The Catcher in the Rye

Title: The Catcher in the Rye

Author: J. D. Salinger

ISBN: 9780316769488

Publisher: Little Brown

Copyright: 1991 (1951)

Genre: Fiction

Age Range: 15+

Reader’s Annotation: After his expulsion from prep school, Holden Caulfield decides to be a man about town in New York.

Plot Summary: Holden Caulfield has been kicked out of Pencey Prep. While hanging out in the dorm, Holden gets in an argument and fight with his roommate Stradlater, a womanizer, over Holden’s old friend Jane Gallagher. Holden loses the fight and promptly leaves Pencey Prep behind for old New York and his older brother’s place. Holden ends up at the broken down Edmont Hotel. He muses and struggles with his own sexuality. He spends the night dancing with some tourist women, but only ends up with the check. He has an uneventful time at a night club and decides to order a prostitute. When she arrives, Sunny is his age. Holden feels weird and chooses to think of her as a person and not a sexual object. They only talk. Holden pays her for her time but she returns with her pimp for more money. Holden gets punched in the stomach, and Sunny gets five more dollars.

            After a nap, Holden calls up a familiar girl, Sally Hayes, for a date. During the day, Holden mills about New York meeting people and doing various things. After the play Holden and Sally see, the go ice skating and share a Coke. Holden invites her to run away. She refuses, and Holden insults her away. He does a few more things before he is tired and low on cash. He reflects on the ever changing world and the death of his brother Allie. Holden decides to sneak into his parent’s apartment to see his sister Phoebe. He shares with her the feeling that he should be playing guardian to thousands of children playing a game on the edge of a cliff in a rye field. This fantasy was all based on a mishearing of Robert Burns' Comin' Through the Rye. When his parents come home, Holden slips out to continue his existential adventure.

Critical Evaluation: With its themes of angst and alienation, The Catcher in the Rye has become a right of passage in its reading. It has been translated into most languages around the world and new copies are constantly being sold. It has been put on many lists as one of the best books of the twentieth century by various literacy and literature organizations because of the novel deals with complex issues like alienation, belonging, human connections, and intellectual, social, and sexual identity. Holden Caulfield has become an icon for teenaged independence and intelligence. It has influenced a genre of reflective teenaged fiction in the style of The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky where the teen is an intelligent being that can have their own independent thoughts.

Author Information: Born on January 1, 1919, in New York, J.D. Salinger was a literary giant despite his slim body of work and reclusive lifestyle. His landmark novel, The Catcher in the Rye, set a new course for literature in post-WWII America and vaulted Salinger to the heights of literary fame. In 1953, Salinger moved from New York City and led a secluded life, only publishing one new story before his death. Source - http://www.biography.com/people/jd-salinger-9470070#personal-life-and-legacy&awesm=~oDwQiAccxXACZh

Curriculum Ties: Literature

Challenge Issues: Prostitute; Language

Booktalk Ideas: Independence – Talk to teens about all of the different things that Holden does to draw them into the story.