The idea of Holden-as-saint was to prove appealing to many critics. But to others, like Maxwell Geismar, Holden is little more than a "sad, little screwed up hero," who if he is really meant to represent the non-conformist attitudes of the 1950's, "is a
Lissie Fuller KAB L6th Beech The idea of Holden-as-saint was to prove appealing to many critics. But to others, like Maxwell Geismar, Holden is little more than a "sad, little screwed up hero," who if he is really meant to represent the non-conformist attitudes of the 1950's, "is a rebel without a past apparently and without cause." How far do you agree with Geismar's interpretation? We can learn about Holden's character from his own account of his adventures and to a lesser extent from his speeches and actions; and also from the reactions of others to him. All these factors can give us a lot of help in forming our own view on whether he is a "sad, little screwed up hero" or a quiet teenager who has been separated from society by his character but is really kind and thoughtful when you get to know him. Throughout the novel there are many factors that make me want to err on the side of caution when dubbing Holden with the harsh description that Maxwell Geismar has been so ready to label him with. One of the main examples that is repeated and backed up many times is Holden's obvious affection for his younger sister, Phoebe Caulfield. Once he has left Pencey Prep and made his way to New York by train he goes to a phone booth. The affection between Phoebe and Holden first shows itself to us in a subtle way here. He doesn't know who to call and the fact that he thinks of
The Biography of JD Salinger
JD Salinger, author of Catcher In The rye dies at the age of 91 JD Salinger died of natural causes at his home in New Hampshire, aged 91 on Wednesday. The writer, who has never published an original work over the past 45 years, was the creator of The Catcher in the Rye, the delinquent, Holden Caulfield and, other books were the Nine stories and Franny and Zooey. The son of a Polish Jewish father and his Scot-Irish mother, Jerome David Salinger was born in New York at New Years day,1919 and grew up in Manhattan. His father became wealthy importing cheese and meat. He had his own troubled history in various schools until he was dispatched at 15 to Valley Forge military academy. Then at night using a torch under his bed covers he began writing. There he began writing at night using a torch under his bed covers and published his first story in a fiction magazine in 1940. The Catcher in the Rye was published in 1951, which was around the Cold War anxiety; it is now one of the most influential American novels of the era. With its instant hit to many people, some school boards made it required reading. While others banned it as it had frequent swearing and the bad example they believed Caulfield set. However the author became disillusioned with the publishing industry and lived a reclusive life, publishing only a handful of highly influential works. However not all has been
'Catcher in the Rye' - To what extent is Holden a likeable character?
TO WHAT EXTENT IS HOLDEN A LIKEABLE CHARACTER? Likeable. When looked up in the dictionary produces synonyms such as 'nice and pleasant', words which would not be associated with Holden Caulfield, the main character in the novel 'Catcher in the Rye'. However, I want to explore a different meaning to the word likeable, a version that brackets Holden's personality and allows us to strip off his layers of self awareness to reveal the real him. Holden Caulfield. The likeable guy. The Bildungsroman 'Catcher in the Rye' was written in the early 20th century, an era more reserved and dissimilar to today's generation. Yet surprisingly, Holden uses a very realistic idiom which reflects the youth of today, with his mixture of expletives and slang; '...lousy childhood' '...David Copperfield kind of crap.' '...crumby place' '...my whole goddam autobiography' Holden begins the book as he means to go on, and does not pretend to be something he is not, by hiding his unconventional idiom. This makes him likeable as readers can relate to him, as he is very genuine, and blend in with the language of today's youth. Another attribute of 'typical Holden idiom' is the theme of sarcasm which recurs throughout this book, normally outlined in italics. The element of derision adds depth to Holden's persona, '...They're nice and all...' as when he uses a sarcastic tone it indicates that he
My Pastiche of Catcher in The Rye.
