Catcher in the Rye

A detailed Summary of Catcher in the Rye


The protagonist, Holden Caulfield, interacts with many people

throughout J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, but probably

none have as much impact on him as certain members of his immediate

family. The ways Holden acts around or reacts to the various members of

his family give the reader a direct view of Holden's philosophy

surrounding each member. How do Holden's different opinions of his

family compare and do his views constitute enough merit to be deemed

Holden makes reference to the word "phony" forty-four separate times

throughout the novel (Corbett 68-73). Each time he seems to be

referring to the subject of this metaphor as -- someone who

discriminates against others, is a hypocrite about something, or has

manifestations of conformity (Corbett 71). Throughout The Catcher in

the Rye, Holden describes and interacts with various members of his

family. The way he talks about or to each gives you some idea of

whether he thinks they are "phony" or normal. A few of his accounts

make it more obvious than others to discover how he classifies each

From the very first page of the novel, Holden begins to refer to his

parents as distant and generalizes both h


golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink Martinis and look like a

to turn to his younger siblings for comfort and support. Even though

is a third example of his close younger sibling relations.

member is totally false. However, his consistent and repetitive accounts

National Catholic Weekly Review 7 Jan. 1961. Rpt. in If You Really Want

a prostitute. If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even

dough, now. He didn't use to. He used to be just a regular writer,

compassion yet also with a jeering tone. Holden makes his mom sound

entirely possible. Holden is the storyteller in Salinger's novel.

Sitting here with you, and talking, and thinking about stuff'

absurdly exaggerated portrayals of reality and subsequently because his

are young and innocent, is perhaps why Holden has respect for his

about his brother. Holden seems to respect his older brother somewhat



Some common words found in the essay are:
Rye Holden, Holden's Allie, Catcher Rye, Whenever Holden, Holden's DB, Phoebe Hamlet, Phoebe Allie's, Hollywood That's, Hollywood DB, Demographics Aug, catcher rye, holden talking phoebe, they're touchy, salinger 1, talking phoebe, holden talking, views family, father's occupation, throughout novel, holden makes, hell salinger,

Approximate Word count = 1259
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

join now Save Paper



Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.