in the
Rye stemmed from his own difficult education at a military school (Feeney). Salinger went through
an emotional series of events after being drafted into the army during World War II, and it is evident
that his story is very reflective of his own negative views of the ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Its profanity has been declared in numerous states, as parents claim to be fearful that their children
will be scarred by the events and foul language in the novel (Reiff). This fear has been elevated so
much, in fact, that in the 1960s there were "teachers from Kentucky, Okla, Tulsa, and Louisville"
that almost lost their jobs for assigning the novel to their classes. As a result of this, the book was
prohibited in many school libraries (Dutra). Many people in North America also find the references
to sexual acts and prostitution to be completely disturbing, and consider them to be pornographic
and "encouraging of "premarital sex, homosexuality and perversion" (Reiff). This concern was
much more prominent in the years leading up to the 1970s, when most of society was not open to
this type of literature. Additionally, rebellion and deception are consistently displayed in Holden's
thoughts and actions, and his obsession with human intimacy may send the message to young people
that sexual intercouse is an appropriate thing for a person to discuss and think about regularly. When
accounting for all of this, it is difficult to argue that the The Catcher in the Rye should not be
censored. Despite the high amounts of foul language, deception, and vulgarity that many justify as
reason enough to ban the novel, many critics argue that the story gives young readers that

The Story of J.D. Salinger
The Story of J. D. Salinger J. D. Salinger became one of the most popular and known American
authors in America today. Up to this day students from all over the country have read and purchased
the novel "The Catcher in the Rye" which was a novel that was not so long ago controversial due to
vulgar language, sexual references, and unacceptable behavior; parents were concerned that J. D.
Salinger's novel was going to influence their children. Salinger was one of many authors that stood
out more from a group of authors that wrote simply about society. Salinger on the other hand
criticised the society by using the word "phony" most of the time. The word phony meant fake,
false, and fraudulent and by the 1950's the word became used more and more frequently. Some of
Salinger's famous pieces of work like Nine Stories, Franny and Zooey, The Catcher in the Rye , and
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction presented themes such as
love,war, death, and the reminiscing of something. The themes widely connected to J. D. Salinger
by reason of his personal experiences and character traits . The success of J. D. Salinger was reached
by personally experiencing the drafting to war and actively writing about his surroundings.
Jerome David Salinger, the talented author born in New York had a decent stable life growing up
with both of his parents and sister. Jerome David Salinger lived comfortable throughout his
childhood. Many authors go through a smooth

Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger's classic coming of age tale The Catcher in the
Rye, entices readers through his hyper–critical scrutinization of the post–war consumer world. The
novel itself is acclaimed to be quite autobiographical; the similarities between Salinger and Holden
are numerous. Holden is an avid critic of materialistic American ideals, and he aims to preserve
innocence in others, and to save himself from falling into the land of adulthood. After failing out of
prep school, Holden retires to the streets of New York City, searching for the little purity he has left.
Through Holden's manic and depressive moods, his language, and his relationship with his sister,
Holden's desire to escape the "phoniness" ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Costello states, "...Holden uses theses phrases to such an overpowering degree that they become a
clear part of the flavor of the book; they become, more, a part of Holden himself..." (Costello 33). A
major phrase which Holden uses is "It really is" or "It really did". These affirmative phrases
demonstrate how Holden longs to fortify his honesty and avoid slipping into the world of "phonies".
In addition, Holden's diction is identifiable at a mature level and at a young level. For example,
Holden makes use of vocabulary such as "suspicious" and "terrific", yet he abuses basic grammar
through the use of misplacing adjectives as nouns and using double negatives. Therefore, Holden's
language mirrors his division between childhood and adulthood. In addition to Holden's moods and
his language, his relationships also aid in delineating his character. Holden's most valued
relationship is the one he shares with his younger sister, Phoebe. To Holden, Phoebe is the one
person whom he can truly trust, and he feels best when he is with her. A monumental reason for
Holden's appreciation for Phoebe is that she has emotionally replaced Holden's deceased brother,
Allie, who passed away at a young age. Holden loves his sister so greatly because of her youth, and
he does not want to see her enter the world of adulthood. However, Holden realizes that he cannot
preserve Phoebe's innocence when he takes her to ride the carousel at the zoo. Holden says,

