THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

Adapted from https://1.cdn.edl.io/RTpoRVWUalfPUTyXIikkmEKUWYuASAI53nbykJCWFZw8cC...

J.D.(JEROME DAVID) SALINGER
• 1919 – 2010
• Flunked out of McBurney School
• Enrolled in Valley Forge Military
Academy
• Took some night classes at Columbia
University
• Drafted into WWII
• Began writing CIR during war
• Married Claire Douglas in 1955, had two
children
• Became famous recluse
 THE BOOK
• Published in 1951
• Has sold over 65 million copies world wide!
• Despite its popular success, the critical response to
The Catcher in the Rye was slow in getting
underway.
• One of the most frequently challenged books in
library history because of sex and vulgar language.
• Named one of the best novels of the 20th century
by Time Magazine.
 THE STORY
Teenager expelled from prep school and his journey
across NYC in the 1950s.
Issues discussed in the book include: school, teachers,
music, sex, alcohol, hypocrisy, family, and being a
teenager.
A story about Holden Caulfield, the 16 year old
protagonist of the novel, and his experiences in
school and New York City.
 POINT OF VIEW
• First-person limited- we see this story only through Holden’s eyes
• “You”- the psychoanalyst and the reader
• Stream of Consciousness; many digressions
• Dialect- Salinger perfected the dialect of the teenage boy
• This language is the cause of much controversy over the book
• This creates a very believable character
 BIG IDEAS

• Conformity vs. Resistance

• IDENTITY FORMATION
• Perception of Truth
• Changes in Values over Time
 SETTINGS
• Pencey Prep
• New York City
• Museum of Natural History
• Edmont Hotel
• Central Park
• Phoebe and Holden’s Apartment
 SYMBOLS
• The Carousel
• The Red Hunting Cap
• The Catcher’s Mitt
• The Ducks in Central Park
Pond
• The Museum of Natural
History
• “Comin Thro’ the Rye”
poem