The Catcher In The Rye Essays - J. D. Salinger, Literary Realism

The Catcher In The Rye Essays - J. D. Salinger, Literary Realism The Catcher in the Rye I. Critical Biography J.D. Salinger is an American author who wrote the famous novel "The Catcher in the Rye." It was written in 1951, (encyclopedia, Pg. 60). It ranks as a minor classic. This story is popular among American high school and college students. Salinger was born in New York City in 1919. His full name is Jarome David Salinger. Salinger has written several other books in his life. Salinger wrote some later fiction that centered on the Glass Family. These books included Franny and Zooey, Rise High the Roof Beam, and Carpenters on Seymore. He writes extremely comical books. II. Synopsis The book "The Catcher in the Rye," was an interesting novel. It includes a teenage boy named Holden. Holden just got kicked out of a prep school named Pensey, because he did not keep his grades up. He knew he was going home that next week. One night a few days before he was getting sent home he left the school. He really had no idea where he was going. He couldn't go home because he wasn't sure whether his parents knew he was kicked out of Pensey or not. First off he goes to a hotel to stay. He had many experiences that night. One example was when he had a prostitute in his room at one minute and was getting beat up the next. Needless to say he had some bad experiences that night. He was in search of self-understanding and the meaning of life. Holden is trying to decide what to do with his life and where to go. He finally goes home to see his sister, with whom he feels close to. He thinks of going west and being a deaf-mute. When he is all packed up to go, he leaves a note with his sister at the school. She meets him and tells him that she is going with him. He tells her no. Then he realizes that the idea of this trip was unrealistic. He goes home and sees his parents. His parents enrolled into another school. III Analysis of the Theme This story teaches a good lesson on how to deal with situations in life the right way. In this story Holden runs from his problems to make them better. I saw all the trouble that it got him into. First he should have stayed in school or at least gone home to face his parents after he was kicked out. Holden was in search of himself. He wanted to see what he could do or be. He went about it all the wrong way. He should have applied himself at the first school that he went to and prevent so many problems. Then he would go further quicker. I learned not to run from your problems because they will always catch up with you. IV. Character The main character in this story is Holden. He is a teenage boy that is having a hard time staying in school. He is not the conceited type or the really shy type. He was really confused and had no idea what direction his life should follow when he went to Pencey Prep. He had to find out who he was on his little adventure when he left Pencey. It seemed like everything depressed him. He really learns fast. In about two days he went from wondering where he was going to get it all back together. He realized who and what was important to him. He is a pretty smart and level headed guy. He learned quite a bunch on this little adventure. He had a different way of looking at things than most people. Everything is really depressing to him. The most important person in his life is his sister. He had a few girlfriends along the way, but he did not know how to get along with them very well. V. Conclusion This was a really good novel. It is the type of book that once you pick it up you cannot put it down. It has many good characters in this book. The values in this book are great. It has valuable lessons in it. It relates to many teenagers. That is probably why it is popular among high school and college students. I was really impressed by and enjoyed this book. I definitely see why it is on the list. I would recommend this book to all my friends. This is one of the best books that I have read. This has many life lessons in this book that I can relate to. The lessons in this book will really help