JD Salinger's full name was Jerome David Salinger. He was born on January first, 1919 in New York. His only sibling was an older sister. He came from a privileged family and attended prep schools where he found it difficult to fit in. The school he graduated from was Valley Forge Military Academy in 1936. He was an active writer in school, and was the composer of the school song's lyrics. Salinger began his college education pursuing writing at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania but dropped out after one semester, having very little patience for formal education. This dislike for schooling is reflected in much of his writing. Despite his hatred for school, Salinger attended Columbia University in 1939. He served in the military in WWII from 1942 to 1945 when the war ended. Upon returning home, Salinger became serious about his writing and his career began. In 1946 his story, "Slight Rebellion Off Madison," was published by the New Yorker. This was later rewritten as a part of Catcher in the Rye which was published in 1951. It is the book that he is best known for, and is an American classic. Despite the popularity of his writing, Salinger was extremely evasive of the public until his recent death at the age of 91 on January 27, 2010.
Plot Synopsis
The Catcher in the Rye follows the life of a 1940s 16-year-old prep school rebel Holden Caulfield. Having been expelled from school for failing most of his classes, Holden decides to spend a few days in New York City before returning home. Throughout his travels, Holden labels almost everyone he meets as "phony" which stands for being shallow or fake. Constantly feeling like he doesn't belong in his world, Holden becomes more and more disturbed as the story goes on and comes dangerously close to a nervous breakdown several times. His only comfort comes in the form of his little sister Phoebe. The more Holden experiences in his travels, the more he alienates himself as a way of getting away from all that he hates. His sanity begins to slip and he makes plans to move out west and live in a cabin. Holden is deeply troubled by the adult world he is on the verge of entering and searches desperately for a way not to face it.
Literary Information The Catcher in the Rye is 216 pages. It is a coming-of-age novel told in first person from Holden's point of view. This is a limited point of view because only Holden's thoughts and perception of events can be seen. Holden's point of view is also unreliable because being mentally unstable, he doesn't always see what is actually happening in a situation. For example, in this passage, "'Stop screaming at me, please,' she said. Which was crap, because I wasn't even screaming at her," it is made clear that Holden is yelling by Sally repeatedly asking him to stop. Holden however, narrates the exchange as though Sally is completely crazy, because there is no way he was yelling.
The tone throughout a majority of the story switches between bitter and longing. For much of the story Holden speaks critically of all the people and events around him, as though he resents them. Other times however, he discusses memories that are dear to his heart and is clearly longing for those times to return. The overall mood of the story is both serious and intense. The less admirable aspects of society and the adult world are brought to attention in the novel in a heavy, solemn manner. Holden's observations of the world are sincere and thought provoking.
Literary Analysis
JD Salinger uses symbolism several times throughout The Catcher in the Rye to represent major ideas. Probably the most famous symbol in the book is Holden's red hunting hat. Holden loves this hat because it makes him stand out and look individual. Often times though, the hat embarrasses Holden, for just the same reason. This is like Holden's internal struggles between isolating himself and being desperate for company, and between staying immature and childlike and growing up. Holden often finds himself somewhere in the middle on both issues. This is represented by the way he keeps putting on and taking off his hat.
Another important symbol Salinger uses are ducks in a lagoon in New York City. Throughout the novel, Holden is determined to discover where the ducks go when the lagoon freezes. This shows his childlike side. In addition, like the way the ducks are forced to face the winter, Holden is being forced to face adulthood. The lagoon is also a symbol. In the novel, it is half frozen and half not. It's in an in between state just like Holden is. Both the Hunting Cap and the ducks are symbols for Holden's being in between two states. He is between childhood and adulthood, as well as reclusion and need for socializing.
The last symbol is where the book gets its title. When Holden's sister asks him what he wants to be when he grows up, he answers a catcher in the rye. He imagines himself standing on the edge of a cliff covered in tall rye. There are children playing in the rye, and if they are going to fall off the cliff, Holden will catch them and save them from falling. This symbolizes Holden's desire to protect children from having to grow up. He wants to save them from leaving behind their innocence and entering the adult world. This once again leads back to Holden's internal struggle with facing the adult world.
Criticism After reading The Catcher in the Rye, I have only a few criticisms of it. In the story, Holden is a mentally unstable character but is also the narrator. At times, the way he describes confrontations are not the way they actually happened. While this is sometimes useful in showing the truly confused state Holden is in, it also becomes confusing at times. Also, the book is mostly describing day-to-day events, and Holden's reactions to them. There is no clear climax to the book, and it is low on suspense. Overall however, I thought that The Catcher in the Rye was a very good book and I would rate it as a seven on a scale of one to ten.
