Chris+I.+-+The+Catcher+in+the+Rye

"What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff-I mean, if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out of somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be."(173)

Biography
J. D. Salinger was born on January 1st, 1919 in Manhattan, NY. His mother was Marie Jillich and his father was Sol Salinger. As a child, he and his family moved a lot and he went to many schools. After he graduated from high school, he "college hopped". He went to NYU, then Ursinius College in Pennsylvania, and then went to Columbia University, where he found his talent as a writer. He had written several stories which were published in a few magazines when he was abruptly drafted for the war. During his term of duty he corresponded with Ernest Hemingway. He had many campaigns in Germany, and by the end of the war he was experiencing battle fatigue. His war experience affected his writing. He married a few times and wrote a few more stories, which made it into the Saturday Evening Post and the New Yorker. Then, in 1951, he wrote "The Catcher in the Rye". Much of this story is based on his life and his views of the world as he sees it. The book soared in popularity, but Salinger shyed away from attention. The book was criticized for the casual talk of mature material. The book has a very unique style; it is written casually and matter-of-factly, in first person. As he got older, he became more and more of a recluse. He wrote less and spoke publicly less because he did not like the invasion of privacy. He stopped writing in 1965 and lives in New Hampshire. He is 90 years old.

Synopsis
The plot of this book is that of the main character, Holden Caulfield, traveling throughout New York City finding himself and the hypocrisy of society. The story begins with an indifferent Holden Caulfield, age 16, standing on a hill overlooking the school he had only hours earlier been a student of. The school is Pencey Prep, and he was expelled for bad grades, behavior and attendance. As he is standing on the hill he is trying to feel "some kind of good-by."(Salinger,4) He finally remembers "chucking a football around in front of the academic building" with some friends(4). Satisfied, he goes to say good-by to the one teacher that he liked, Mr. Spencer. That turns out to be a mistake, however, because his good-by turns into a lecture about school that Holden did not really feel like having. When he finally leaves, he goes back to his room in the dormitory to pack up and leave the next day. His roomate Stradlater is there getting ready for a date. He soon finds out that the date is with Jane Gallagher, a girl he has known for a long time and is fond of. He knows how Stradlater likes to take advantage of innocent girls and he finds himself trying to get him to call it off. He goes any way and Holden has time to sulk about what he might be doing. He is thinking that he might have feelings for her. When Stradlater gets back Holden yells at him and they get in a fight. After this incident Holden decides that he is good and ready to leave Pencey that night. So he does and finds himself alone at night in the city that never sleeps.

An interesting part of this story is that Holden is always looking for phonies in his life. He hates it when people act phony around him because it makes him feel like they are lying to him. After Holden leaves Pencey he starts roaming New York with no place in particular to go. He has quite a lot of money and he quickly spends it on hotels, alcohol and ciggarettes. He stops at a club and dances with some drunk women. As the night gets later Holden doesnt feel tired and keeps wandering. As Holden narrates his adventures he often starts digressing about something else. One moment he will talk about the girls in the bar he went to and the next he will talk about calling Jane Gallagher. He has an unfortunate run in with a prostitute, which ends up costing him ten bucks and leaves him more depressed. As the days go by travelling around New York he slowly realizes that he should be thinking about his future. He decides to stick to his usual method of going wherever he wants to and putting aside his thoughts of the future.

Soon he decides to call an old friend of his, Sally Hayes. He and her go out to a show and Holden, feeling depressed asks her to run away with him. She thinks he is crazy. After they depart Holden is feeling even more depressed than ever. When he is nearly out of money he finally decides to go home. He claims that the only reason is because he wants to see his sister Phoebe. She is the only person who understands him and actually wants to listen to his ramblings and critcisms. Phoebe is not dumb and quickly figures out that Holden has flunked out of Pencey. Holden knows he cannot let his parents find him, so he quietly leaves. After that he calls his old teacher, Mr. Antolini, to see if he could stay over for a night. He goes over and they have an interesting conversation that captures the theme of the story: "Holden, you're in love with knowledge...Once you get past all the Mr. Vinsons, you're going to start getting closer to the information that will be very dear to your heart. Among other things you will find that you are not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know"(Salinger,189). This speech gave Holden a little more hope for himself and gave him the decision on how to use the advice to continue on in his life.

Meaning
The meaning of this book is that inevitably, life is awful. It is also an introspective look on the everyday, that when you look at something that you might normally take for granted you realize that it, and everything around you is just a product of human society and "the acceptable" or "the norm". This book is written through the eyes of Holden and everything he sees and you get every intricate detail of his opinion of it. All of his most intimate thoughts are exposed in an unsettlingly open manner. Holden Caulfield has no mercy when it comes to interpreting what he sees. He has an amazing sense of judgement on people and says why people are bad. But he is hypocritical in some respects for often he says that he is too yellow to act upon his thoughts. He hates people who are phonies yet he lies all the time and never says to people what he thinks of them. From the outside he would appear to be a slightly depressed, under achieving kid, and without the omnicient perspective you would never understand what he really thinks.

Criticism
Some of the major critcism to this book was pertaining to the overuse of profanity, alcohol and sexuality. To the contrary I believe that is exactly what made the book unique. How can Holden express his true feelings without being as frank and unguarded as he is? Without it, the book just would'nt work. I believe what made the book outstanding was the way it could make you look at everything in a new light. I also thought that Salinger was masterful at conveying the emotions of the character in a way that could really make the reader relate.