The Catcher in the Rye

Study Guide

St Pauls RC High School English Department

CONTENTS
1. J.D. SALINGER 2. THE NARRATOR 3. CHARACTERS AND CHARACTERISATION 4. SETTING Time and Place 5. PLACING PLOT ELEMENTS IN THE NOVEL 6. THEMES 7. KEY ISSUES IN THE CATCHER IN THE RYE page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8

J.D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger was born on January 1, 1919, in New York, the second child of Sol and Miriam Jillich Salinger. His father, of European Jewish ancestry, became very successful during the 1930s importing ham and cheese from Europe. Salinger's mother, of Scottish descent, may have been an actress and might have influenced her son who, in his youth, flirted with the idea of acting as well as writing for the stage and films. From 1934 to 1936 Salinger attended Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where he first began writing at the age of 15. Salinger entered New York University in 1936 but quickly dropped out. During 1937 and 1938 his father sent him to Poland and Austria to become acquainted with the suppliers of his food import business, perhaps in the hope that he would one day take over the family business. But Salinger was convinced from an early age that he wanted to be a writer. After his European travels, Salinger attended Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. This small liberal arts college, populated mostly by middle-class Pennsylvanian students, must have seemed very distant from the sophisticated, wealthy Park Avenue, New York culture that had surrounded Salinger in his adolescence. Although he wrote nine articles, including theatre reviews, for the Ursinus student paper in the one semester he was there, as was generally his experience Salinger felt alienated, unhappy, and disdainful of the process and rituals of formal education. He left Ursinus and returned to New York, where, in 1940, he took a night class at Columbia University taught by Whit Burnett, a famous editor and the owner of Story magazine. Salinger began writing stories targeted for sale to the popular mass market magazines of the era and had his first one published in Story in 1940. During World War II, from 1942 to 1945, Salinger served in the United States army, training first at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and then seeing active service in Europe. As a member of the Counter Intelligence Corps assigned to the 12th Infantry Regiment, Fourth Division in Europe, he landed on Utah Beach, Normandy, on June 6, 1944: D-day. Salinger observed the ferocious fighting on the Normandy beaches and went on to witness the liberation of Paris, where he met Ernest Hemingway, who was serving as a war correspondent. Salinger saw tremendous slaughter and casualties once more when he participated in the fight to liberate Luxembourg, known as the Battle of the Bulge. His army job was to interrogate prisoners of war, gather intelligence, and write reports about his findings. He was required to continue these duties even after the Nazis had surrendered, a particularly unenviable task for a half-Jewish American, considering the profound horror of the Nazi attempt to exterminate European Jewry. The trauma of these wartime experiences seems to underlie the transformation in Salinger's fiction that occurred in the late 1940s. His work reflects the wartime era with poignant sensibility, particularly in the group of stories published in the New Yorker beginning on January 31, 1948, with 'A Perfect Day for Bananafish', an ironic title for a story that ends with a character committing suicide. This and other serious stories about the World War II era launched Salinger on a prominent and enormously successful career. During the 1950s and 1960s he was one of the most widely discussed and influential authors in the United States. But as his celebrity grew, he withdrew progressively from the limelight. His fictionpublished infrequently and almost exclusively in the New Yorkerexplored a single fictional family, the Glass family, and was met with a mixed, sometimes hostile, critical reception. Growing implacably hostile to the New York literary and publishing world, in 1953 Salinger moved to the small New Hampshire village of Cornish. In 1955 he married Claire Douglas. The Salingers had a daughter, Margaret Ann, born December 10, 1955, and a son, Matthew, born February 13, 1960.