Pastiche of Catcher in The Rye I sat next to her once in the bus from Agerstown and we sort of struck up a conversation."She wasn't exactly amazing to look at, but she was a nice enough girl. Someone who you could have intelligent conversation with, one of the very few people I met during my time at Pencey who wasn't a phony. You could tell she was a pretty nervous kid though, she barely made eye contact when she spoke to you, and was always twiddling her fingers in that uncomfortable sort of way. Anyway, she was sat next to me on the bus, and I figured I should probably introduce myself. "Hi, I'm Holden." She smiled a shy sort of smile and said, "Hi, I'm Selma," then she held out her hand for me to shake. That killed me. Shaking hands is just about the most phony thing a person can do. But I shook it anyway, just to be polite and all. "Selma Thurman, right?" "Yeah, that's right," she said with another shy smile. In a funny way, she kind of reminded me of Jane. She had that same distinctive smile that would light up any room, a genuine smile. Not one of those phony ones. You can always tell when someone is genuine. "You go to Pencey right?" she asked "That's right," "Then you know my father." Boy! did I know her father. He damn near would have killed me if he had the chance. He hated my guts. He'd called my parents on several occasions expressing his 'concerns'
The novel " The Catcher in the Rye " written by J. D. Salinger is one of the most outstanding novels of its time.
The novel " The ?atcher in the Rye " written by J. D. Salinger is one of the most outstanding novels of its time. For American literature of that time it is characteristic to conceal the most important things and that's why this period is called " the silent fifties ". So when " The Catcher in the Rye " was published it was rather liberal and truthful in comparison with other literal works. That is why a lot of critics accused J. D. Salinger of being light-minded, of showing disrespect to social norms and to society itself, though many of them admitted it to be sincere, honest and natural. But at the same time there were a lot of writers who approved of this novel and Salinger's bravery, saying that he showed the world things it was supposed to see a long time ago. Having seen all these mental break downs of one single teenager American society considered itself as being unsuccessful. Salinger's informal, conversational style of writing makes the book extremely entertaining and readable. Throughout the book there are little asides and observations that are humorous and thought provoking. Salinger is a natural story teller and the reader is drawn along by perpetual tales of Holden's past and his thoughts on human nature. Salinger's style is very simple. There are very few descriptive pages. He is mainly concerned with portraying characters and situations not with
What is wrong with Holden Caulfield?
English GCSE Coursework What is wrong with Holden Caulfield? We can learn about Holden's character from his own account of his adventures and to a lesser extent from his speeches and actions, and from the reactions of others to him. Holden is like all teenagers; he has a mixture of moods and attitudes, and searches for security in the form of friendship. Holden is also aware that there are many choices available, but he has had no instructions on religious or moral values. Holden is virtuous, but it is his virtue that leads him into difficulties. He expects everyone else to be like him, and so Holden sets very high standards. He is sympathetic and thoughtful - he asks Ackley out despite his dislike of him and visits Mr Spencer when he has the flu. Holden feels sorry for Sunny - the prostitute. He notices details such as her green dress and the nun's cheap glasses, and he remarks on Mrs Morrow's rings and her magazine, but fails to notice that he does not fit in to society. Holden is an idealist. His high expectations include honesty and sincerity, which he expresses as a lack of phoniness and consistency, however these are not achieved by the adult world he lives in, as a result of this he becomes more and more depressed, and more and more desperate for a fulfilling relationship. Holden hates hypocrites and phoneys, but meets few people who are honest, so he
Mosquito Coast - Write a short character sketches on each of the four children paying special attention to how they relate to their father.
