Transcript Catcher in the rye - Ms. Tearne's Semester 1 2013/2014

Catcher in the rye
J.D Salinger
Throughout the Catcher in the Rye
the theme of Alienation is one of the
main obstacles Holden encounters
and attempts to overcome.
Alienation Quotes
Catcher In The Rye
“I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch Everybody if the start to
go over the cliff- I mean if they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and
catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d be the catcher in the rye.”
Explanation- This quote is showing us that Holden would rather show his imaginary view of the world
rather than having to deal with his extreme feelings of alienation and complexities of the real world that
He lives in. By Holden saying this it shows his extreme disconnection from reality and forces us to believe
That he feels so alienated in the real world that he decides to live in this imaginary world in his mind.
“ Lie is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.” “Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it.”
Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot shots are, then it’s a game, all right- I’ll admit that. But if you
get on the other side, where there aren't any hot shots , then what's a game about it? Nothing. No game.
Explanation- In this quote we see how alienated Holden feels. He implies that he's with those on the
“other side” of the game. He shows that he feels very alone and even victimized. This is making Holden feel
as if the entire world was against him.
Examples of Alienation in Catcher
•
He says to Mr. Spencer, he feels trapped on “the other side” of life, and he
continually attempts to find his way in a world in which he feels he doesn’t belong.
•
He uses his isolation as proof that he is better than everyone else around him and
therefore above interacting with them.
•
His loneliness propels him into his date with Sally Hayes, but his need for isolation
causes him to insult her and drive her away. Similarly, he longs for the meaningful
connection he once had with Jane Gallagher, but he is too frightened to make any
real effort to contact her. He depends upon his alienation, but it destroys him.
•
All his schoolmates are rich, privileged kids with narrow worldviews—but he’s also
too rich and privileged to connect with anyone who isn’t a rich, privileged kid.
•
"Practically the whole school except me was there"
•
A worldly trickster quick to lie to protect himself,
Examples of alienation in catcher
• “All I did was, I got up and went over and looked out the window. I
felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead.”
•
• Holden is uncomfortable with his own weaknesses, and at times
displays just as much hypocrisy and superficiality as any other
character that features in the book. Effectively, Holden attempts
to use his resentment at the world to isolate, and protect himself
from the interactions with others which so often overwhelm him
•
His conversation with Carl Luce and his date with Sally Hayes are
made unbearable by his rude behaviour. His calls to Jane
Gallagher are aborted for a similar reason: to protect his precious
and fragile sense of individuality.
J.D Salinger and Holden connections
•
•
•
•
•
They both have their main life story in New York.
They both think most people are phonies.
Both had siblings.
Both are known to act like a child even at teenage years.
Even though Holden was not good at school each had a
teacher that told them to push in life.
• Both not very good with women as Salinger had multiple
relationships but could never get the right one.
• Both think about or want to go to New York for some type
of purpose.
• Even thought they had lots of money they were not happy
and both seemed lost or needed hope.
Does Holden bring Alienation upon
himself?
• It is clear that many times throughout the novel Holden
attempts to make contact with other people and is rejected,
brushed aside. Although, it can be argued that in a number of
situations Holden brings this alienation upon himself. Take Mr.
Spencer for example, right near the start of the novel Mr.
Spencer reached out to Holden by inviting him into his house
in order to discuss Holden’s problems. Holden had different
ideas, at the first sign of true concern and worry Holden
recoiled within himself leaving the house as quickly as he
could. Another good example of this is with Mr. Antolini, it
seemed like Holden and Mr. Antolini were getting along very
well. They were speaking and it seemed as if Holden was
starting open up, unfortunately when Mr. Antolini was patting
Holden’s head in what seemed like a caring manner, not in the
form of a “homosexual advance”. Holden left the house
instantly not even stopping a second to consider Mr. Antolini’s
true intentions.
Have the minor characters in the story
failed to help a suffering soul?
• For the most part the minor characters in the
story didn’t fail to help a suffering soul. As was
already mentioned both Mr. Spencer and Antolini
reached out to Holden and were pushed away. As
for the other characters Holden met up with such
as Luke, the taxi drivers as well as Bernice and her
friends did not neglect Holden’s needs in any way
they were aware of. In fact they all acted fairly
normally considering to them, Holden was just
another stranger.
Catcher in The Rye Original Song
Works Cited
• http://www.biography.com/people/jd-salinger-9470070
• http://www.sparknotes.com/
• Catcher in the rye book