AP Literature MAJOR WORKS DATA SHEET Title: The Catcher in the Rye_________________ Biographical Information about the Author Author: J. D. Salinger____________________ Date of Publication: July 26, 1951__________ Genre: Fiction__________________________ Historical Information about the period and place of publication – what was happening in the world the author lived in and how might that have influenced him? Many events from Salinger’s early life appear in The Catcher in the Rye. For example, Holden Caulfied moves from prep school to prep school and is threatened with military school. Salinger transplants post-World War II details into the storyline. The time period was the end of WWII and just beginning the 1950s. The novel was published at a time when the American industrial economy made the nation prosperous and established social rules as a code of conformity for the younger generation. Salinger’s profanity, slang, and adolescent sexuality provoked great controversy. It has been thrown in debates about First Amendment rights, censorship, and obscenity in literature. Jerome David Salinger was born on January 1, 1919 in New York. Salinger was one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century. Many of his short stories appeared in The New Yorker . Salinger was the youngest of two children, his family ran a thriving ham and cheese import business. J.D. Salinger was not much of a student, he was shipped off by his parents to a military academy after flunking out of McBurney School. He was drafted into the army from 1942-’44 and left the war with traumatic events he never forgot. He died on January 27, 2010 at his home in Cornish. Characteristics of the Genre The genre of the novel is Fiction/Bidungsroman (coming-of-age novel). The main character, Holden Caulfield, begins in turmoil, has an epiphany (clarity of insight) but eventually suffers physical and emotional collapse. The Catcher in the Rye falls in the fiction category but it is more realistic and authentic than most fiction novels. It is a coming-of-age novel about the moral and psychological growth of the protagonist. Plot Summary The Catcher in the Rye is narrated by a young man named Holden Caulfied, the time period is set around the 1950s. The setting is unclear but he makes it clear that he is undergoing treatment at a mental hospital or sanatorium. The events he narrates takes place in the days between the end of the fall school term and Christmas. Holden is sixteen years old during the time of this novel. Holden’s story begins at his fourth school, Pencey prep, because he failed out of the three previous schools. Pencey prep school is in Agerstown, Pennsylvannia and his home is in Manhattan. He received word that he has gotten expelled fro Pencey prep due to the amount of failed classes. Holden visits his history teacher to say goodbye, but Spencer is harsh towards him because of his expulsion. In the dormitory, Holden is irritated by his neighbor Ackley and his roommate Stradlater. Stradlater goes on a date with Jane Gallagher, a girl whom Holden used to date and still admires. Soon Holden returns home and has constant flashback of Jane Gallagher. For instance, where they met and their dates. Later in the novel Holden goes on a date with Sally Hayes, a girl he dated in the past, and tries to convince her to runaway with him. Towards the end of the novel he comes across the supposed homosexual encounter with a former English teacher. He tells his little sister that he is leaving home for good and they should meet for lunch. Holden tells the reader that he will not tell of how he went home and got “sick” but plans on going to a new school in the fall and is optimistic about the future. Describe the author’s style The author’s style is colloquial and slangy, Salinger sounds like a real sixteen-year-old talking rather than an accomplished author. He gives illusions that demonstrate how he acts like he is right there talking at you. In addition, Salinger uses italics to make the words read with the same emphasis as the spoken word. The reader will hear the words “corny” and “phony” a lot because it is often used to described places or people. Finally, Salinger knows when to break the heaviness of his subject matter with humor. An example that demonstrates that style ● The illusion that Holden is right there talking at you, “you’d have liked [Allie]” ● Holden has a tendency of using the undefined second-person pronoun “you.” ● Salinger writes deftly between seriousness and humor; for example, the conversation Holden has with a man about fish staying alive in the winter. Memorable Quotes Quotation Significance 1. Holden’s teacher, Spencer, is lecturing him about playing by the rules. During this conversation, key aspects of Holden’s 1. “Life is a game, boy. Life is a character are illuminated. His silent ridiculing and cursing game that one plays according to towards Spencer shows his silent contempt for adults. It is clear the rules.” “Yes, sir. I know it is. I that Holden feels alienated, as if the world is against him by know it.” Game, my ass. Some game. If you saying “the other side.” get on the side where all the hotshots are, then it’s a game, all right—I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hotshots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game (Salinger 34). 2. [Ackley] took another look at my 2. Holden’s hat is an important symbol because he uses it as a hat . . . “Up home we wear a hat mark of individuality and independence. Holden does not like that to shoot deer in, for physically shoot people but mentally he does, he spends all his Chrissake,” he said. “That’s a deer mental energy denigrating the people around him. He desires shooting hat.” independence because he thinks the world is an ugly place, and “Like hell it is.” I took it off and all people have been conformed to the social norms during this looked at it. I sort of closed one time period. eye, like I was taking aim at it. “This is a people shooting hat,” I said. “I shoot people in this hat” (Salinger 46). 