THE NARRATOR
A narrator is the person or thing that tells the story to the reader. A narrator in a short story or novel does not live in the real world. The author of the novel or short story does live in the real world. The author creates the narrator from his or her own imagination to tell the story he or she wants people to read. TYPES OF NARRATOR There are three main basic types of narrators found in most novels and short stories. The technical terms for these types of narrator are: First-person narrator Third-person narrator (limited) Third-person narrator (omniscient)

A first-person brings greater focus on the feelings, opinions, and perceptions of a particular character in a story, and on how that character views the world and the views of other characters. A third-person limited narrator is an alternative that doesn't require the writer to reveal all that a first-person narrator would know. By contrast, a third-person omniscient narrator gives a panoramic view of the world of the story, looking into many characters and into the broader background of a story. For stories in which the context and the views of many characters are important, a third-person narrator is a better choice. (Wikipedia)

What type of narrator has J.D. Salinger used for his novel, and why is it important that he has chosen this type of narrator for the story?

CHARACTERS and CHARACTERISATION

The people we meet in novels and short stories are called characters. Characterisation, however, refers to how the author presents his characters: directly or indirectly. When the author presents his character or characters directly, the author literally tells us what the characters are like. When the author presents his character or characters indirectly, the reader must deduce what the character is like through the character's thoughts, feelings, actions, speech, looks and interaction with other characters. GROUP TASK 1 With a partner, decide which of the following examples show direct characterisation and indirect characterisation? Explain your reasons for each choice and be prepared to feedback to the rest of the class. a) The patient boy and quiet girl were both well mannered and did not disobey their mother. b) The boy thought to himself that its best not to interrupt whilst the adults talked among themselves, even though he felt slightly sick.

Major Characters in The Catcher in the Rye

Holden Caulfield- the narrator Robert Ackley- One of Holden's acquaintances at Pencey. Stradlater- Holden's roommate whom he envies. Mr. Antolini- teacher who lets Holden stay at his apartment. Phoebe Caulfield- Holden's ten-year old sister. Jane- an old friend of Holden, who dates Stradlater. Mr. Spencer- teacher at Pencey who informs Holden of his expulsion.

GROUP TASK 2
Decide what technique J.D. Salinger has used for the main character of his novel The Catcher in the Rye. Discuss this with a partner and justify your response with reference to the text (i.e. give quotations). Be prepared to feedback your thoughts to the rest of the class.

SETTING TIME and PLACE The setting for a story refers to the time and place it was set. Setting basically provides the backdrop for the story and can also set the tone of the story. When referring to the setting of time you take into account time of year, time of day, time in history, and time it takes the narrative to unfold from beginning to end. When referring to setting of place you take into account the locations and conditions in which the events of the story take place. Setting: Early 1950's. The beginning of the novel takes place at Pencey prep school. Holden leaves Pencey and goes to various and sundry places in New York City. Background: Holden is in a mental hospital. The entire novel is written in flashback. The reader does not know this until the end of the novel. Holden fails out of Pencey. It is not the first school that has expelled him. Holden has a younger sister, Phoebe; an older brother, D.B. who is a screenplay writer in Hollywood; and a younger brother, Allie who died years ago of leukemia. After getting kicked out of Pencey, Holden must go home and tell his parents. Instead of deciding to face them with his failure, he wanders around the streets of New York City, and comes into contact with some interesting characters.

GROUP TASK With a partner, discuss the setting of J.D. Salingers novel The Catcher in the Rye. Note down your findings and say why the setting is relevant to the story.

PLACING PLOT ELEMENTS IN THE NOVEL

The plot of a novel or short story is the arrangement of all the events in the story (narrative). Normally the plot of a narrative can be broken into five sections. The sections include: Exposition (introduction of main characters etc) Rising action (shows main character in crisis or conflict) Climax (point of highest emotion also known as turning point) Falling action (unfolding of main characters crisis or conflict) Resolution (conflict resolved)

