Text Response the Catcher in the Rye - 1379 Words

Text Response: The Catcher in the Rye The novel, The Catcher in he Rye, written by J.D. Salinger was set in the late 1940 - early 1950s in New York. This novel explores the themes of loneliness, relationships and deception though the use of literary devices. Many symbols are used to enhance our understanding of the novel; such as Holden Caulfield s red hunting hat, the museum of Natural History, the ducks in Central Park Lagoon and the carousel. The author gives us an insight into the life of a young teenager facing physical and emotional exhaustion. He struggles to understand and connect to the society. he uses self deception to view society as phoney : fake and not genuine. The author has achieved the purpose of this novel. The†¦show more content†¦This creates a comparison between Holden and the novel. The novel is unpredictable and messy, completely opposite to Holden s idealised world/imagination; simple and understandable. Furthermore, the theme of this novel relies strongly on character development. The three themes of the novel: the painfulness of growing up, alienation as a form of self defence and the phoniness of adulthood are all based on the main character, Holden. Throughout the novel, Holden seems to isolate himself from the world. As he says to Mr Spencer, he feels trapped on the other side of life , and he constantly attempts to fit in as well as protecting himself from maturity. As the novel progresses, we began to realise that Holden s alienation is his way of protecting himself. Just as he wears his red hunting hat as a sign of individuality, he uses isolation as a proof that he is better than everyone else around him. He never describes his own emotions directly, and never attempts to discover the source of his pain, which shows he desperately needs love and companion. This painfulness of growing up is another theme of The Catcher in the Rye that helps our understanding of the novel. Holden is growing into adulthood, yet, he resists it. He fears change and complexity and wants everything to be simple and predictable; just like childhood. He rejects his fears and creates an idea that adulthood is superficial and phoney. As theShow MoreRelatedThe Catcher in the Rye Essay1442 Words   |  6 PagesThis paper proposes to delineate the characteristics of Holden Caulfield, the adolescent protagonist hero of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and illu minate the reasons as to why this prototype of brooding adolescence, displaying a rather uber-cool style of disaffection, disenchantment and disillusionment became an indispensable figure of interest, in literary circles as well as popular culture. 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