The Catcher In The Rye

The Catcher In The Rye

1. Themes

   • Isolation
     • "I couldn't think of anybody to call up"
   • Preservation
     • "The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was"
     • symbols - snowball, museum, ducks

2. Setting

   • Pencey
     • A source of failure for Holden - being kicked out, fighting etc.
   • New York
     • Constant source of failure, like Pencey - a symbol of phoniness
     • physically embodies Holden's hatreds - Phoniness etc.
   • Natural history musuem
     • Favorite place of holdens as everything remains the same, preservation.

3. Major characters

   • Holden Caulfield
     • Main Character - anti hero
     • "Holding-on" to a "caul" holding on to the ideas of safety and warmth of a caul - "David Copperfield"
     • Quest narrative - to find nirvana
   • Pheobe
     • Innocent

4. Structure

   • Circular structure Alone:Meets someone:Alone
     • Consistent failure
   • Minimisation of Language/passive voice
     • Creates distance and isolation

5. Symbolism

   • Snowball
     • Preservation, doesn't want to disturb the snow on the fire hydrant and on the car
   • Phonebooth
     • Symbol of Communication - or rather failure to communicate - "I couldn't think of anybody to call up"
   • Baseball mitt
     • Symbol of Allie- used for catching, links to title and symbolises isolation - (catcher is far away from the rest of the team)
   • Record
     • Circular - when it breaks it symbolises Holden Shattering becoming critically fractured or damaged.
   • Grey Hair
     • Symbol of impending adult-hood
   • Red Hunting Hat
     • Link to Allies red hair - unable to let go.
     • Unique as Holden is the only person ever presented as wearing a hat creates distance from society

6. Key Events

   • Boy Singing
     • "When a body catch a body comin' through the rye"
       • gives rise to Holden's "dream" - to become the catcher in the rye. He wants to stop children who are playing in a rye field from falling off of a large cliff, he essentially would like to stop people growing up, to stop time.
     • The boy is walking on the curb, the curb represents the threshold between the safety of the sidewalk and the perilous road adjacent to him. the pavement is childhood and the road of course symbolises impending adulthood.

7. J.D Salinger

   • (1951)