Catcher In The Rye Rhetorical Analysis Essay

“If at least someone listens…” This is what Holden Caulfield from the novel “the Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger wants. It is about a sixteen year old boy, Holden Caulfield, isolated by society, as a result, he attempts to change others way of thinking to his own, acting as “the Catcher in the Rye”. Tone, symbolism and irony are used to demonstrate his separation from the outside world and himself.

First of all, tone is used to express Holden Caulfield’s personality and character. His lack of confidence and indecisiveness is shown in his voice. “But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess.” “Guess” is a vague word that represents his lack of confidence and uncertainty of what he actually wants. Also,the repetition shows that he often has to repeat himself in order to grab others attention due to people do not “listen” to him. Therefore, his sentence structure is short because there is no point in talking a lot when there are no one hearing to what he has to say. His detachment from society leads him to
Holden wants to “the Catcher in the rye”, preventing others from being mature. But his concepts come from the misheard lyrics from “Comin’ Thro the Rye”, where a girl loses her innocence, where “a body meets a body” and having sex in the fields. In his daily life, this demonstrates his lack of ability to understand what others are trying to say and misunderstands them. As a result, it makes him harder to communicate with others and therefore pushing him further from the community.

“The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger is a novel about isolation versus society by using tone, symbolism and irony. Holden Caulfield’s lack of confidence, communication and indecisiveness ultimately reinforces his alienation from the outer world. As a result, he tries to symbolise objects around him as a form of protection from others, from those that will “never believe