Mosquito Coast Coursework Question: Write a short character sketches on each of the four children paying special attention to how they relate to their father. Charlie, as the oldest child in the family, feels responsible for his father. He loves his father and always looks up to him. He believes everything his father says and believes that his father knows everything. You can notice that Charlie also used his father's words like 'crapo', but as time goes on Charlie, is the first to notice Allie's faults. As time went on, Charlie realized that Allie was not perfect and often lied. One of the examples of this is in chapter 19 where Charlie says, "His lie made me lonelier than any other lie.... His lie scared me.... His lie sickened me.... Separated me from him," By this we can see that Charlie was losing his trust in Allie, we see this by when Charlie says, " How much did I really trust Father." Charlie also realized Allie could not live on natural resources, and he needed material things, Allie was also insecure and depended on others. One sees this when all the children made themselves their own camp called 'The Acer', and Charlie realized that they use the natural resources more constructively than father when he says " We had not brought a boat load of tools and seeds, and we had not invented anything. We just lived like monkeys." Here we can get the idea that Charlie
GCSE English- J.B Priestley's "An Inspector Calls"
English coursework-'An Inspector Calls' J.B Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls' is a play described as a murder mystery. But underneath it has a strong political message. He did this because more people would want to watch a murder mystery than a political play. Agatha Christies 'Mousetrap' is the longest running murder mystery ever, it is still being showed. This shows that murder mysteries are extremely popular. Priestley was influenced by G.B Shaw- a significant playwright who was also a socialist. In 1912 the titanic sank, this represents capitalism- it is dying and also sinking. In 1912 England was a mainly capitalist country. In 1945 after WW2, the country was in chaos. Different classes were mixing together, these are socialist views. Priestley's message to the public was to become socialists. J.B Priestley feels passionately towards socialism but is strongly against capitalism. He shows his beliefs when he says: "We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish." This shows that Priestley could be using Inspector Goole as a puppet because he has strong socialist beliefs. The Inspector keeps repeating the word "we". He wants to include everyone and not leave anyone out. This is an ethos of
Catcher in the Rye - how Salinger brings Holden's character to life
Catcher in the Rye Assignment The Catcher in the Rye is a story set in the 1940s in the USA. The story is mainly based in New York City, Holden's home town, though there are parts of the story that are not set in New York. In this assignment I'm mainly going to discuss three events based in the book and look in detail at the language that the narrator J.D. Salinger has used to make it look like Holden is telling the story to the reader. The author, J.D. Salinger, has also used the first person pronoun "I" throughout the entire story, although Salinger has written the book it feels like Holden has written it, this helps to bring Holden's character alive. He also uses what is known as 'direct address' at the beginning of the story. This is where the narrator uses the pronunciation 'you' this makes the reader feel that they are being "spoken" to personally. I'm also going to look at the way Holden's attitude, thoughts and themes are structured and the style used in doing so. The first event I'm going to discuss is Holden's conversation with Phoebe in her bedroom. This is where Holden creeps into his own house in order to see Phoebe. Holden creeps into her room in the middle of the night when his parents are not there, when Phoebe wakes up she hugs Holden, because she did not expect him to come so early. Salinger then talks a few pages about them having conversation, here
Holden Caulfield
Holden's favourite saying is "if you really want to know the truth." I am going to give my views on what I feel to be "the truth" about Holden Caulfield. Holden has relationships with many different people throughout the book. I am going to start by writing about some of the people he has relationships with. The first woman that has had a large part in Holden's life is Jane Gallagher. We find out about Jane, when Stradlater tells Holden that she is his date. Immediately Holden starts telling Holden his life story. It is obvious that Holden has a bit of an obsession with Jane, when he starts telling us all about her, even about her moves in checkers - "She wouldn't move any of her kings. What she'd do when she'd get a king, she wouldn't move it." - We can see here that there maybe some kind of mental illness with Holden, because he remembers the oddest things about Jane. It may be that he is just cherishing the small details about her. He doesn't seem to have a normal conversation with Stradlater about her at all. He then asks Stradlater -"Did she tell you we used to play checkers all the time, or anything." - This is again an odd remark, because Jane Gallagher and Holden met during the summer, and she has probably forgotten about it now. He keeps saying that he should go down and see her - "I oughta go down and at least say hello to her." - He keeps saying this, but he