In 1964, J.D. Salinger composed a novel titled The Catcher in the Rye that became quite controversial and was banned from several schools because of inappropriate content. The story is pretty dramatic, but it has many comical incidents. The book is trying to project the idea that you can run from your problems as much as you want; however it is inevitable that you face them. You can’t run forever! If this were a scary movie, the evil laughter would start now.

Our main character Holden Caulfield at first appears to be having a conflict with society, but, upon closer examination, we see he is truly only at war with himself. Our story starts with Holden being kicked out of yet another school, this time Pencey Prep, for failing four classes. He is supposed to go home at Christmas Break and not return, however, things don’t work out like that. A situation progresses into a first fight when Holden finds out that his roommate had sex with a girl named Jane Gallagher, who it becomes apparent that Holden loves. Holden loses the fight and grabs his bags and hunting hat and heads for the train station a few days early.

One conflict is Holden deciding how to tell his parents that he was kicked out of Pencey. Another less obvious conflict is Holden dealing with the people around him without getting the urge to blow up a building. He is completely convinced that everyone in the world is a phony, except for his little sister Phoebe, Jane, and himself. Throughout the story, he is plagued by phony people. These two problems connect when Holden is attempting to plan his future away from such phonies and do it without his parents finding out about Pencey.

After he leaves Pencey, Holden takes a train to New York, where his only plans are to plan to make plans. He meets all sorts of people in New York, including a ditsy blonde named Bernice at the Lavender Room. He buys a hooker named Sunny from a guy named Maurice, but pays her just for talking. There’s a mix-up about the payment, so Maurice beats him bloody. He goes to see a show with a girl named Sally Hayes and wants to run away with her, then decides she’s phony, so he leaves her at a diner. He meets an old friend named Luce for drinks and ends up getting drunk and embarrassing himself by calling Sally.

By this time, Holden is in a sate of despair with no money, so he sneaks into his parents’ house to talk to Phoebe, who loans him $8.65. He is wary of spending too much of his little sister’s money by renting a hotel room, so he takes a taxi to a friend and former teacher’s house. Mr. Antolini welcomes Holden with open arms and gives him the couch. All goes well until Holden wakes up to find Mr. Antolini petting his head perversely. He wigs out and goes to Grand Central Station to sleep on a bench.

By morning, Holden thinks he has found the solution to both of his problems and we have found our climax. Holden has decided to hitchhike to California to find his brother D.B. He writes a note to Phoebe, telling her to meet him at the museum so he can return her money, and leaves it at her school. But when Phoebe shows up with a suitcase for herself, Holden doesn’t know what to do. He tries to tell Phoebe that she needs to stay, but she won’t listen.

Both of our conflicts are resolved in this scene. The only way Holden can get Phoebe to stay is by staying himself, thus meaning that he has to tell his parents that he was kicked out of school again. Through talking with his sister, he learns about what makes him happy. Just being with her makes him smile. Once he realizes this, whether or not other people are phony just doesn’t seem as important.

Our main character is obviously Holden Caulfield. Holden is overly critical about everything around him, proving him to be a definite pessimist. He is extremely emotional and never takes things at their face value. Under normal circumstances, one might assume that he also has low self-esteem, but he seems to think pretty highly of himself. For example, when he’s dancing with Bernice in the Lavender Room and she sits down with her friends, he sits down too, saying she was just too ignorant to invite him. He is always afraid of seeming phony, which is a disadvantage to him in the story. He is certainly believable because I know many people just like him. They all have psychological disorders, but that’s beside the point. Holden is developed mainly by description and action. Because he is a self-proclaimed extensive liar, his thoughts hardly ever match his dialogue and motion. Despite the contrast, Holden slowly became a loveable kinda’ guy. He was always honest to himself, meaning that he read people and things with practicality, not idealism, which I liked a lot. I also enjoyed seeing what he said to people because, although not always kind, he was always entertaining. The only character flaw was his preoccupation with sex, which sometimes detracted from the storyline.

