J. D . Salinger

1. J.D. Salinger Chelsea, Ellie, Leila, Mijin, and Vincent

2. WWII’s effect on Salinger’s writing • Salinger was drafted into WWII in 1942 • Salinger was a soldier in their air corps during WWII • Salinger also served as an interrogator as he spoke italian and french. • Salinger fought in D-Day, the Battle of Hurtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge, some of the most bloodiest battles in WWII • Salinger helped liberate Dachau, a nazi concentration camp, and wasn't prepared for the horrors he faced • Salinger checked himself into a German army hospital for psychiatric treatment after the war • Salinger had “battle fatigue”, or post traumatic stress disorder in modern medical terms • Married a former nazi party member he had arrested in 1945, but they divorced two years later

3. How might Salinger's relationships have affected his novel? • Salinger, didn't have many friends and lived a reclusive life, which is a characteristic he also gave to his character holden • Salinger was born to an Irish- catholic mother and a Jewish Father, this multi-cultural relationship was not accepted during this time period. • Many did not know about his mother's roots, including Salinger for a period of time. This may have influenced his disdain for phonies. • Similarly to his character Holden, Salinger did not have a good relationship with school. Both him and his character were often kicked out of the schools they attended. • Salinger also didn't have much luck when it came to romantic relationships, his first love was taken from him by actor Charlie Chaplin, and he shows his hurt and resentment towards Chaplin through Holden who says, “In the first place, I hate actors. They never act like people.”(152)

4. Salingers Lifestyle Full name: Jerome David Salinger Born: January 1, 1919 Hometown: New York, New York • started a career writing short stories for New York magazines • Stopped writing for a few years because he had to leave america to go to WWII • the war left him emotionally scarred and it led to him writing about his wartime experience • 1951, his first novel The Catcher in the Rye was published • soon after the publishing of his novel, he moved to Cornish, New hampshire because he wanted to be as far from fame as possible, he was an extremely private person and wanted the least exposure • was considered a to be a cult figure so he struggled with constant unwanted attention • 1972, a year long affair with 18 year old Joyce Maynard became troubled when she started auctioning off his letters • 1999 Salinger came out of the dark and published another book • 2000, his daughter and wife published a memoir called Dream Catcher which stated that Salinger drank his own urine, spoke in tongues, and rarely had romantic interactions with his wife. • In Salinger’s daughter’s words, they were virtual prisoners to her father

5. The Irony of Salinger’s Son Matt • Matthew Salinger was born February 13, 1960. He is known mostly for his role as an American actor. He is the son of author J. D. Salinger and psychologist Claire Douglas. • At a young age, tennager Matt Salinger aspired to be an actor when he got older. • His father J.D. Salinger, popular author of Catcher in the Rye, was known to be very against the idea of turning any of his novels into movies because he feared a film wouldn’t be able to capture the real story of his novels. Despite this, Salinger put full support in his son. • Holden Caulfield, in Catcher in the Rye, talks about how he hates those who attend prestigious universities and boarding schools, but Matt Salinger actually attended Princeton and Columbia University. • Although Matt Salinger’s occupation forced him to be constantly under the scrutiny of the public eye, he told press his father’s choice to live reclusively was to be respected and maintained by himself. • "I won't let people try to get at my father—find out about his life—through me. I know how much he does not want public attention. He is a wonderful father and I respect him, so I won't talk about him” (Salinger)

6. How Salinger’s Bio Contributes to an Understanding of Holden Caulfield ·Salinger’s depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence in the protagonist Holden Caulfield was extremely influential among young people. · However many are unaware that the reclusive, shy character is modeled after Salinger when he was an adolescent. · Growing up, Salinger had trouble making friends not only because his family moved frequently and he often had to change schools but because he was quiet and withdrawn...Sound familiar? · Essentially, when comparing Salinger's real life experiences to the events of the book, it is arguable that most of the book is autobiographical.

7. For Example ·Salinger and Holden were born and raised in Manhattan, and went to preppy private, all-boys schools in Pennsylvania. ·Both were kicked out of numerous colleges because of grades. ·Salinger first thought both his parents were Jewish, but soon after his bar mitzvah he found out his mother was Catholic. He wasn't very happy about his mother lying to him throughout his life, and in the book, he shares how Holden has mixed feelings about Catholics.

8. Why isn’t there a Movie of Catcher in the Rye? ·J.D. Salinger wrote a letter to a movie producer in 1957 explaining his reasoning for not selling the rights to his novel Catcher in the Rye. ·He goes on to explain how it is a “novelistic” novel. Meaning that because the entire novel is told from a first person point of view, it would be difficult to translate into a movie and have the narrator be accurately represented. ·He also felt that Holden Caulfield is essentially unactable. ·No director could get the necessary performances from the actors.

9. Fact In 1980, Mark David Chapman shot and killed John Lennon. He claims that after reading J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in The Rye, he felt as if he was “the catcher in the rye”. He connected with the main character Holden Caulfield on more than one level and they shared the same view that everyone in the world was a phony. This way of thinking is what contributed to Lennon’s assassination.

10. Citations • Corkery, Paul. "Solitude May Be Bliss for Author J.D. Salinger, but to Son Matt, All the World's a Stage." PEOPLE.com. Time Inc, 31 Oct. 1983. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. • Hoban, Phoebe. New York Magazine. Digital image. NYMag.com. New York, 22 Feb. 2010. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. • "Matt Salinger." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 01 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. • Mori, Kyle. Voices.Yahoo.com.Yahoo Contributor Network, 28 Sep. 2006. Web. 12 Jan. 2014