3. I’m standing on the edge of 3. This is the most famous quote in the entire novel because the some crazy cliff. What I have to do, source of the title is revealed. This quote is Holden’s response to I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if his younger sister’s question about life. The following response they’re running and they don’t look reveals Holden’s fantasy of idealistic childhood and his role as where they’re going I have to come the protector of innocence. He prefers to retreat to his own out from somewhere and catch imaginary view of the world rather than facing the world directly. them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d Holden has a cynical view towards adults and views children as just be the catcher in the rye and being innocent. His catcher in the rye fantasy reflects his all (Salinger 164). innocence and role to protect the youth. Yet, it also represents his huge disconnection with reality and his naive view. 4. "Well – take me to the Edmont then," I said. "Would you care to stop on the way and join me for a cocktail? On me, I'm loaded” (Salinger 74). 4. Once again, this quote represents Holden’s isolation. He is so desperate to talk to someone that he tries to invite the cab driver for a drink. It shows his lack of close relationships because he does not have someone he can call to just talk to, instead he seeks that from strangers. 5. I'll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty rundown and had to come out here and take it easy. I mean, that's all I told D.B. about, and he's my brother and all. He's in Hollywood. That isn't too far from this crumby place (Salinger 3). 5. This quote is early on in the novel and right off the bat, the reader can tell that Holden has no filter. He expresses his mind, sometimes more in his head than out loud. The reader senses some madness in this quote. The reader must look at the hints to understand where Holden is because he is not clear about the setting. There is a lot of information in this one quote; for instance, the possible location and a past event occurred which caused him to become “pretty run-down.” Characters Name ● Holden Role in the Story Significance Adjectives ● main character, protagonist ● narrator. Holden stands poised on the cliff separating childhood from adulthood. ● intelling ent, sensitive , cynical ● Ackley ● Holden’s next door neighbor ● shows Holden’s compassionate side by spending most of his time with Ackley ● unhygie nic, insecure ● Stradlater ● Holden’s roommate ● Jane Gallagher ● Holden’s ex (never appears in novel) ● typical prep school student, Stradlater is the very reason why Holden has a cynical view towards most people ● spent a lot of his summers with this girl, extremely important to ● selfabsorbe d, handso me, popular Holden because he respects her and finds her attractive ● Phoebe Caulfield ● Holden’s ten-year-old sister ● Allie Caulfield ● Holden’s younger brother ● D.B. Caulfield ● Holden’s older brother ● Sally Hayes ● attractive girl whom Holden has dated ● understands Holden unlike other people, her childish innocence is one of Holden’s only consistent source of happiness, Phoebe recognizes that Holden is his own worst enemy ● dies of leukemia three years before the start of the novel, Holden is tormented by Allie’s death and carries around Allie’s baseball glove ● Holden admires the short stories D.B. wrote but feels like D.B. prostitutes his talent by writing for Hollywood ● Holden is sexually attracted to her but she does not feel the same way and it is evident by her actions throughout the novel ● attractiv e ● mature, intellige nt, neat ● brilliant, friendly ● insightfu l ● conventi onal in her tastes and manner. ● Mr. Spencer ● Holden’s history teacher ● unsuccessfully shakes Holden out of his academic apathy ● wise ● source of knowledge about sex ● boastful ● Carl Luce ● Holden’s student advisor ● Mr. Antolini ● Holden’s former English teacher ● Sunny ● prostitute Setting Holden’s story takes place over only three days, from Saturday afternoon to Monday. Yet, it feels much longer than this. The time period is around the 1950s in New York City. Holden is a student at Pencey prep for a short period of time because he is soon expelled. ● Holden woke up to Mr Antolini touching his forehead and Holden was extremely offended, came to a conclusion that he was a homosexual. When in reality, Holden was just afraid to become one. ● one of the many girls in the book that Holden tries to connect with. shows that Holden cannot posses a real relationship ● young, clever, sympath etic ● insensiti ve Significance of opening scene The opening scene is important because it starts with Holden being in a mental hospital. This brings about questions of what happened and how Holden got there. Significance of ending/closing scene In the closing scene, the rain represents Holden starting over, or releasing the sadness and the anger he kept inside. The carousel represents Holden’s acceptance into adulthood. Symbols Old AP Questions 1. carousel- adulthood 2.Holden’s red hunting hat- uniqueness and individuality Leave Blank for Now 3.The Museum of Natural History- represents the world that Holden wishes to live in (unchanging) 4.ducks in central park lagoon-curiosity of youth and joyful willingness to encounter the mysteries of the world. The ducks vanish every winter but appear every spring, Holden is terrified of change. 5.Allie’s baseball glove- love and empathy. Holden has trouble sympathizing and fitting in, Allie was one person he could truly identify with and care for. Possible Themes 1. protection of innocence- especially with children, he believes that they cannot be phony or hypocritical. Also closely related to his struggles against growing up. 2.Isolation- does not have a lot of close relationships, more aquaintances 3. The Phoniness of the Adult World- Holden believes adults are inevitably phony and cannot see their own phoniness
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