Ben Irish J.D.

Salinger

April 12, 2006

The setting is the 1950s. It was a time were two life styles clashed, the beats, far out people living the alternate life, and the conservative suburban home. Many people were moving into these suburbs and living the American dream. The Atomic age was going strong. On the surface everything was nice and happy and new. But underneath, many Americans were becoming disillusioned from living the American dream. J.D. Salinger shared many traits with the modernist authors, such as this sense of disillusionment, but he also shared with the Contemporaries the ability to use the past fearlessly and to use nontraditional forms. He shows this through his use of such characters as the Glass family and Holden Caulfield, a high school dropout who was personally disillusioned by the state of the world.

J.D. Salinger grew up in a rich New York society. He went to private schools and lived in fancy apartments. This comes out in his novel The Catcher In The Rye. He writes about life in the upper/ upper middle class. He writes about Pencey Prep, where the main character Holden goes to school, They advertise in about a thousand magazines, always showing some hotshot guy on a horse jumping over a fence. Like as if all you ever do is play polo all the time.(2) Salinger writes about a prep school as though he has had the experience. Warren French writes in Dictionary of Literary Biography that, In one of the few interviews [Salinger] has granted, he said that his own childhood was much like that of the boy Holden Caulfield in his

novel The Catcher in the Rye Like Holden, he was restless in fashionable prep schools, and he was finally sent to Valley Forge Military Academy, a model for Pencey Prep in his novel. This shows that Salinger modeled his novel after his life. It shaped his writing because it gave him first hand experience that he could model his work after.

J.D. Salinger writes as a Modernist. He uses his Modernist sense of disillusionment toward the American Dream and his Post-Modernist sense of anxiety toward the Cold War and the Atomic age. As stated by John Leggat and John Brinnin in Elements of Literature, American modernist writers both echoed and challenged the American dream. They constituted a broader, more resonant voice than ever before, resulting in a second American renaissance. With all the changes, however, writers continued to ask fundamental questions about the meaning and purpose of human existence. (536). This quote exemplifies Salingers writing. He often speaks through Holden as disillusioned at American society. He often rants about the phoniness of society, which is exemplifying the ideas of the Modernists that they are fed up with the phoniness and are writing about it. Salinger also writes as a Contemporary author. He uses Stream of Conscientious writing and the past often in the stream of his writing. As stated in Elements of Literature, Contemporary fiction allows for multiple meanings and multiple worlds, uses nontraditional forms, and comments upon itself. But it embraces traditional storytellers as well as postmodern risk takers. It

features cultural diversity, crisscrosses the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction, and uses subjects, images, and theme from the past fearlessly. (912) Salinger often uses Stream of Conscientiousness writing in The Catcher In The Rye and uses the past often in both The Catcher In The Rye, and also in all the stories about the Glass family, such as Franny and Zooey and Perfect Day For A Banana Fish. Both Stream of Conscientiousness and a use of the past are both major tenants of the Contemporary writing style. Salinger often uses the past in Zooey, his story about the youngest Glass son. As he reflects on an old letter from his older brother Buddy, he comments upon the past and tells the story of how he and his siblings were on TV. As it happened, Zooey had made a formal and serious debut as a public performer at the age of seven... an age difference of almost 18 years between the eldest of the Glass children, Seymour, and the youngest, Franny, had helped very considerably to allow the family to reserve a kind of dynastic seating arrangement at the Wise Child microphones, which lasted just over sixteen years. (53) This quote shows how Salinger uses the past to tell of something that was being discussed in the present. His comments on the past exemplify the tenant of the Contemporaries that they use the past fearlessly.

There are many themes in The Catcher In The Rye that appear throughout the novel. One such theme is the Catcher. During the novel, Holden wishes to be a catcher in the rye. But during the novel, while he is

with his sister, they trade places and Phoebe becomes the catcher. As Yasuhiro Takeuchi states in his essay The Burning Carousel and the Carnivalesque, After telling Phoebe his dream of being a catcher, Holden narrates, I took my hunting hat out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. This moment marks their exchange of roles: Holden, the catcher, becomes the caught/fallen, while Phoebe, in possession of the hat, soon comes to catch, or rather pickup, Holden. This is a major theme because the switching of the hats symbolizes the catcher and who needs to be caught. It occurs throughout the novel, including at the end where they switch back, and Phoebe allows Holden to be the catcher. Another major theme in the book is Holdens view on phoniness throughout the novel. Many things people do are phony to him. In a part in the novel where Holden is in a bar, he runs into one of his brothers old girlfriends and calls her a phony. How marvelous to see you! old Lillian Simmons said. Strictly phony. Hows your big brother? Thats all she really wanted to know.(86) This quote is an example of how Holden often speaks of the phoniness of people. This ties to Salingers literary movement because the Modernists were disillusioned with the way the world was going and that is how Holden acts toward the world. Another example of Holdens view of phoniness is when an old alumnus of the school visits and gives a speech in the chapel. Holden says the whole thing is phony. Salinger writes, That killed me. I can just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking Jesus to send him a few

more stiffs.(17) This shows that Holden believes old Ossenburger is horribly fake. It also connects Salinger to the Contemporary writers because it is an example of Stream of Conscientiousness writing. One last example of Holdens view on phoniness is during his talk with Mr. Spencer at the beginning of the novel. Holden is going to his home to discuss his being kicked out of school. During the talk he thinks of his past school Elkton Hills. He remembers how the principal was a giant fake. One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. Thats allThey had this headmaster, Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life.(13) This again is a look at Holdens outlook on life. It relates to the Modernist movement because they were so disheartened with the way the world was. One theme that appears in The Catcher In The Rye is falling. This falling is spoken of during Holdens talk with Mr. Antolini, a teacher he had had at a prior school. He first mentions it after they discuss how school went for Holden at Pencey. Salinger writes, I have a feeling that youre riding for some kind of a terrible, terrible fall. But I honestly dont know what kind.(186) Then later in the talk Mr. Antolini expands on the falling, This fall I think youre riding for- its a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isnt permitted to feel or hear himself hit the bottom. He just keeps falling and falling. (187) This is fulfilled when Holden faints in the museum. The fall seems to be related to Salingers Modernist writing style. The falling could be the falling of Americas hopes of fulfilling the American dream. Death is a theme in The Catcher In The Rye. It appears when Holden speaks of James Castle or his brother Allie. Holden himself even thinks of

