The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter one; summary and analysis.
The Catcher In The Rye Chapter One: The Catcher in the Rye begins with the statement by the narrator, Holden Caulfield, that he will not tell about his "lousy" childhood and "all that David Copperfield kind of crap" because such details bore him. He describes his parents as nice, but "touchy as hell." Instead, Holden vows to tell about what happened to him around last Christmas, before he had to take it easy. He also mentions his brother, D.B., who is nearby in Hollywood "being a prostitute." Holden was a student at Pencey Prep in Agerstown, Pennsylvania, and he mocks their advertisements, which claim to have been molding boys into clear-thinking young men since 1888. Holden begins his story during the Saturday of the football game with Saxon Hall, which was supposed to be a very big deal at Pencey. Selma Thurmer, the daughter of the headmaster, is at the game. Although she is unattractive and a bit pathetic, to Holden she seems nice enough, for she does not lavish praise upon her father. Holden, the manager of the fencing team, had just returned from New York with the team. Although they were supposed to have a meet with the McBurney School, Holden left the foils on the subway. The fencing team was angry at Holden, but he thought the entire event was funny in a way. Holden does not attend the football game, instead choosing to say goodbye to Spencer, his history teacher,
The cather in the rye
Catcher in the rye Jerome David Salinger, born in New York City on January 1, 1919, may not have written many novels in which he is recognized for. Although, he did write one novel, which brought him fame. In many of Salinger's short stories and especially his most well-known novel he writes about how the main character falls from his or her own innocence then rises to face their challenges. In J.D. Salinger's, Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield goes through a fall from his innocence throughout his journey to his safe haven, home. One example of when Holden fell from his own innocence is when he is in the room with Phoebe and he can't name anything he likes. Holden reacts to this question by saying, "Boy, she was depressing me"(Salinger 169). The only three things he can name that he liked were Allie, James Castle, and sitting there chewing the fat with Phoebe. The reason this is a time when Holden falls is because he gets really depressed when he can barely think of anything he liked. The reason I think Holden gets so depressed is because two of the people he names are dead. That's why he is so lonely all the time. Holden finds things in common with Allie and James Castle and since they're both dead he feels, in the back of his mind, that he should also be dead which makes him depressed. Another example of a fall for Holden is when he realizes he can't erase even half
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
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
The Catcher In The Rye
English Literature Coursework The Catcher In The Rye "Holden Escapes Corruption Through Childhood And Innocence." Discuss Holden Caulfield was in conflict with the society he was living in. He regarded it as corrupted and totally insincere; and therefore he attempted to escape from falling into this corruption of adulthood, by holding onto his childhood innocence. However he was unsuccessful in his strong sense of desire to prevent this inevitable fall into adulthood. Later in the novel after coming to terms with this fact, he developed a new desire to act as ' The Catcher In The Rye' and protect the innocent children who have yet not faced the wicked society of adulthood. There are a number of ways in which Holden was trying to hold onto his childhood and innocence. For example Holden struggled to maintain his virginity. His virginity was a crucial sign of his boyhood innocence, which was related to his dead brother, Allie and childhood. If he had let go of that then he would also be regarded as corrupted like his contemporaries. Holden wanted to prevent himself from entering into the adult world which sex strongly revolved around. Sex was something that fascinated him but also repelled him at the same time. He wished to experience what it was all about. However he had established that passion was not dedicated to him, even though he enjoyed women's company and yearned
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
Comparing Catcher in the Rye and Pygmalion and the Themes They Represent
Comparing Catcher in the Rye and Pygmalion and the Themes They Represent In J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caulfield, muses at one point on the possibility of escaping from the world of confusion and "phonies" while George Bernard Shaw's main character of Pygmalion, Eliza Dolittle, struggles to become a phony. The possible reason for this is that they both come from opposite backgrounds. Holden is a young, affluent teenager in 1950's America who resents materialism and Eliza Dolittle is a young, indigent woman who is living in Britain during the late 1800's trying to meet her material needs and wants. These two seemingly opposite characters do in fact have something in common: they, like every other person, are in a constant pursuit of happiness. This commonality is the basis for the themes these two stories present. Some of these themes go unconsidered and this leads to many misunderstandings in the world. This is why Pygmalion and Catcher in the Rye are not just stories but, in fact, lessons that are presented in their themes. These themes teach that being middle or upper class does not guarantee happiness, treating others with good manners and equality are important, and pronunciation and terminology can "put you in your place" in terms of class. Throughout the world's history, pronunciation and the way a language is
Holden's spiritual Journey in the Catcher in the Rye
HOLDEN CAULFIELD'S ODYSSEY OF SELF DISCOVERY What is it that defines the infamous teenage years that everyone at one point or another goes through? Is it all the struggle of trying to break through the crowd or the stress of facing the endless conflicts that didn't exist when you were a child? Maybe it's the pain of shedding the protective cocoon called childhood, to face your deepest fears and understand that all those simple truths might not be so simple. At the other end of these terrible years filled with confusion and tears is light. Every child comes through as an individual with a better idea of his or her self and place in society. In J.D Salinger's coming of age novel The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist Holden Caulfield embarks on a spiritual journey, during which he comes to terms with himself and the world. In the opening chapters of the novel, one can easily suspect that Caulfield is psychologically ill, judging by his cynical tone, hypocritical behavior and immature views. His constant criticism of society's phoniness displays his cynical views; and when he bluntly lies to his fellow classmate's mother about her son during a train to New York, he reveals his own hypocrisy as a phony. Another trait visible from Holden's narration is the immaturity in understanding change, which is obvious from the way his thoughts are constantly revolving around
How does Slinger present Holden as being both a strong and a weak character in 'The Catcher in the Rye'?
How does Slinger present Holden as being both a strong and a weak character in 'The Catcher in the Rye'? Timed : 45mins Salinger, author of the teenage novel 'The Catcher in the Rye', presents the character of Holden Caulfield to have both weak and strong qualities. He shows this through the use of his linguistic techniques. At a first glance it seems that the character of Holden only has weak points however, after a more in depth reading it is clear that he also has some strengths. The first weakness to note about the character of Holden Caulfield is his judgemental tendencies. Throughout the first ten chapters this weakness becomes increasingly frequent. One example of this is when Holden goes to visit his history teacher, upon Mrs. Spencer's opening of the door he comments, 'They didn't have a maid or anything, and they always opened the door themselves. They didn't have too much dough.' By Salinger's use of this sentence Holden is showed to be judgemental towards even those whom he cares for. This suggests that his personality wills him to criticize, as well as this he notices 'flaws' others would not. On the other hand this could show a strength in which he is somewhat perceptive and notices many little differences others would not. Further on in the book Holden becomes alone and it seems that he either mentions others from his past so that he may judge them -
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