The Catcher in the Rye By J.D. Salinger

Publishing The Catcher in the Rye was published in 1951 after years of anticipation. It has sold more than 65 million copies, been translated into dozens of languages, and is still required reading for many high schools and colleges. Oddly, it met with mixed critical reviews, but was an overnight sensation with the public. Critics did not like its narrative style; it also came in conflict with a conservative society that did not condone its language, counter culture sentiments, and sexual references.

J.D. Salinger Was born January 1, 1919 and raised in New York City. Attended Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania. Attended more than one university but never received an official degree. Began writing in high school but really began his career writing for Whit Burnett while attending a writing class at Columbia University. His writing career started slowly, but his stories usually showed a unique perspective on life and an interesting character development, and a sense of innocence. Many of his stories began to show similar and familiar themes, conflicts, characters or character families.

World War II Much to the surprise of friends and family, J.D. joined the army at the outset of WWII. He tried to earn an officer’s commission via his relationships in New York and at Valley Forge. He eventually became both soldier and writer. He experienced some of the fiercest battles and bloodiest campaigns of the war from D-Day on Utah Beach to the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest. He was in heavy combat areas for almost two years— almost more than anyone else. He continued to write during this period, but his stories began to take on a darker tone, more religious themes, and reminiscence of simpler, more innocent times. The beginnings of Catcher accompanied him during his times in Europe.

Post WWII After the war Salinger stayed in Europe, married and had led a mysterious life—much of which remains unknown. He married a French woman and had a dog. He may have suffered from a nervous breakdown. Evidently he was writing and planted the seeds that would later be characters in several of his stories. He also may have experimented with various religions. He moved back to the US almost two years after the end of the war, with just his dog, divorced, and again dealt with the trauma of war, but was writing more now. His themes had begun to focus on religious ideals and innocence.

Short Stories Many of Salinger’s post war short stories revolve around the themes of innocence, of growing up, of a cruel world, of religion. Common characters also emerged in his writing from the mid ‘40s including Holden and his family. Through his short stories Salinger experimented with situations, conflicts, and motifs. Two short stories emerged that were later revised and became part of the novel By 1949, he had solidified the character of Holden and the first chapters of what would eventually become the full novel.

Holden Caulfield Holden embodied the teen angst of the late 40s and 50s. His “rebellion” from adulthood struck a chord with audiences of all ages. All readers who felt like underachievers, outsiders, and misunderstood related to the main character. His language and narration endeared him to the “hip” younger readers in the early 1950s but his voice carries over up to today’s audiences.

Loss of Innocence Holden seems most concerned with protecting the innocence of children although he himself is anything but innocent throughout the novel. He attempts on more than one occasion to make contact with prostitutes. He seems to contemplate the idea of sex often although it is apparent that he is probably not experienced himself. This behavior seems counter to his desire to protect the children, to save them from a life of adult phoniness and disappointment.

The Classic Modernist Hero Holden fits perfectly the mold of the Modernist and Post-Modernist hero. He is an underachiever. He is lonely and disillusioned. Like Gatsby he seeks some phantom goal that is likely not to be achieved. Like Hemingway’s heroes, he is lost, but a survivor; he seeks answers to life’s questions, but does not seem capable to grasp them. He sees the hypocrisy around him but fails to overcome his own shortcomings, obsessing about the minutia in life.

Catcher in the Rye The novel is full of symbolism that highlight the idea of Holden being a Catcher in the Rye although he seems quite unable to accomplish any task. The boys on the teeter totter, the boys in the museum, the boy singing in the street, the “Little Shirley Beans” record, Phoebe, Allie, James Castle, the carrousel, the ducks in the Central Park Pond, and the rye field all relate to the idea of youthful innocence. All of things are just out of Holden’s grasp; he “teeters” on the edge of adulthood.

“Barn Burning” by William Faulkner Faulkner was a writer of the Southern Tradition. He created a world of his own Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi. Much of his literature focuses on characters that encounter a world outside the norm. They are fringe characters, normally rough, poor, uneducated but dealing with the moral struggles of surviving in a cruel world.

“Barn Burning” by William Faulkner Colonel Sartoris (Sarty) Snopes in a ten year old boy, growing up in post Civil War Mississippi. His father Abner walks with a limp because he was shot by his own troops while he tried to steal horses toward the end of the war. Abner has a compulsion to strike out at a world that has given him nothing but frustration by burning the most important building on the farms on which we works, the barn. The focus of the story is Sarty’s moral struggle—whether to follow blindly his father’s stern rule or to follow his heart and turn on his father and family.

“A & P” by John Updike This short story focuses on the minor moral dilemma of a teenager, Sammy, as stands up for what he believes is right (protecting the girls from a morally righteous store manager) In the end, Sammy pays for his independence and his “rebellion” by losing his job and probably facing stern consequences at home. The gesture was empty considering the girls paid him no notice.

“Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut A “futuristic” society in which all of the gifted or even normal people are handicapped in order to keep the population down. Harrison’s father is also handicapped with sounds blaring in his ears, weights hung from his body, a clown nose. Mom is just stupid and ugly, without any handicaps. Harrison bursts on the stage of particular bad ballet. Without handicaps Harrison is 7ft. tall exceedingly handsome and superhumanly athletic. He is joined by a dancer of equal ability in a moment of rebellion. Diane Moon Glompers, the Handicapper General, ends the moment killing them with a shotgun. No one can remember what happened moments after the incident.

“Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy” by Tim O’Brien Pvt. 1 st Class Paul Berlin experiences the madness of the Vietnam War when on his first day in the combat zone he loses a fellow soldier, Billy Boy. Billy Boy dies “valiantly” of a heart attack after losing his foot to land mine. His body falls from the helicopter as it is being removed. Paul contemplates this, compares it to war stories from his father and grandfather, and considers what kind of war stories he will tell his father when he returns home. He does not want to tell anyone how fearful he is as he marches to the sea.

“ A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor A series of frustrating and unfortunate events lead to the tragic ending of a southern family just trying to go on a much-needed vacation. Bailey and his family are traveling through Georgia and their way to Florida. His mother is along and is the “comic” relief of the story as she frustrates Bailey by her constant talking and nagging. In order to placate her, they divert down a country road on a misguided quest for a non- existent family home of his mother which is actually in Tennessee. An accident occurs, everyone is mildly injured, but they are stuck. Unfortunately, a psychopathic killer, The Misfit, and his henchmen come upon the scene. Everyone is methodically killed although the grandmother is sadistically saved for last. The story seems to be a dark comedy.