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The Catcher in the Rye. J.D. Salinger. Type of Work. Coming-of-age novel (apprenticeship novel) Centers on the period in which a young person is struggling to grow up and attempts to adapt to life around him
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The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
Type of Work • Coming-of-age novel (apprenticeship novel) • Centers on the period in which a young person is struggling to grow up and attempts to adapt to life around him • Originally pioneered by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) in Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship • bildungsroman---meaning educational development
Point of View and Style • 1st person point of view • Unreliability---because of his immaturity and his reluctance to see himself as others see him, Holden slants his narrative so that other characters appear more reprehensible than he. • Mimics language of a bright teenager • Many colloquialism and cliches • Unlike 1st person narrative of Moby Dick (formal and elegant style) • More like Huckleberry Finn (informal)
Bookend Structure • Story begins and ends in a different place than the tale Holden tells • Present---flashback---present again
Things you should consider as you read • Themes • The significance of the title • Symbols • Is Holden a “phony”?
@%&!Those Four-Letter Words • Book first published in 1951 • Very controversial and banned from many schools’ literature curriculum even as recently as 1994 • Why would Salinger give Holden such an offensive tongue? • What might be the intended effect for using profanity? • What is the true effect of such language?
J.D. Salinger Born and raised in NYC Graduate of Valley Forge Military Academy; attended several colleges but did not graduate Parents were of different religious faiths Parents were well-to-do Hospitalized for stress after WWII Lives Reclusively in New Hampshire Holden Caulfield Born and raised in NYC Attends several boarding schools but does not graduate Parents are of different religious faiths Parents are well-to-do Undergoes psychiatric treatment Isolates himself from others Salinger and Holden Caulfield