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    Catcher in The Rye

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    Melvin Kenny
    The document provides an analysis of the narrator Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger's novel "The Catcher in the Rye". It summarizes that Holden narrates the story from his own perspective using his own informal language and style. While Holden sees most people as "phony", the reliability of his perspective is questionable since he is shown to be a constant liar. Due to being confined to Holden's point of view, the reader cannot be certain about how he describes other people. The document also notes that despite Holden's judgmental nature, he is surprisingly eager to please others and make friends, as evidenced by multiple instances where he is taken advantage of but does not

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    Catcher in The Rye

    Uploaded by

    Melvin Kenny
    26 views2 pages
    The document provides an analysis of the narrator Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger's novel "The Catcher in the Rye". It summarizes that Holden narrates the story from his own perspective using his own informal language and style. While Holden sees most people as "phony", the reliability of his perspective is questionable since he is shown to be a constant liar. Due to being confined to Holden's point of view, the reader cannot be certain about how he describes other people. The document also notes that despite Holden's judgmental nature, he is surprisingly eager to please others and make friends, as evidenced by multiple instances where he is taken advantage of but does not

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    Catcher in the Rye

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    The document provides an analysis of the narrator Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger's novel "The Catcher in the Rye". It summarizes that Holden narrates the story from his own perspective using his own informal language and style. While Holden sees most people as "phony", the reliability of his perspective is questionable since he is shown to be a constant liar. Due to being confined to Holden's point of view, the reader cannot be certain about how he describes other people. The document also notes that despite Holden's judgmental nature, he is surprisingly eager to please others and make friends, as evidenced by multiple instances where he is taken advantage of but does not

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    26 views2 pages

    Catcher in The Rye

    Uploaded by

    Melvin Kenny
    The document provides an analysis of the narrator Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger's novel "The Catcher in the Rye". It summarizes that Holden narrates the story from his own perspective using his own informal language and style. While Holden sees most people as "phony", the reliability of his perspective is questionable since he is shown to be a constant liar. Due to being confined to Holden's point of view, the reader cannot be certain about how he describes other people. The document also notes that despite Holden's judgmental nature, he is surprisingly eager to please others and make friends, as evidenced by multiple instances where he is taken advantage of but does not

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Melvin Kenney III

    Assignment #1

    Since Holden is narrating his own story, the style of the novel is the same as the style of his own language. He talks directly to you, as in "You'd have liked [Allie]." He uses italics to make the words read with the same emphasis as spoken word ("He's my brother and all"). You'll hear him describe places and people all the time as "corny" or "phony." He'll tell us he's never waited anywhere so long in his "goddamn life. [He] swear[s]", or that he's sweating "like a bastard". Holden's perspective on matters is the substance of the novel; more than the events themselves, we're interested in what Holden thinks of the events/people/places/weather/dead mummies and how he presents them to us. What makes it so much fun is that we're never sure how much to trust him. While Holden calls essentially everyone in the book a "phony" at some point or another (with the exceptions of Jane Gallagher, his brother Allie, and his sister Phoebe), he himself is a constant liar. He never tells the truth to people who ask, so we aren't sure if he's snowing us, as well. It might not be an entirely conscious snowing he's certainly not sitting back and trying to deceive us but putting spin on everything seems to be a real part of his persona. (Think about when he tells us about how he puked that night at the Whooton School after indulging in a bottle of scotch; he says he only threw up because he made himself, not because he had to. He's not trying to lie to us, but he's convinced himself (and so tries to convince us) because he wants to think he can hold his liquor.) Because

    we're confined to Holden's point of view, we can't be sure about him or the people he describes as moronic phonies. Maybe they're nice and more intelligent than described. When Holden interacts with people, he usually gets the short end of the stick. He invites Ackley along to the movies, but Ackley won't return the favor by letting Holden sleep in his roommate's bed. He writes Stradlater's composition for him, and in return gets yelled at (and socked in the nose, but technically that was for a different reason). He even had to type that essay on a junky old typewriter because he had lent his own to the guy down the hall. He gives up his hound's-tooth jacket for the night, knowing it'll get stretched out in the shoulders. He gets stuck with the tab for the three "moronic" girls' drinks in the Lavender Room at his hotel. He pays Sunny even though he doesn't have sex with her, and ends up getting cheated out of five more dollars (and socked in the stomach, although technically this, too, was for a different reason). Despite all this instances, Holden never makes himself out to be a victim. He doesn't seem to notice that he gets taken advantage of repeatedly. This is part of his own youth and ignorance. Despite his judgmental exterior, Holden is surprisingly eager to please and to make friends.

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