The Catcher in the Rye
Falling into a Mold
Over the years, authors have scoured deep within themselves in order to find some kind of meaning that they can write about. They carefully weave together words and symbols lining up in perfect paragraphs, chapter by chapter, creating a story that most readers often overlook. In the eyes of the readers, it is just a story like one told around a campfire or at a party in order to give people a good time. They think of it as something to laugh at or something to cry at, and more often than not they remember the main character’s name instead of the actual author’s. The point is authors write each word to represent something much bigger than itself, and literary symbols go deeper than simple readers could ever imagine. J.D. Salinger was no different when writing his book that achieved so much fame during the 1900’s, and every character written about has a deeper meaning in and of itself. Salinger weaves the main character in with other supporting ones, comparing and contrasting until each point he intended to make was able to make it down on paper in a way that readers need to dig deeper to understand. Salinger places his main character in a sea of people, carefully magnifying one person to stand out among the rest in order to make the point he intended to make when deciding to dive into the book in the first place. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger writes Holden Caulfield as a character that is struggling with the fear of becoming what Ward Stradlater represents through his shameless ability to repress women, hide his poor hygienic habits, and look upon himself in an egotistical manner.
First, Salinger’s technique of making Stradlater represent a womanizing and repressive character strikes fear deep into his protagonist which essentially invokes him to act the way that he does. By writing the characters the way that he did, making three completely different teenage boys live at an arms-length proximity to one another,
Over the years, authors have scoured deep within themselves in order to find some kind of meaning that they can write about. They carefully weave together words and symbols lining up in perfect paragraphs, chapter by chapter, creating a story that most readers often overlook. In the eyes of the readers, it is just a story like one told around a campfire or at a party in order to give people a good time. They think of it as something to laugh at or something to cry at, and more often than not they remember the main character’s name instead of the actual author’s. The point is authors write each word to represent something much bigger than itself, and literary symbols go deeper than simple readers could ever imagine. J.D. Salinger was no different when writing his book that achieved so much fame during the 1900’s, and every character written about has a deeper meaning in and of itself. Salinger weaves the main character in with other supporting ones, comparing and contrasting until each point he intended to make was able to make it down on paper in a way that readers need to dig deeper to understand. Salinger places his main character in a sea of people, carefully magnifying one person to stand out among the rest in order to make the point he intended to make when deciding to dive into the book in the first place. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger writes Holden Caulfield as a character that is struggling with the fear of becoming what Ward Stradlater represents through his shameless ability to repress women, hide his poor hygienic habits, and look upon himself in an egotistical manner.
First, Salinger’s technique of making Stradlater represent a womanizing and repressive character strikes fear deep into his protagonist which essentially invokes him to act the way that he does. By writing the characters the way that he did, making three completely different teenage boys live at an arms-length proximity to one another,