Catcher in the Rye Literature Analysis
General
11..
The novel is about a 16 year old who failed out
of a school and decides to go to New York, because he doesn’t want to stay at
school. He stays in a hotel and has a series of revealing encounters including
paying a prostitute, but talking to her instead of sleeping with her. By the
end of the book he gains a better understanding of the world.
22..
The theme of the novel is youthful angst. Holden
constantly is talking about how people are phonies and how the world is messed
up. He also alienates himself as a form of self-protection. All are very angsty
things. 3. The tone is very casual. Or at least its every
day. Holden speaks in his own voice, and uses his own unfiltered speech. He
curses and rambles and such that sets the tone for the book. It comes off as
natural and angsty.
“ If you really want to hear about it,
the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, an what my
lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they
had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like
going into it, if you want to know the truth.” (page1)
“I mean my mother always thought Jane and her mother were sort of
snubbing her or something when they didn't say hello. My mother saw them in the
village a lot, because Jane used to drive to market with her mother in this
LaSalle convertible they had. My mother didn't think Jane was pretty, even. I
did, though. I just liked the way she looked, that's all.” (page 42) “Can
you imagine how drunk I was? I hung up too, then. I figured she probably just
came home from a date. I pictured her out with the Lunts and all somewhere, and
that Andover jerk. All of them swimming around in a goddam pot of tea and
saying sophisticated stuff to each other and being charming and phony. I wished
to God I hadn't even phoned her. When I'm drunk, I'm a madman.” (Page 81) 4. Bildungsroman:
The book is an example of this because its about how holdens perception of
the world changes.
Irony: Holden
constantly says the opposite of what he thinks. Hes constantly complaining
about how everyone is a phonie so its ironic that he is one also "You're
aces, Ackley kid," He doesn’t like Ackley.
Amplification: “So what I decided to do, I decided I'd take a room in
a hotel in New York--some very inexpensive hotel and all--and just take it easy
till Wednesday.”
Foreshadowing: “I'll just
tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just
before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy.” (P. 1)
Charecterization: “Old Selma
Thurmer--she was the headmaster's daughter--showed up at the games quite often,
but she wasn't exactly the type that drove you mad with desire. She was a
pretty nice girl, though. I sat next to her once in the bus from Agerstown and
we sort of struck up a conversation. I liked her. She had a big nose and her
nails were all bitten down and bleedy-looking and she had on those damn falsies
that point all over the place, but you felt sort of sorry for her. What I liked
about her, she didn't give you a lot of horse manure about what a great guy her
father was. She probably knew what a phony slob he was.” (P. 2) Syntax: “Anyway, while I was putting on
another clean shirt, I sort of figured this was my big chance, in a way. I
figured if she was a prostitute and all, I could get in some practice on her,
in case I ever get married or anything. I worry about that stuff sometimes. I
read this book once, at the Whooton School, that had this very sophisticated,
suave, sexy guy in it.”(page50)
Hyperbole: “But I roomed with
him for about two whole months, even though he bored me till I was half crazy”
(Page 67)
Diction: “I told her no, but
she was around ten minutes late, as a matter of fact. I didn't give a damn,
though. All that crap they have in cartoons in the Saturday Evening Post and
all, showing guys on street corners looking sore as hell because their dates
are late--that's bunk. If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a
damn if she's late? Nobody.” (Page 67) Simile:
“It was icy as hell and I damn near fell down.” (page 3) Point of View: “I didn't feel much like
thinking and answering and all. I had a headache and I felt lousy. I even had sort
of a stomach-ache, if you want to know the truth.” (page 99) Its first person.
Characterization
1.
There
isn’t much direct characterization of Holden. If any it’s in the beginning,
there is direct characterization when Holden describes people like his sister
or Stradlater. The indirect characterization would be when we see how Holden
reacts. Like when he talks to the prostitute, or asks the cab driver about the
ducks. I think indirect characterization is big in this book. Direct
characterization is minimal or at least unimportant because most of the people Holden
meets are unimportant. Its only important because how Holden describes them
indirectly shows us more of who he is. We learn how they act and Holden’s
perceptions of them aren’t always the same perception you get from what they
actually mean. It shows Holden isn’t some perfect genius and that he isn’t
always right though he doesn’t realize it.
2.
No not in my opinion. The shifts in syntax and
diction generally occur when Holden chooses to elaborate on something. He tells
the story matter of factly and then will break into his own internal monologue
about the situation. The matter of fact parts and internal monologue are
equally important in my opinion.
3.
Holden is dynamic and round. By the end of the
book he has grown as a person making him dynamic. He is also complex and often
contradictory making him round.
4.
I feel like I got to know Holden. “Well, you could see he really felt pretty lousy about
flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and
all that stuff. I told him how I would've done exactly the same thing if I'd
been in his place, and how most people didn't appreciate how tough it is being
a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull.”(page 7) Holden’s narration
provides an intimate and almost vulnerable perspective of him. We know
everything he is thinking and feeling and are able to understand his motives.
For instance in the quote you see how he is perceptive of his teacher and that
he likes him and wants him to not feel like it is the teachers fault.
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