Catcher in the Rye Language

Teen Vernacular in the ’50s Informal Intelligent, educated NA teenager Would have been recognized by contemporary readers

Holden’s Speech Patterns “and all” –used when there is more to be said but Holden cannot say it –Indicates his tendency to generalization “it really did”/”I really mean it” –Compels the reader of his sincerity in a phony world –Afraid that he might become phony himself

Vulgar Language Never in a self-conscious or phony way ‘Goddam’ used to express emotional feeling toward the object ‘hell’ is worn and meaningless Other crude words used in deep anger F-word never used by Holden and he is angered when he sees it on a wall at Phoebe’s school

Imprecise use of language ‘crap’ used in multiple ways (foolishness, messy, adjective, untrue, chat) Crazy is both positive and negative ‘killed’ is just a high degree of emotion ‘old’ shows familiarity Narrow choice of adjectives – lousy, pretty, crumby, terrific, quite, old, stupid

Adaptability Turns nouns into adjectives adding a Y – Christmasy… Uses nouns and adverbs “She sings it very Dixieland and whorehouse…”

Conscious of Speech Direct repetition to be sure of meaning Interprets slang’s meaning “She killed Allie too. I mean he liked her too.” Aware of the phony quality of words “grand”, “prince” Girls from Seattle tell him to watch his language Aware of grammar errors – disturbed by schoolmate who is ashamed of parents’ grammar Violates grammar rules – careless of relative pronouns, double negatives, extra words…

Structure Salinger seems to think of the book in spoken speech rather than written Multiple use of fragments common in spoken speech but not written Meant to be authentic rendering of informal, colloquial speech