Authorial/ Contextual Notes
The Catcher in the Rye’s author, J.D. Salinger, grew up in New York city during the 1920s, and attended surrounding boarding schools in the area. Salinger drew upon his time growing up in New York to develop the characters, plot, and theme of his main novel, The Catcher in the Rye.
J.D Salinger reflected upon his time in the Upper West side elite boarding schools, and used his experiences to develop the groundbreaking novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger, similar to his main character Holden Caulfield, attended an upper class school in the New York area, and had the intellect to succeed, but did not apply himself. There are too many similarities between the author and his character to doubt were his inspiration came from.
Major Characters The main character in this novel, Holden Caulfield, is a bright, but purposefully dissatisfied teenager. In the beginning of the novel Holden explains to the readers that he has been kicked out of his school Pencey Preparatory, and he goes on to interact the people at Pencey. Through this Salinger reveals how lonesome Holden really is, even though he does not …show more content…
In addition to this, it is not that the book is bad, it is that the plot strings readers along. A large section of the novel is Holden complaining about the people at Pencey, until he just leaves. Honestly, readers do not have to anything gain from such an interminable beginning with characters that do not really contribute to the plot. However, for most of the novel, Holden describes all of his misadventures around the city. Again, most fail to see the point of all of this junk cluttering the story. The only plot points of the novel that are vital to the story are the death of Holden’s brother, and the discussion that Holden has with Phoebe. This novel's plot was good, but it was full of unnecessary events, and would honestly work better as a short
The Catcher in the Rye’s author, J.D. Salinger, grew up in New York city during the 1920s, and attended surrounding boarding schools in the area. Salinger drew upon his time growing up in New York to develop the characters, plot, and theme of his main novel, The Catcher in the Rye.
J.D Salinger reflected upon his time in the Upper West side elite boarding schools, and used his experiences to develop the groundbreaking novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger, similar to his main character Holden Caulfield, attended an upper class school in the New York area, and had the intellect to succeed, but did not apply himself. There are too many similarities between the author and his character to doubt were his inspiration came from.
Major Characters The main character in this novel, Holden Caulfield, is a bright, but purposefully dissatisfied teenager. In the beginning of the novel Holden explains to the readers that he has been kicked out of his school Pencey Preparatory, and he goes on to interact the people at Pencey. Through this Salinger reveals how lonesome Holden really is, even though he does not …show more content…
In addition to this, it is not that the book is bad, it is that the plot strings readers along. A large section of the novel is Holden complaining about the people at Pencey, until he just leaves. Honestly, readers do not have to anything gain from such an interminable beginning with characters that do not really contribute to the plot. However, for most of the novel, Holden describes all of his misadventures around the city. Again, most fail to see the point of all of this junk cluttering the story. The only plot points of the novel that are vital to the story are the death of Holden’s brother, and the discussion that Holden has with Phoebe. This novel's plot was good, but it was full of unnecessary events, and would honestly work better as a short