Plot Summary: Holden Caulfield is a 16-year-old prep school student who has failed out of school two weeks before Christmas. Several days before he's expected home for Christmas vacation, he leaves school planning to spend some time on his own in New York City, where he lives. Though Holden is friendly with many people at school, and though he has several friends in New York, he is constantly lonesome and in need of someone who will sympathize with his feelings of alienation. The person Holden feels closest to is his ten year old sister Phoebe, but he can't call her for fear of letting his parents know he left school. He spends his time with a variety of people, but can't make meaningful contact with any of them. After a day of futility, he sneaks into his home to see Phoebe, but she disappoints him by being annoyed at his being expelled from school. Holden decides the only solution to his overwhelming problem is to run away and establish a new identity as a deaf-mute who will not need to communicate with anyone. On the verge of nervous collapse, Holden changes his mind and decides to rejoin his family. He then enters a hospital not far from Hollywood, and he is telling us his story while in this institution. At the novel's close, Holden isn't sure whether he'll be able to handle things better when he leaves the institution, and he is sorry that he told his story at all.

With a partner, discuss and make notes for discussion about the above plot elements in The Catcher in the Rye. Find examples from the novel to back up your understanding of each element.

THEMES
A theme in a piece of writing such as a short story or novel refers to an important idea or subject that runs through the piece of writing. For example, the theme of love or hate might be explored by a writer, or perhaps the theme of death. Sometimes it is difficult to say what the theme is in one word and therefore you need to think very hard to explain in more detail exactly what the theme is. In most novels there are major and minor themes. Here is a list of possible themes in The Catcher in the Rye

Innocence Holden tries to protect the innocence of children Family Holdens relationship with his parents and siblings have deteriorated Loss Holden lost his brother Betrayal Holden constantly feels betrayed throughout the novel Alienation Holden feels alienated from society Adolescence Holden is an adolescent in search for an identity Maturity Holden is very immature, bet he believes he is mature Mental deterioration Holden ends up in a psychiatric hospital Failure Holden is constantly being kicked out of schools Sexual experiences/frustration Holden is a typical hormonal teenage male, yet he doesnt have sex with the prostitute when she offers

KEY ISSUES IN THE CATCHER IN THE RYE 1. Holden is alienated from society. He feels that no one understands him and that everyone is a "phony". He thinks that no one is honest, and everybody wants to be something else. He feels that the only person who understands him is Phoebe. He does not have relationships with girls or anyone because he feels that he is the only genuine person in the world. 2. Holden has to deal with loss. He loses his brother, Allie, to leukemia, and feels a tremendous loss. Allie wrote poems on an old baseball glove, and Holden cherishes this, and speaks about it in great detail. His brother D.B. lives in Hollywood, and is a screenwriter. Holden regards him as a "phony" and has little contact with him. He regards D.B. as a figurative prostitute, who writes only to make money, and not for intellectual redemption. 3. Another issue in Catcher is betrayal. Holden constantly feels betrayed, and that is a possible cause of his problems. Early in the novel, Mr. Spencer betrays him. He was one of the few teachers at Pencey that Holden liked. Spencer broke the news of Holden's expulsion, and Holden felt betrayed. Stradlater betrays Holden by dating his best friend, Jane, whom Holden also had a crush on. When Holden returns home to see Phoebe, she is disappointed in him that he failed out of Pencey. He thinks that she should accept him unconditionally, so he feels betrayed. Life Applications: Holden is an atypical teenager. He is alienated more than most adolescents. He also is in the midst of an identity crisis. All teenagers go through these phases, so everyone can relate to Holden to some extent. Holden is socially inept. Although he has many friends and acquaintances, he can not form lasting, meaningful friendships. Most teenagers, although they do have insecurities, are able to function in relationships. Holden does not mature through the novel. He actually regresses back to a child-like state of mind. He is constantly dwelling on the death of his younger brother, and avoids his parents, and feels like the only person he can talk to is his ten year old sister. Holden holds Allie and Phoebe in such high esteem because they are innocent. Holden's goal is to protect innocence in the world. When he hears the "Catcher in the Rye" song being sung by a little boy, he decides that he wants to be the person that keeps children from falling off a cliff. That cliff symbolizes the transition from childhood to adulthood, and he wants to keep them as innocent children, not phony adults.