Who is J.D. Salinger?

1. Who is J.D.Salinger? • Jerome David Salinger, born 1919 (still alive). • Expelled from various prep schools. • Went to Columbia University, studied writing. • Works seen in “The Saturday Evening Post,” & “The New Yorker”.

2. Who is J.D. Salinger (Cont’d.) • Extremely sensitive about criticism. • Secluded himself from the 1950’s - 1965 to get away from critics. • Continued to write and publish short stories in seclusion. • Has not published since 1965.

3. Published Works • The Catcher in the Rye • Nine Stories • Franny and Zooey • Raise High the Roof Beam, • Carpenters and Seymour - An Introduction

4. What’s His Style? • Personal, he writes from experience. • Style of writing attempts to fit story line. • The Catcher in the Rye uses Stream of Consciousness writing. • The writing looks and sounds like Holden is speaking.

5. Why Stream of Consciousness? • “…because the narration style resembles closely the unstable mind that Holden possesses.”

6. Something to Consider • Is Holden unstable or is it the world around him that is so? (Keep the question in mind while reading the entire novel; sometimes the answer may be both.)

7. Themes • Society vs. Individual • Death • Family • Loss of Innocence • Suicide (or maybe not) • Family

8. Chapter 1 and 2 • First person – lends a verismulitude to the details - the reader is made to feel that he knows more about what is happening than does Holden • Holden – is allowed to relate his own story on his own terms • Autobiography – events drawn from his own life

9. Chapters 1 and 2 • Holden’s honesty – he tries to express his feelings • Holden’s language - colloquial and slangy • Feelings – Holden searches for feelings • Cynicism - phonies

10. Chapter 3 and 4 • Escapism – enjoys fantasies • Red Hunting Hat – theme of escape through fantasy continues – his own personal hunting with people • Status Seeking – Ossenburger • Ackley – introvert – physical attributes • Stradlater – appearance and reality

11. Chapter 4 and 5 • Literature – What conception does Holden have of great literature? • Jane Gallagher – protect her innocence • Allie – baseball glove • Adult Distrust – bus driver – Allie’s death

12. Chapter 6, 7, and 8 • Quixotism – knightly behavior of Jane • Alienation – Pencey Prep – can not face family • Avoidance – train – Rudolf Schmidt • Acceptance – asks mother to go for a drink • Mothers – a mother’s view of her children

13. Chapters 9 ,10 and 11 • Need for companionship – taxi driver -girls • Attraction to Vulgarity – hotel • Phoebe and Jane - innocence

14. Chapters 12, 13 and 14 • Horwitz – innocence • Ernie – materialism • Lillian Simmons – shallowness of society • Sunny –commercialized sex • Maurice -dishonesty

16. What’s With the Title? • Song by Robert Burns from the mid-1600’s. • When do we learn of the song? • Does the song tell us something about Holden? • Is it connected to Jane?

17. O, Jenny’s a’ weet, poor body, Jenny’s seldom dry: She draigl’t a’ her petticoatie, Comin thro’ the rye! Comin thro’ the rye, poor body ; Comin thro’ the rye She draidl’t a’ her petticoatie, Comin thro’ the rye! Gin a body meet a body Comin thro’ the rye, Gin a body kiss a body, Need a body cry? Gin a body meet a body Comin thro’ the glen, Gin a body kiss a body, Need the warl ken? Gin a body meet a body Comin thro’ the grain; Gin a body kiss a body, The things a body’s ain. Comin Thro’ the Ryeby Robert Burns

18. What !? • Why is Jenny’s petticoat wet? • Why would she cry? • Does it seem that there is more to this song than the literal meaning? • What does Burns think a “body’s ain” is?

19. Hmmmm! • Holden asks Phoebe, “You know that song ‘If a body catch a body comin thro’ the rye?’ I’d like -,”and Phoebe corrects him, “It’s ‘If a body meet a body comin thro’ the rye...’ ” • What was the purpose of Holden confusing the words?

20. The1940’s, What’s Going On? W.W. II

21. Jazz “It was supposed to be something holy, for God’s sake, when he sat down at the piano” (109).

22. POPULAR MOVIES “Now he’s out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute.” -Holden Caulfield (4).

23. Research Activity Using the Internet, the library, grandparents, really smart people, etc. find information about the 1940’s that you think would help us all understand a little bit more about Holden.

24. Follow the Leader • There are many places and things in the novel that are used symbolically to represent aspects of Holden’s character and emotional status. • You will need to follow one or more of these elements while you read the book a second time. • The next few slides are examples of the symbolic elements.

25. Red Hunting Hat “‘This is a people shooting hat,’ I said, ‘I shoot people in this hat’” (30).

26. Ducks in the Lagoon “Well, you know the ducks that swim around in it? In the Springtime and all? Do you happen to know where they go in wintertime, by any chance?” (107).

27. Allie's Catcher's Mitt “She was the only one, outside my family, that I ever showed Allie’s baseball mitt to, with all the poems written on it”(101-2).