catcher in the rye1

A detailed Summary of catcher in the rye1

A classic theme in American literature is a youth's journey into adulthood. This journey is usually met with some adversity. Such is the case with J. D. Salinger's book The Catcher in the Rye. In this book the protagonist, Holden Claufield, is a nineteen year old expelled college student who is going through some tough times. Most of Holden's problems stem from his inability to disregard his childhood and proceed to maturity. Throughout the novel, Holden tries to hold onto the comfort of his childish ideals and ways of life, but society seems to demand that he grow up.

Multiple times in the book, Holden ponders of ways to simply move away to another part of the country in order to escape the responsibilities of maturity. The first example of this is when Holden meets an old girlfriend of his, Sally Hayes. Once their conversation was on what he has been doing lately, he becomes enthralled in the idea of escaping with her to the countryside and living a simple life. Sally keeps reality in check by telling him that if he wants to have a real relationship, than he should finish college and get a real job. Then, she says, there will be "oodles of marvelous places to go to."(Salinger, 133). H

After the destruction of Holden's fantasy of becoming "the catcher in the rye", he visits the Egyptian wing of the New York Metropolitan Museum, which is where he used to go as a kid. He made his way to the solemn mummy exhibit. "I was the only one left in the tomb then. I sort of liked it, in a way. It was so nice and peaceful. Then, all of a sudden, you'd never guess what I saw on the wall. Another "F*ck You." It was with a red crayon of something, right under the glass part of the wall, under the stones. That's the whole trouble, you can never find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any."(Salinger, 204) This quote shows that no matter how hard Holden tries, he cannot escape society, even in the most secluded of areas.

olden replies, "No, there won't be. It'd be entirely different. We'd have to go downstairs in elevators with suitcases and stuff. We'd have to phone up everybody and tell 'em good-by and send 'em postcards from hotels and all. And I'd be working in some office, making lots of dough, and riding to work in cabs and Madison Avenue buses, and reading newspapers, and playing bridge all the time."(Salinger, 133). In this example it is clear that Holden is protesting the kinds of things th

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Approximate Word count = 839
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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