The Catcher in the Rye

1. The Catcher in the Rye Ch.1-6 By Rosa Carreon

2. About the authorJ.D. Salinger • Born January 1, 1919 in New York • Flunked out of school and was sent to Valley Forge Military Academy, a boarding school in Wayne Pennsylvania. • After graduating, he eventually went to Colombia University where he met Professor Whit Burnett who encouraged him to write more frequently. • When he was drafted into the military he began to write chapters about Holden Caulfield, the main character of The Catcher in the Rye. • In 1951, The Catcher in the Rye was officially published • In 2010, Salinger dies at the age of 91

3. Summary • The main character and narrator of the book, Holden Caulfield is recounting the story of his life starting with getting kicked out of Pencey Prep. • Throughout the first 6 chapters, we get an idea of what kind of person Holden is and what makes him tick. (rambles a lot, critical of everyone around him, being agitated by fake people). • We also learn that Holden is obsessed with a girl named Jane, his roommate’s date. He mentions that she would always keep her kings in the back row when playing checkers Ch.1-6

4. My Thoughts • Holden wants to know if Jane still keeps her kings in the back row because he wants to know if she’s changed since he’s seen her. • The first scene when Holden is on top of a hill looking down at the football game represents him in real life. He is an observer and criticizes everyone else from afar. He “others” himself. • The idea of him hating people who are fake/phony is ironic because when his roommate, who he hates, asks him to write a paper for him, he does it any way