Jerome David Salinger Report

Jerome David Salinger was one of the most prominent writers of the 20th century. His crowning achievement was The Catcher and The Rye. Along with this he also boasted A “Perfect Day for Bananafish”, For Esmé – with Love and Squalor, and the Glass family novellas, to name a few. Most of his works involved adolescent youths growing up and loss of innocence in harsh times. This is probably to his rough early years, his involvement in WWII, and the myriad of his relationship and religious changes. J. D. Salinger was born in Manhattan, New York, on New Year's Day, 1919. His mother, Marie (née Jillich), was born in Atlantic, Iowa, of Scottish, German and Irish descent. His paternal grandfather, Simon, born in Lithuania, was at one time the rabbi for the Adath Jeshurun congregation in Louisville, Kentucky. His father, Sol Salinger, was a prominent importer of kosher cheeses. To pass in a Jewish society, his mother changed her name to Miriam. Salinger did not learn that his mother was not Jewish until just after his bar mitzvah. J.D. struggled in the school setting of the 20-30s, due to the anti-Semitism present. He went by his first name, instead of his Jewish name, to reduce this. All the while he went by Sonny around the house and immediate family. J.D. excelled in extra-curricular activities, but failed to keep up with academics, therefore getting kicked out of multiple schools. Salinger aspired to become an actor or a playwright, yet his father discouraged him from the fine arts, and pushed the meat-importing business. From his father’s urgings, Salinger went to Vienna, Austria in the fall of 1937 to study and work at just such a company. He got out of Austria only a month before it was annexed by Nazi Germany on March 12, 1938. In the spring of 1942, several months after the United States entered World War II, Salinger was drafted into the Army. He saw combat with the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. He played an active role at Utah Beach on