J.D. Salingers Catcher In The Rye :: J.D. Salinger Catcher Rye Essays

J.D. Salingers catcher In The Rye The passage of adolescence has served as the exchange theme for manynovels, but J.D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye, long a staple in academiclesson plans, has captured the spirit of this srage of life in hyper-sensitive form, dramatizing Holden Caulfields vulgar language and melodramatic reactions. Written as the autobiographical look of a fictional teenage prep school student Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye deals with material that is socially scandalous for the times (Gwynn, 1958). As an emotional, intelligent, inquisitive, and painfully sensitive young man, Holden puts hisinner world to the test through the sexual mores of his peers and elders, theteachings of his education, and his own emerging sense of self. Throughout the years, the language of the stratum has startled some readers. Salingers control of Holdens easy, conversational manner makes the introduction of these bigger themes appear natural and believable. (Bloom, 1990) .At the time of the novel through today, Holdens oral communication rings true to the colloquial speech of teenagers. Holden, according to many reviews in the Chicago Tribune, the New Yorker, and the New York Times, accurately captures the informal speech of an ordinary intelligent, educated, northeastern American adolescent (Costello, 1990). Such speech includes both transparent description and cursing. For example, Holden says, Theyre nice and all, as well as Im non going to tell you my whole goddam account or anything. In the first instance, he uses the term nice which oversimplifies his parents character, implying he does non paying attention to disrespect them, yet at the same time he does not praise them. At best he deems them as nice and all. Holden upgrade cuts short his description, but in a more curt manner,when he states he will not tell his whole goddam autobiography or anything.From the start the reader picks up Holdens hostility and unwillingness to dower his views strictly by his use of language (Salzman, 1991).From the last two examples, some other colloquialism can be seen. Holden has a habit of expiry his descriptions with tag phrases such as and all or or anything. (Salzman, 1991). Not yet does Holden speak like this in the beginning of the novel, but throughout the book, make this pattern a part of his character. One could imagine Holden frequently ending his sentences with and all, realizing it is a character trait since not all teenagers used that phrase. So the and all tag to Holdens speech served to make his speech