Holden changed quite a bit during the story, but not until the last scene where he is with Phoebe. This is where he stops being so pessimistic and is actually happy just to be there with her. Phoebe does a lot for Holden throughout his journey. He can be upset, but the thought of Phoebe will lift his spirits. She helps illustrate the brighter side of him because she is what he wishes everyone else would be. I can identify a little with Holden when he talks about how phony people are because a lot of times, they are. You just want to tell them how dumb they are, but, instead, you mock them by being sickeningly sweet. He does the same thing to lots of people he meets. I can sympathize with Phoebe because she loves her brother so much and he says that he’s leaving. For a few minutes in the book there, I could empathize with the abandonment she must have felt.

The dialogue was unlike any I had ever read before. The entire book was written in 1940s’ slang, which made it more believable. Because the book was written in such a colloquial manner, scenes were more humorous and lighthearted. In the part of the book where Maurice comes back to Holden’s hotel room looking for his extra money, it seemed more comical than dramatic:

“Old Sunny and Maurice, the pimpy elevator guy, were standing there. ‘What’s the matter? Wuddya want?’ I said. Boy, my voice was shaking like hell.

‘Nothin’ much,’ old Maurice said. ‘Just five bucks.’ He did all the talking for the two of them. Old Sunny just stood there next to him, with her mouth open and all.

‘I paid her already. I gave her five bucks. Ask her,’ I said. Boy, was my voice shaking.”

Holden is both our main character and our narrator in The Catcher in the Rye. The book is written in first person because it is seen through the eyes of a person taking direct action in the story.

As it is seen through the dialogue, the story takes place in the 1940s over a period of about three days. The story is in chronological order for the most part, but Holden often speaks about memories of his sister Phoebe, his dead brother Allie, and various phonies. Holden has quite a bit of experiences crammed into a few days, which means that he moved rapidly through each of them. I think the book moved so quickly because Holden was narrating. Holden thought that a lot of flowery language was phony, so he had a tendency to get straight to the point.

The opening of the book takes place in the dorm rooms at Pencey Prep, but it then progresses to New York, where many real places are mentioned. He goes to Radio City Music Hall, Edmont Hotel, Grand Central Station, and many crowded restaurants and clubs. You can learn a great deal about New York from this book. I learned about the people there and what it was like to go see a movie in 1946. The whole atmosphere was different, and you notice little things, like the price of a record, that really let you understand how things were. You definitely learn historical information.

The Catcher in the Rye is a social-realistic novel. It is about how a young man interacts with various different people and all of the situations are daily occurrences that could happen to anyone. Holden talks to a cab driver, flirts with a blonde, and calls an ex-girlfriend. These are all realistic actions. Salinger’s writing style is very informal and to the point, not many unnecessary details, just enough to let you visualize it, like with this woman:

“ She had these orchids on, like she’d just been to a big party or something. She was around forty or forty-five, I guess, but she was very good-looking.”

There is a red hunting hat that appears quite often in the hat. It is symbolic of all of Holden’s insecurities that he otherwise keeps hidden. Holden loves the hat, but is afraid others think it’s stupid. For this reason, he never wears it when he goes into a hotel or restaurant or club, but puts it on almost immediately when he’s alone. When he is with Phoebe, he feels completely comfortable, which is why he is always wearing it around her. At one point, he gives Phoebe the hat because she likes it as much as he does, but she lets him wear it because she understands. She picked up on how symbolic the hat was to Holden quite quickly and wanted him to always be happy and comfortable around her.

From reading this book, I learned that most people are so dedicated to their own beliefs that they are willing to go through almost anything to defend them. Holden illustrated this brilliantly when he took a punch to the gut for a mere five dollars. Holden’s life was controlled mainly by fear throughout the course of this story because everything that happened happened because he was too afraid to go home and tell his parents he was kicked out of Pencey. This brings us back to the realization that you can’t hide from your problems forever. I had always thought this and The Catcher in the Rye confirmed it.

I’d love to read another book by J.D. Salinger. I really enjoyed The Catcher in the Rye and if my logic serves correct, I’d really enjoy another book even remotely similar. The basis of the appeal is the writing style. It’s easy to read because there’s no excessively elaborate lines, so instead of looking for your dictionary, you remain caught up in the plot. I wasn’t bored with this book for a single instant. My critique? Two thumbs up!