Literary+elements

= Literary elements =

Themes
Alienation as a form of Self-Protection

Through the novel, Holden tends to exclude himself away from others as a form of self protection. He does so because he feels trapped on “The other side of life” This can be proved with Holden when he judges most of the adults to be phony. Alienation from people helps Holden to move forward. Holden feels scared or timid around other people, for the reason being he doesn’t want to get hurt. This prevents him from having close relationships with anyone other then Jane. With Holden judging people on their appearances rather then their personalities he excludes and limits the friends he actually has. A good example would be when Holden was talking to Morrow’s mother on the subway train he lies to her about her son and who he really is, and his life situation. He uses Alienation throughout the whole novel.

The Phoniness of the Adult World

Phoniness is the most famous phrase in “The Catcher in the Rye” He almost considers everything around him in the real world to be Phony. Holden thinks all adults are phony, and that they do not even realize how phony they really are. He uses the excuse of everyone being phony to try and block everyone out of his life. Holden’s observations aren’t all inaccurate; he does find the bad things in people, because he is aware of everyone’s behavior. He expands so much energy to find phoniness in other people that he doesn’t sees the phoniness in himself. He talks about how he is a compulsive liar and he doesn’t realize that lying is a phony trait. An example of his own phoniness would be when he met Morrow’s mother on the Subway Train he lies to her about everything about himself and about her son, but he doesn’t see that he was being phony. He wants the reader to think that he is the only person who doesn’t have anything phony about himself when he actually is being very phony.

The painfulness of growing up

Holden Caulfield, the main character, is scared of growing up. He tends to judge people harshly without even knowing their personality. He judges them strictly on their appearances before he has the chance to know them personally. Holden demonstrates this with one of his friends, Ackley. “…[Ackley’s] teeth were always mossy-looking, and his ears were dirty as hell, but he always cleaning the end of his fingernails [ with the end of a match]”. By judging people harshly, and considering all adults to be “phony”, this also separates and alienates himself from people, and effects having close relationships with them. Holden is the type of character who likes to be in non- complex situations. Holden tries to be the “Catcher In The Rye” with all the children throughout the novel. He sees all the children as being innocent, and doesn’t want them to become “phony” adults. With Holden loving non- complexity, he loves going to the Museum Of Natural History. Holden loves the museum because, “everything stays the same”. He like his world to be of non-complexity.

Motifs
Loneliness

A big issue in the novel for Holden is feeling lonely. He is so caught up in not growing up it causes him to show aggressive emotion toward some characters. Holden doesn’t want to mature it is hard for him to make connections to people his age or have a relationship. Holden consistently shies away from his self to figure out why he is acting like he is. Because Holden keeps to him self and doesn’t let him self out into the world, he usually destroys his attempts to stop his loneliness. For example every time he calls Jane he hangs up when her mother picks the phone up or he will himself out not to call at all. He has no self-confidence and worries to much that things will turn out wrong but at the same time scared if it will work out right bringing new challenges to floor. Loneliness shows how secure Holden is with him self in the Catcher in the Rye.

Relationships, Intimacy, and Sexuality

This section on motifs Holden is challenged in both physical and emotional ways, he eventually crawls out of his shell just like a turtle. Relationships, intimacy, and sexuality all fall under the adult world which he despises. The museum of Natural History all exhibits stay the same and nothing changes, just the way Holden wishes the world would be so kids wouldn’t have to grow up including himself. That’s why Holden struggles with making relationships with people his age; he hasn’t realized how to start becoming more mature and take responsibility for his life. With intimacy Holden takes precaution so he doesn’t bond with anyone, scaring him in the sense that he might do something wrong or mess it all up; leaving Holden with a low self-esteem. Sexuality is just another way for Holden to try and gain a relationship. An example is when sunny is in the room and all Holden can think about is how young she looks and can'y seem to look at her sexually.

Lying and Deception

Holden lies throughout the story to hide his true identity so people can’t figure out who he really is. When he meets Mrs. Morrow on the train to New York, he found her very nice but at the same time phony. When she asks what his name is he is hesitant and lies what his name is. Holden criticizes every little thing about a person he can see not acknowledging what his behavior is doing toward the people around him. His attitude is just as phony as the people he points out are.

