Holden's Mentality

Bethany:

 

Analysis of Style and Structure in the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

 

Diction

Salinger demonstrates various uses of colloquial language throughout the novel. He makes characters swear, speak under their breath, and use improper English. Some examples of this type of language include the following;

 

“I still say he’s a sonuvabitch. He’s a conceited sonuvabitch.” (Salinger 24)

The use of repetition allows the reader to grasp the character’s (Holden’s) powerful feeling towards the matter. The way he spelt ‘sonuvabitch’ also shows us that Salinger wanted the Catcher in the Rye to be read in a specific way and with a specific tone. The use of these words and spelling allows readers to get a clearer sense of who the characters are and what they would have been like in real life.

 

 “You give me a royal pain in the ass, if you want to know the truth.” (Salinger 133)

This quote, once again said by Holden Caulfield reveals that Salinger was not afraid to use coarse language in order to get his point across. I believe that the purpose of using this type of language is to provide emphasis on certain situations. It is extremely effective mainly because it is unexpected and unusual for an author to use coarse language.

 

Salinger also tells the story in the first person tense. Though it is told from a first-hand perspective, I can not see Holden as a very 'reliable' source. This is because throughout the novel, Holden mentions many events in which he had been physically injured. These events could have potentially caused his perspective to be hindered in some way.

 

Theme

There are various prominent themes that blossom in the Catcher in the Rye. Some of these themes include past vs. present, deception, and intimacy, but the theme that I find most prominent is loneliness. Holden basically goes through the entire novel struggling through his problems on his own. Sure, there are a few people that he encounters along the way, but he is the constant that is always there to take the heat. For example, when Holden gets kicked out of Pencey Prep, he is really the only one who has to deal with it because his parents do not find out until much later in the novel. He is also the only one who knows about Maurice and Sunny; he had to live through it and recover from it all alone. These are the reasons why I believe that ‘loneliness’ is the most prominent theme throughout this novel.

 

Symbol

The first and most obvious example of a symbol in the Catcher in the Rye is Holden’s red hunting hat. It is so unique and different from its surroundings that it accurately represents Holden’s view of himself. It represents how Holden is constantly seen as an outsider in his world and how he likes it like that. This is why he puts it on so often. While he does enjoy wearing the hat, he also states that he does not want anyone that he knows to see him wearing it. This moment made me realize that Holden has a massive inner conflict going on throughout the novel. It is a conflict between his desire for individuality and his desire for companions. If he wears the hat, he will feel like his own person, but other people will not accept him and/or want to be around him.

Another example of a symbol is the museum. Holden has mentioned quite a few times that he likes the museum because it is constant. His life is ever-changing with people coming in and out through a revolving door. When he was a child, around Phoebe’s age, he would visit the museum with his class. Now when he visits the museum, he can always count on everything to look and feel the same as it always has. Though they are always constant, Holden is the one that changes every time that he visits. The symbol of the museum represents Holden’s desire for constancy and his struggle with his ever-changing life. 

 

Narrative Structure

The narrative structure of the Catcher in the Rye goes as follows;

 

Exposition: Holden gets expelled from Pencey Prep after losing the fencing materials on the subway.

Inciting Incident: Stradlater and Holden got into a heated argument over Jane Gallager which resulted in Holden getting beaten up.

Rising Action: Holden decides to leave Pencey Prep two days earlier than when the rest of the students were going to.

Climax: Holden encounters Maurice and Sunny (the prostitute) and goes through a traumatic and violent encounter with them.

Falling Action: Phoebe asks to leave with Holden, but he refuses and brings her to the zoo instead.

Resolution: As Holden watches Phoebe play on the carrousel, he realizes that he cannot stop her from turning into an adult, so he should accept that everything is going to change and rarely anything is ever constant.

 

Literary Devices

Allegory: Holden mentions the ducks in three situations. Two of these are with cab drivers and the third is when he was intoxicated during a breakdown. He always seemed so interested in where they were going and what they do at certain times of the year. For example, Holden asked the first cab driver if he happened "to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets fozen all over" (Salinger 60) out of nowhere. I suppose that he asks about the birds because he has noticed that they come and go as he does; once in a while.

Imagery: When Holden goes on his date with Sally, he ordered a sandwich. He had "a Swiss cheese sandwich and a malted" (Salinger 18) which provides a sense of what the sandwich looked like and what it might have tasted like as well. Another example of imagery is when he was at Radio City and he heard "the whole bunch of them--thousands of them--singing "Come All Ye Faithful!" like mad." (Salinger 137) The description provided by Holden allowes readers to visualize just how many people were there and how joyous the music must have sounded with that many people rejoicing.

Metaphor: The title of the novel itself is a metaphor. Holden's biggest dream is to become 'the catcher in the rye'. This metaphor refers to a bunch of choldren playing in a field of rye that is very close to the edge of a cliff. If they were to ever fall from the cliff, Holden would be there to catch them.

 

How do these all relate?

A story does not simply consist of one literary device or one important moment. It take many components to come together to form an interesting story such a this one. Each of the examples that I incorporated have also come together to form a mysterious and relatable tone to the novel. Had it been written in formal language with typical events, it would not have been such an interesting story to read. The purpose of incorporating diction, theme, symbol, narrative structure, and literary devices is to provide depth and character development in different ways in order to keep the reader engaged for the duration of the novel. Salinger did a great job pulling everything together. It is easy to tell because his work has survived many generations and is still such a prominent piece of work.

 

 

Anita:

 

Contemporary Relevance

 

 

TEENS DAILY

Growing up - A Part of Life or A Decision?

By: Anita Leung, Field Journalist

June 22nd, 2014

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(A painting of Holden Caulfield protecting the children from falling off the cliff of childhood) 

 

 

Since the beginning of time, women, men, children, and young adults all around the world struggle with acknowledging the responsibility that comes with growing up. If you were to search ‘Growing up’ on the internet, you would find many different articles regarding celebrities growing up in the eye of society and the media, growing up and finding out who you are as a person, how you want your life to play out from that moment on, how you acted as an adolescent to an adult and more.

 

            A great example of a coming-of-age story and a representation of the painfulness of growing up is shown in the novel ‘The Catcher In The Rye’ written by J.D. Salinger. An English classic, written and published more than 60 years ago which follows a seventeen year old boy named Holden Caulfield over the course of a long weekend of adventures.

 

            The plot centers around the protagonist, Holden and his thoughts on the world, on innocence, and adulthood. Holden’s mentality is focused on this idea that adulthood is a world full of hypocrisy, and “phoniness.” What stands out the most especially, is his fantasy about becoming the catcher in the rye; he imagines childhood as this field of rye in which children play around, and he portrays adulthood as an equivalent to death. These children as Holden fantasizes start to fall over the cliff and what he would have to do is catch and save them; save them from the dreadful world of adulthood.

 

           Holden’s mind is preoccupied by his childhood; he refuses to acknowledge the responsibility that comes with adulthood. He doesn’t understand the importance of his actions and how they will affect his future. We have this seventeen year old boy, whose decision is to shun the world of adulthood but how long can he actually hold for until he is forced to grow up, to face the challenges that it comes with.

 

            Holden believes that growing up is a decision, a choice, but in reality it is a part of life. Sooner or later, you have to say to yourself “I need to move on with my life, I need more than always running from my problems” the only way you can do so is by growing up and realizing that you need to start to understand the circumstances that you are in. You can't look like a 30 year old, but with a a mindset of a 7 year old. You won't be able to communicate with anyone, it would be near impossible.