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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
Personal Response
The Catcher in the Rye is the kind of novel that you might refer to as a 'perplex' in the dark kind of novel. Not because the storey takes place at night or in a dark place, but because Salinger (the author) never really tells you were the main character 'Holden' is speaking to you from. This leaves the storey open to all kinds of imaginative thoughts as to where he is.
The novel starts off with Holden filling you in on all the strange happenings leading up to his present situation. On the first page Holden says, and I quote 'I'll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy.' For as far as I have read they don't tell you where it is he had to go and take it easy but from what I think and what I have talked about with others who are reading this novel, my impression is that at the present time Holden is in a insane asylum.
Holden
The Catcher in the Rye
Обкладинка книги "Над прірв...I have found that at times the author has put in events that really have no di-rect impact on the storey line. Just as I start to think that I can understand what Holden has gone threw he tells us of another happening in his life and I am thrown off.
I have come across things in the novel that I can totally relate to. For exam-ple he went to a private school which he did not like in the least. Do to the fact he didn't like where he was he kept fowling up and getting bad grades. I was the same...
Themes in the book
This essay is definitely a response and not an essay. Other things that you might want to look at while you're reading this book are the following themes: preservation of innocence, falling and catching, hopeless situations.
Holden is a pretty lonely guy, but he is content being alone. Ever since his little brother died of leukemia, Holden has made it a subconsious goal to preserve the innocence of others. You can tell this from the way that he treats Pheobe and his reaction to the various "fuck you"s he encounters in the story.
Of catching and falling, falling refers to mentally losing your footing. Holden sort of slips as he realizes that things are not innocent. At first he will not accept that he cannont preserve the innocence of others, but ultimately Pheobe is able to catch him. In a way she saves him.
Also realize what type of situations Holden puts himself in. He calls up girls in the middle of the night and wonders why he is rejected. He has a girl come to his hotel room even though he knows that he won't do anything with her. He goes on a date with an old ex that he cannot stand. He even hits on a guy at his school's mom on the train into the city. He then wonders why things don't turn out...
I really enjoyed this book and hope that my comments will help to guide your reading a bit. I would strongly recommend this story to anyone with a little free time.
-Kat
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