Although J.D. Salinger has written many short stories, The Catcher in the Rye is Salinger's only novel and his most notable work, earning him great fame and admiration as a writer and sparking many high school students' interest in great literature. The protagonist's adventures and concerns about 'phony' people engage readers young and old.
The novel draws on characters and themes that appeared in a number of Salinger's earlier short stories, some of which form the basis for individual chapters in The Catcher in the Rye. Indeed, the Caulfield family is the subject of two of Salinger's major stories, 'This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise' and 'I'm Crazy,' as well as a number of unpublished works.
Get free homework help on J. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye: book summary, chapter summary and analysis, quotes, essays, and character analysis courtesy of CliffsNotes. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield recounts the days following his expulsion from Pencey Prep, a private school. After a fight with his roommate, Stradlater, Holden leaves school two days early. Get free homework help on J. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye: book summary, chapter summary and analysis, quotes, essays, and character analysis courtesy of CliffsNotes. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield recounts the days following his expulsion from Pencey Prep, a private school.
- The The Catcher in the Rye quotes below are all either spoken by Holden Caulfield or refer to Holden Caulfield. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ).
- The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. A classic novel originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage angst and alienation.
The first of these stories, 'This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise,' is narrated by Vincent Caulfield, who learns that his brother is missing from Pentey Preparatory School (changed to Pencey in the novel). Vincent serves as the basis for D.B. Caulfield, Holden's older brother in the novel, and is the protagonist in a number of stories by Salinger. In 'An Ocean Full of Bowling Balls,' Vincent recalls his relationship with Kenneth, his deceased younger brother (the obvious basis for Allie). This unpublished story also details how Kenneth becomes angry when an adult calls Holden crazy and how Holden complains about hypocritical adults at his summer camp.
Other Salinger stories can be read as filling in details left out of The Catcher in the Rye. 'The Last and Best of the Peter Pans,' narrated by Vincent Caulfield, focuses on a conversation between Vincent and his actress mother, Mary Moriarty, concerning a questionnaire from the draft board that she had hidden from Vincent. This conversation ends with a reference to her wanting to keep a child from going over a cliff, a notion that Holden references in The Catcher in the Rye when he discusses his ideal situation with Phoebe. In another story, 'Last Day of the Last Furlough,' Vincent and 'Babe' Gladwaller prepare to go off to World War II. Salinger has Vincent Caulfield die during the war, and 'The Stranger' concerns 'Babe' Gladwaller's attempt to tell Vincent's girlfriend how he died.
The other major short story concerning the Caulfield family is 'I'm Crazy,' the story which forms the basis for the first two chapters of The Catcher in the Rye as well as the chapter in which Holden goes home to see Phoebe. In this story, however, Holden expresses greater regret for his expulsion from Pentey, even lamenting that he will never again play games of football on Saturday evenings with his friends from school. The chapter in which Holden tries to convince Sally to run away with him to New England finds its source in yet another short story, 'Slight Rebellion Off Madison.'
The derivation of The Catcher in the Rye from a series of unrelated short stories--as well as Salinger's affection for the form of the short story--helps explain the pacing and relative lack of narrative continuity in the novel. No setting or character other than Holden continues in the novel for more than two consecutive chapters (which also may be a characteristic feature of Holden’s specific story). Holden, as narrator, is the only continuous character in the entire story. Characters such as Sally Hayes and Mr. Antolini appear only in one chapter and then mostly disappear. The first chapters of the novel, which are all set at Pencey, are the only ones that sustain the same characters and setting for an extended period. Furthermore, since Salinger reiterates thematic elements throughout the novel (in practically every chapter Holden complains about phonies), many of the chapters essentially could be short stories in themselves.
We have to consider it in the context of the era in which this book was released. The er…moreIt's not about the story. It's about the context of the story.
We have to consider it in the context of the era in which this book was released. The era is post-WWII America. We had just defeated two evil empires, and our soldiers were coming Home Sweet Home to their happy-to-be-housewives and their 2.5 kids who were to be seen and not heard.
Readers who were born and brought up after the 1960s don't realize what a revolution occurred in the 1950s and 1960s. Today being a free spirit and expressing your individuality is celebrated and encouraged. In those days you were expected to (as I was told) 'Do as I say, not as I do.' That may sound outrageous and unreasonable but it was, in fact, exactly what was accepted as good parenting.
And here we have 1) a main character who curses constantly, and unashamedly rejects the values of his parents and society in general and 2) a narrative style that is casual and conversational. These two factors were shocking and dismaying to some, refreshing and delightful to others.
And so Holden became a hero to some. Not in the conventional sense of the word, but because people related to him and they sympathized with the way he felt. He personified all that was wrong with society. If you don't go along, if you don't play the game, then the vast machine that is society will knock you down and even lock you away. Holden is not intended to be a hero in the conventional sense of the word. He is a tragic victim of the crappy world in which he has no control and where no one understands him.
I imagine that in 1951, when this was published, there were those who said 'Yes! It's about time someone was honest!' and there were those who exclaimed 'What is this world coming to?' There was change coming, that's for sure. This book was just one sign of the impending cultural revolution. That's why it's a classic. Think of it as a brick in the foundation of the revolution to come.(less)
In my opinion it's not about that Holden does'nt want to grow up, he know that ge is growing up right now and he sees how painful and hard it is, so he wants to protect ever little kid from what he finds so harmful.
Just a subjective opinion:) (less)
The sense of grief and alienation that come with such a transition are, I think, what many people — especially teenagers — find so touching and relatable about this story.(less)
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