jumping out the window or as he says, Anyway, Im sort of glad theyve got the atomic bomb invented. If theres ever another war, Im going to sit right the hell on top of it. Ill volunteer for it, I swear to God I will. (183) This quote shows that Death is something Holden doesnt mind, but Death appears often in the novel. It also relates to the Modernist movement because the Modernists have a fear of the Atomic bomb. On the flip side of death is life. The Catcher In The Rye is a book about the life of a boy. Holdens view on life is a major part of his character. He views life as a game for the popular hot-shots. Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules. Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it. Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then its a game, all rightIll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there arent any hot-shots, then whats a game about it? Nothing. No game. This quote shows Holdens view on life. It also shows the state of the era. At the time the upper class got everything that was good and lived in fancy houses and were able to party, but the poor had to live in small intercity apartments and had to work hard for their lifestyle. Possibly the biggest theme in the novel is Holdens wanting to be a catcher in the rye. While he is talking with Phoebe, he tells her about his dream to catch kids running in a rye field from falling of a cliff, as he sees it. Salinger writes, Im standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliffI mean if theyre running and they dont look where theyre going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. Thats all Id do all day. Id just be the catcher in the rye and all.(173) This is a major theme because it is a peek

into Holdens true being. Holden in this quote is not commenting on other people but upon himself and telling his inner most desire. It connects to Contemporary writers because it allows for multiple meanings and interpretations. One theme is the use of clothing to symbolize a change in character. Yasuhiro Takeuchi makes this clear in his essay The Burning Carousel and the Carnivalesque. He writes, Phoebe wears Holden's hat, drags Holden's suitcase, is out of breath as Holden often is, and during the ensuing scene refuses to return to school as Holden himself has decided to refuse. Yet their reversed relationship is again reversed when Phoebe returns the hat to Holden: "All she did was, she took off my red hunting hat--the one I gave her-and practically chucked it right in my face". Salinger here again uses clothing as a formal device signaling an exchange of position. This change of clothing is a major theme that repeats itself throughout the book. This theme is important because it symbolizes a change of character and a change in how the characters act. One last theme is that Holden frequently interacts with people of many different social classes. Takeuchi writes, During Holden's two day stay in New York, he enjoys "free and familiar contact" with diverse people, regardless of "social estate, rank, age, [and] property"; these people range from a nine-year-old girl (his sister Phoebe's friend) to a married society woman in her forties (his classmate's mother), and from a prostitute to a pair of nuns.

His interactions are important because they show that Holden does not care who he interacts with as long as they are not a phony.

One enduring influence of The Catcher In The Rye is that it stands out among other works of American literature. Its main hero, Holden, is unlike all the other heroes, but in a way he is the same as the others. Arthur Heiserman writes, All the virtues of these American heroes are personal ones: they most often, as a matter of fact, are in conflict with home, family, church. The protagonist of The Catcher In The Rye, Holden Caulfield, is one of these American heroes, but with a significant difference. He seems to be engaged in both sorts of quests at once; he needs to go home and he needs to leave it. Unlike the other American knights errant, Holden seeks Virtue second to Love. He wants to be good. Holden is a new American hero because he is unlike the others. He seeks something else that different heroes do not tend to seek. He searches for virtue, for the love of his fellow man. He breaks the cultural barrier that a hero searches for love and money. The Catcher In The Rye has been hotly debated over since it was published. One of the arguments is over whether the novel was a significant work of literature. Robert Bennett highlights this in his work overview of The Catcher In The Rye. One of the issues that has been debated ever since the novel's initial publication is whether or not it qualifies as a significant work of literature. Does it offer significant insights into the complexities of

human existence and the development of American culture, or does it simply appeal to vulgar adolescent minds with its obscene language, complaining about everything without developing any positive insights of its own? This strikes home. What originally drew me to this novel was the debate over the vulgarity of the book. It was a classic but it was also obscene and it does draw the adolescent mind. Salinger left a novel that is read due to its vulgar nature. This may be his lasting impression.

Jerome David Salinger wrote his works in a Modernist/ Contemporary style. He uses a Modernist sense of disillusionment and the Contemporary use of stream of conscientiousness often in The Catcher In The Rye. J.D. Salinger wrote his novel and stories in a way that combined both new and old styles. He created a new type of hero and a style of writing that left behind plot development and focused on character development. In all, Salinger wrote in a style that can not be recreated because he combined two literary movements in a way that flowed well.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 2: American Novelists Since World War II, First Series. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Edited by Jeffrey Helterman, University of South Carolina and Richard Layman, Columbia, South Carolina. The Gale Group, 1978. pp. 434-444. Heiserman, Arthur. "J.D. Salinger: Some Crazy Cliff." Rev. of The Cathcer in the Rye, by Jerome D. Salinger. Western Humanities Review Spring 1956: 129-137. Salinger, Jerome D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Salinger, Jerome D. Franny and Zooey. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Salinger, Jerome D. Nine Stories. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Takeuchi, Yasuhiro. "The Burning Carousel and the Carnivalesque." Rev. of The Catcher in the Rye, by Jerome D. Salinger. Studies in the Novel 2002.