Why You Should Read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
the catcher in the rye follows william
caulfield’s faded attempts at human
connection and romanticized view on
childhood
initially published in 1951 the
coming-of-age tale is set in new york
city in the late 1940s
it is the story of a teenager and his
dramatic refusal to mature
narrated by its protagonist the novel
follows woman caulfield’s fourth
expulsion from an elite preparatory
school
as he recounts it from a hospital bed he
decides to leave school early and spend
a few days exploring new york city
before he goes home
most of the book follows woman
caulfield’s attempts to connect with
others before his self-protective
disgust
with the world destroys any connection
when he is able to interact with adults
he purchased before retreating into
isolation though he rejects the adult
world as phony
his encounters fail because he is unable
to act maturely when he does want to
reach out
making inappropriate decisions until the
other becomes annoyed or angry
the story’s climax culminates in
holden’s visit to his younger sister
phoebe
phoebe confronts holding angry that he
has once again been expelled
hogan responds by telling his sister
about his lifelong dream
for which the novel owes its namesake he
dreams of being the catcher in the rye
after robert burns poem he once read
someone who catches children before they
fall off the edge of an imaginary cliff
phoebe explains that he has
misremembered the poem causing holden to
question his entire interpretation of
adulthood
and therefore his belief system holden
decides to run away but the plan
quickly collapses when phoebe insists on
joining him
in the final scene holden watches as
phoebe rides a carousel
and along with all the other children
attempts to grab an unreachable golden
ring
through phoebe’s innocence holden no
longer feels threatened by his looming
adulthood and is finally at peace
holding coffee is an unreliable narrator
and there can be no denying it
he is judgmental to the point of
frustration criticizing and looking for
flaws in everyone around him
holden describes himself as trapped on
the other side of life trying
desperately to find his place in the
world he’s isolated from
holden maintains a cynical air of
superiority to protect himself and
distance himself
he is an unusual protagonist for a
coming of age and story
because he resists maturity and growing
up the novel centers around the loss of
innocence and alienation as a method of
self-preservation
the catch in the ride provides an
intimate glimpse into one of america’s
most reclusive writers
jd salinger undeniably autobiographical
is a deeper reflection of salinger’s
youth his complicated relation with
growing up
and the generational trauma affected by
world war two
silent joint drew on his personal
experiences fighting in the war
and his new york upbringing to pen the
character of holding caulfield
he was born in manhattan and with a
childhood much like caulfields
it was while he was enrolled at military
school that salinger began to write
under the covers with the aid of a
flashlight salinger was described as a
mediocre student
much like the failing caulfield after
graduation he attended new york
university in colombia
never graduating from either it was at
columbia however that salinger met his
future mentor
and the editor of story magazine with
burnett
salinger began to submit his short
stories to the new yorker for
publication consideration
after seven rejections they accepted
slight rebellion off madison in december
of 1941.
the story took place in manhattan and
was the first to feature holding
caulfield
an apathetic teenager with pre-war
jitters
unfortunately following the attack on
pearl harbor shortly after
the story was determined unpublishable
crushing salinger
it was eventually published after the
war in 1946
j.d salinger was drafted into the
american army in 1942
and fought in some of the most
influential battles of the war
in an infamous cruel twist of fate jakey
salinger began his military career on
d-day
storming the beaches of normandy with
slight rebellion of madison in his
it was during the war that salinger
wrote most of his short stories
featuring hoy and caufield
due to his proficiency in english french
and german
salinger worked in the
counterintelligence unit where he
interrogated prisoners of war
while on his first campaign from
normandy to germany salinger met
fellow writer and longtime inspiration
ernest hemingway
he participated in the liberation of the
covering for concentration
camp shortly after the defeat of germany
salinger was hospitalized for combat
stress reaction
his experience in the war in psychiatric
hospitals is present throughout his
writing
in their correspondence salinger told
hemingway about a play he was working on
and his dream to play the lead part
himself holding caufield
salinger’s former lover joyce maynard
explained the only person who might have
ever played woolen coffield would have
been jd salinger
and in 1943 sorry 1953 review
salinger called the novel slightly
autobiographical saying
my boyhood was very much the same as
that of the boy in the book
it was a great relief telling people
about it
after the release of the catcher in the
rye salinger published a few more
stories before hiding away and becoming
reclusive
on october 23 1992 the new york times
reported that not even a fire that
consumed at least half of his home on
tuesday
could smoke out the reclusive jd
salinger mr salinger is almost equally
famous for having elevated privacy to an
art form
he would eventually deny any
similarities between himself and holden
as the pro
as the press fought to invade his
personal and private life
the catcher in the ride became an
instant sensation met with equal
commendation and controversy
within two months of its initial release
the catch in the rye had been reprinted
eight times
it became the handbook for teenage
aloofness reactions range from praise
for salinger’s unusually brilliant first
novel
to criticism for the book’s open
allowance of prostitution and swearing
with a fan base nicknamed the catcher
coat the novel was banned in multiple
countries because of its subject matter
high school teachers who assigned the
book were forced to to resign or quit
it is the most frequently banned novel
across the united states while
simultaneously being the second most
frequently assigned
despite censorship no other character
has been identified within the
within western literature as holden
caulfield has
fifty years after its initial
publication the new yorker said that the
catcher in the rye rewrites itself
every generation defining its own
literary genre despite the growing
animosity between age groups and the
ever-present tension between parents and
their teenagers grandparents and their
grandchildren
salinger captured a universal and
timeless experience within the pages of
the catch in the rye
there is comfort and intergenerational
connections and the teenage identity
that is shared with them
through his regretfully honest novel jd
salinger created a piece of media
that is eternally relatable any
literature that can bridge gaps and
unite divide groups
must be celebrated