About the Author
JD Salinger's full name was Jerome David Salinger. He was born on January first, 1919 in New York. His only sibling was an older sister. He came from a privileged family and attended prep schools where he found it difficult to fit in. The school he graduated from was Valley Forge Military Academy in 1936. He was an active writer in school, and was the composer of the school song's lyrics. Salinger began his college education pursuing writing at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania but dropped out after one semester, having very little patience for formal education. This dislike for schooling is reflected in much of his writing. Despite his hatred for school, Salinger attended Columbia University in 1939. He served in the military in WWII from 1942 to 1945 when the war ended. Upon returning home, Salinger became serious about his writing and his career began. In 1946 his story, "Slight Rebellion Off Madison," was published by the New Yorker. This was later rewritten as a part of Catcher in the Rye which was published in 1951. It is the book that he is best known for, and is an American classic. Despite the popularity of his writing, Salinger was extremely evasive of the public until his recent death at the age of 91 on January 27, 2010.
Plot Synopsis
The Catcher in the Rye follows the life of a 1940s 16-year-old prep school rebel Holden Caulfield. Having been expelled from school for failing most of his classes, Holden decides to spend a few days in New York City before returning home. Throughout his travels, Holden labels almost everyone he meets as "phony" which stands for being shallow or fake. Constantly feeling like he doesn't belong in his world, Holden becomes more and more disturbed as the story goes on and comes dangerously close to a nervous breakdown several times. His only comfort comes in the form of his little sister Phoebe. The more Holden experiences in his travels, the more he alienates himself as a way of getting away from all that he hates. His sanity begins to slip and he makes plans to move out west and live in a cabin. Holden is deeply troubled by the adult world he is on the verge of entering and searches desperately for a way not to face it.
Literary Information
The Catcher in the Rye is 216 pages. It is a coming-of-age novel told in first person from Holden's point of view. This is a limited point of view because only Holden's thoughts and perception of events can be seen. Holden's point of view is also unreliable because being mentally unstable, he doesn't always see what is actually happening in a situation. For example, in this passage, "'Stop screaming at me, please,' she said. Which was crap, because I wasn't even screaming at her," it is made clear that Holden is yelling by Sally repeatedly asking him to stop. Holden however, narrates the exchange as though Sally is completely crazy, because there is no way he was yelling.
The tone throughout a majority of the story switches between bitter and longing. For much of the story Holden speaks critically of all the people and events around him, as though he resents them. Other times however, he discusses memories that are dear to his heart and is clearly longing for those times to return. The overall mood of the story is both serious and intense. The less admirable aspects of society and the adult world are brought to attention in the novel in a heavy, solemn manner. Holden's observations of the world are sincere and thought provoking.
Literary Analysis
JD Salinger uses symbolism several times throughout The Catcher in the Rye to represent major ideas. Probably the most famous symbol in the book is Holden's red hunting hat. Holden loves this hat because it makes him stand out and look individual. Often times though, the hat embarrasses Holden, for just the same reason. This is like Holden's internal struggles between isolating himself and being desperate for company, and between staying immature and childlike and growing up. Holden often finds himself somewhere in the middle on both issues. This is represented by the way he keeps putting on and taking off his hat.
Another important symbol Salinger uses are ducks in a lagoon in New York City. Throughout the novel, Holden is determined to discover where the ducks go when the lagoon freezes. This shows his childlike side. In addition, like the way the ducks are forced to face the winter, Holden is being forced to face adulthood. The lagoon is also a symbol. In the novel, it is half frozen and half not. It's in an in between state just like Holden is. Both the Hunting Cap and the ducks are symbols for Holden's being in between two states. He is between childhood and adulthood, as well as reclusion and need for socializing.
The last symbol is where the book gets its title. When Holden's sister asks him what he wants to be when he grows up, he answers a catcher in the rye. He imagines himself standing on the edge of a cliff covered in tall rye. There are children playing in the rye, and if they are going to fall off the cliff, Holden will catch them and save them from falling. This symbolizes Holden's desire to protect children from having to grow up. He wants to save them from leaving behind their innocence and entering the adult world. This once again leads back to Holden's internal struggle with facing the adult world.
Criticism
After reading The Catcher in the Rye, I have only a few criticisms of it. In the story, Holden is a mentally unstable character but is also the narrator. At times, the way he describes confrontations are not the way they actually happened. While this is sometimes useful in showing the truly confused state Holden is in, it also becomes confusing at times. Also, the book is mostly describing day-to-day events, and Holden's reactions to them. There is no clear climax to the book, and it is low on suspense. Overall however, I thought that The Catcher in the Rye was a very good book and I would rate it as a seven on a scale of one to ten.
Links
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If you liked The Catcher in the Rye, you may also like...
The Great Gatsby
To Kill a Mockingbird
Catch-22
This is an interview with one of JD Salinger's old classmates about what from their school ended up in The Catcher in the Rye.
Info about JD Salinger from.... http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ro-Sc/Salinger-J-D.html
Picture of JD Salinger from... http://www.newhampshire.com/doclib/celebrity/salinger.jpg
Picture of the book from.... http://www.manhattanrarebooks-literature.com/images/Salinger%20Catcher%20DJ%201000.jpg