J.D. Salinger has written multiple novels, but his most famous is The Catcher in the Rye. Not only is
this novel famous for its literary merit, it is also known as his most banned novel in certain schools.
Even though this novel has been banned, J.D. Salinger's themes and moralistic purposes serve
literary worth.
In The Catcher in the Rye, the reader is first introduced to Holden Caulfield, as first person narrator.
He is a radically independent adolescent who tosses off judgments at ease unselfconsciously. The
introduction scene is set where he is, voluntarily isolated from the rest, looking down upon a hill
during a Pencey Prep football game. He then goes into introducing primary characters that impacted
his life, such as, Mr. Spencer, Ackley and Stradlater. Later on that night, Holden leaves campus
enraged with anger and hatred towards everyone and sets on an adventure to find himself in the city
of New York. Throughout the novel, Holden goes on a pursuit in search of maturity, intimate love,
moral innocence, and acceptance despite his hatred for phoniness.
The Catcher in the Rye was banned and discriminated for multiple reasons, but the prime reason was
the containment of "excessive use of amateur swearing and coarse language" and "overt sexuality"
("And Holden" Online; Kerr 49). Critics found the novel to be "wholly repellent in its mingled
vulgarity, naïveté, and sly perversion" ("And Holden" Online).
Despite the negative criticism, J.D. Salinger also

In a J.D Salinger novel, The Catcher in the rye interprets the adolescent world full of patience and
misery. Holden Caulfield, hardly being the complete opposite of a typical protagonist. Instead, being
the archetype of an anti–hero facing adolescent over anxiety. He is a teenager forced to grow up in a
time of turmoil with severe emotional handicaps placed upon him by family, friends and life in
general. Caulfield sets himself on such a journey and is portrayed as an individual on a quest for
validation in life. Although he lives in a constant strive through society that is completely indifferent
to him, he does display qualities of a certain hero. Such a hero that will eventually attempt beyond
his comfort zone, finding himself in a world unknown to him, facing towards new challenges placed
on his life. Despite the discomfort, Holden as a hero develops a sense of freedom and independence,
becoming a stronger, more sophisticated individual, bringing new ideas to society. The protagonist's
journey begins from his attempt to failure within his future. As he steps into the "real" world,
Holden's perceptions towards humanity are distorted due to his past wicked experiences and present
state of mind. While Holden continues his heroic cycle, some of the most important aspects in
creating a perfect hero figure are visible in his own character, consistently struggling through lack of
confidence and strength. Becoming a part of this society Holden lived in involved fitting in,

J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey
J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey is about a twenty–year–old college student named Franny, who is
seeking spirituality in her life. She is a member of the intelligent Glass family, whose children
struggle with conforming to society after appearing on the television quiz show called It's a Wise
Child. Salinger's novel is composed of two sections. The first section, Franny, deals with Franny
explaining to her boyfriend her distaste for the college environment. In the second section, Zooey,
Franny discusses with her brother Zooey about feeling isolated from the people around her and
finding spirituality in her life. In Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger, the main protagonist, Franny,
undergoes a change in perspective as she tries to cope with her dissatisfaction with the world
through her spiritual beliefs. In the beginning, Franny is experiencing a deterioration in mental
health due to her severe judgemental attitude and harsh criticism of her college experience; with
little thought, she turns to prayer in an attempt to resolve her difficulties, but her problems grow
worse due to her lack of understanding of religion. Eventually, she comes to a greater understanding
of her relationship with others as she realizes the genuine meaning of her spiritual beliefs through
listening to Zooey's consoling advice. In the first section of the novel, Franny is having a nervous
breakdown as a result of her growing isolation and her misgivings towards college. At a restaurant
with her

J.D. Salinger’S The Catcher In The Rye

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