Sybolism
Chapter 16: Holden sees the kid singing “If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye,” and he thinks about The Catcher and the Rye and how he doesn’t want the kids to be phony, he wants them to be innocent. (115)

Chapter 16: Holden admires a kid for walking on the road rather then the sidewalk while he is singing “Comin’ Thro’ the Rye.” by Robert Burns. (115)

Chapter 22: Holden says he would like to protect the children from falling off the edge of the cliff by “catching” them if they were on the verge of tumbling over. He thinks the song is saying “If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye,” the actual lyric is “if a body meets a body, coming through the rye”. (173)

Chapter 7: Holden’s red hunting hat represents Holden’s isolation from society, and his independence from everyone else. It’s not worth anything, but it is the same color as Allie and Phoebe’s hair. (52)

Chapter 16: The Museum of Natural History, They appeal to Holden because they are frozen and do not change. Holden is scared because of all the unpredictable changes in the world, he despites conflict, confused by Allies death, and he fears inactions with people. (119)

Chapter 9: The ducks in the central park lagoon, Holden wondering where the ducks go during the winter show his more genuine, more youthful side. When the ducks leave for the winter it shows change but not permanent change. (60)

Setting
In "__The Catcher in the Rye__" by J.D Salinger, The setting used in the novel, can help people connect, and relate to the story. The story took place during a long weekend, in the late 1940s, or early 1950s. Knowing this information during the course of the novel, can make it easier to picture what times where like.

Holden begins telling us his story in Pennsylvania, while attending his school, Pencey Prep. Holden then runs into academic problems, and results in him being expelled. Holden then goes on his own way making new adventures, in New York City. One of the places he loves the most.

Imagery
__ Holden’s hunting hat: __ Holden’s hat is a red, classic winter hat that makes him feel protected from the outside world. __ Ducks in central park lagoon: __ Holden saw the ducks at the lagoon all summer, however when the winter came they went away, he then wonders where they go to. __ The mummies: __ Holden took the boys to see the mummies, because they are preserved, non changing and always stay the same. __ Ossenburger: __ Ossenburger Memorial Wing is where Holden’s new dorm was. __ Museum ____ of Natural History ____ : __ Holden use to go there as a kid with his class at school. __ Little Shirley Beans record: __ Holden looks for this record for Phoebe. __Phoebe’s notebook:__ When Holden walks in and sees her notebook with all the writing in it you can picture that in your mind, what it would look like.

Conflict
The main conflict in __Catcher in the Rye__ is when Holden Caulfield’s (The main Character) conscience and personality conflict with his society. He over reacts many times in the novel by over analyzing situations, this results in him blaming others and judging usually purely on looks or actions. Holden realizes in the novel the he doesn’t fit in the basic standards of society.

Point of View
The point of View in the Novel “The Catcher in the Rye” is first person, it is also very important in the book. The Narrator (Holden) talks in a first person perspective throughout the whole story. He makes judgments on anyone or anything on almost every page. The point of view is very interesting in the book, because you never know what kind of thing he is going to say because it can be very strange for someone to say. Like when he meets up with Sally Hayes, He likes her but then he just completely says negative things about her. Also he mentions that he is a constant liar, so you will never really know if he is lying to you or not. He could be even making the whole story up.

Tone
In the novel __The Catcher in the Rye__, the main character Holden, expresses his tone through many ways. Holden’s tone varies between disgust, cynicism, bitterness, and nostalgic longing, all expressed in a colloquial style(as stated in Spark notes J ). One way that he prefers to express his tone, is through a “stream of consciousness”. This type of writing is very informal, and is written in such a way that, when an event or scene occurs, he describes it in his words, rather in the words of others. Over the course of the novel, Holden tends to be judgmental, cynical, and depressed through times. When Holden is feeling this way, it does affect his tone and how he responds or interacts with others.

Irony
> Holden calls everyone phony but what he doesn’t realize is he is the phoniest guy in the novel.

>Holden goes on of how independent he is but all the time he is looking for companionship.

>When Holden meets Mrs. Morrow on the New York train he tells her how great of guy her son is, but Holden dislikes the guy.

>Holden was always telling Strdlater how great he was but obviously that is a lie standing in Holden’s shoes.

Foreshadowing
At the begging of the book, which is a key point in the book that we do not pay attention to until the end. He is giving us a hint about him being hospitalized and having a mental break down. At the end of the book is when we realize the meaning of the first page.

__ References __

[|http://www.Sparknotes.com/lit/catcher/themes.html] [|http://www.Exampleessays.com/veiwpaper/84535.html] [|http://www.Shmoop.com/catcher-in-the-rye/narrator-point-of-view.html]

All Images were found on Google

Picture of J. D. Salinger and the Original book cover.