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J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. An Introduction. The Catcher in the Rye.

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J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye

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  1. J.D. Salinger’sThe Catcher in the Rye An Introduction

  2. The Catcher in the Rye “Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all…What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff…That’s all I do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye…I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be.” - Holden Caulfield

  3. Holden Caulfield • This troubled teenager from New York is the creation of J. D. Salinger. • Readers first met Holden in stories published in The New Yorker in the 1940s: • “I’m Crazy” • “Slight Rebellion Off Madison”

  4. “I’m Crazy” • Is Holden crazy? That’s for us to decide. • Ever since its publication, the novel has stirred debate over Holden’s psychological condition. • One literary critic argues, “If originally published today, the novel would probably create little publicity or garner only average book sales.” • In the Post-Modern era, maybe this is all stuff we’ve seen before. • But we’ll see that not everyone feels this way.

  5. Top Five Most Banned Books • Of Mice and Men • Forever • Our Bodies, Ourselves • The Catcher in the Rye • Go Ask Alice Source: National Council of Teachers of English

  6. J. D. Salinger • “All of my best friends are children. It’s almost unbearable for me to realize that my book will be kept on a shelf out of their reach.” - J. D. Salinger, 1955

  7. Who is this Salinger anyways? • Born in 1919 and raised in New York. • In 1933, flunked out of a private high school, just like Holden does in Catcher. • In 1942, drafted to serve in WWII; fought in D-Day and Battle of the Bulge, just like Holden’s brother does in Catcher. • A famous author, but not very prolific; Catcher is his only true novel. • Has lived as a recluse for decades; Catcher explores Salinger’s feelings of alienation.

  8. Have I heard this name before? • You may have. • In the movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character kidnaps an author. • Though the name was changed for the movie, in the book, that author is J.D. Salinger.

  9. Has Catcher made the news? • A number of times… • We’ve already seen that it has been banned more than almost any other book in the country. • Catcher was rejected by several publishers – one that stated “I can’t decide whether Holden is crazy.” • Unfortunately, you may know Catcher as the book Mark David Chapman brought with him when he assassinated John Lennon of the Beatles.

  10. Our Guiding Questions • Is this piece timeless? Are its themes universal? Does it work as well in 2007 as it did in 1951? • Is Holden “crazy,” as Salinger’s original title states? Why would he choose The Catcher in the Rye as a title instead of one as blunt as “I’m Crazy”?

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