Transcript The Post-War Era and The Catcher in the Rye

THE POST-WAR ERA
AND
THE CATCHER IN THE
RYE
ENGLISH 10
REDDING
HISTORICAL CONTEXT: WWII
The Catcher in the Rye was published in 1951.
August, 1945: first atomic bombs used in warfare
dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Reasons for the bombings controversial
In Hiroshima, approx. 70,000 people immediately killed
as result of initial blast, heat, and radiation effects.
After five years, the death total was approx. 200,000+
due to cancer and other long-term effects.
In Nagasaki, approx. 40,000 people were immediately
killed. After five years, the death total was approx.
140,000.
THE POST-WAR ERA
After end of WWII (1945), growing confidence in U.S. military
and economic might
End of war rationing meant access to consumer items
Opportunities for employment for many (although women
employed in wartime factories often exited the workforce)
Burgeoning consumer culture of “luxury for the masses”
THE COLD WAR ERA
1946: Churchill coins the term “Iron Curtain”
1950: North Korean Communist troops invade South
Korea; U.S. and U.N. intervene
1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of
selling U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. They
are executed in 1953
1950-1954: The Joseph McCarthy Era—investigations
into alleged Communists in the government
CULTURE OF THE POST WAR/COLD WAR ERA
Symbols and signs of optimism, wealth, and vulgarity:
*the car (In the ’50s, 20% of GNP of U.S. went to
purchasing vehicles)
* gaudy colors & chrome
* the supermarket (with an astounding selection of
goods)
*home appliances (the “mod cons”)
* the suburbs
Levittown: considered first planned, massproduced community in the suburbs; built 19471951 on Long Island
THE MAINSTREAM VS.
THE ARTISTS
While the mainstream was embracing the consumerism and
prototypical suburban family, many artists felt isolated and
disconnected from the mainstream.
These artists were often seeking:
*apolitical subject matter that was avant-guard (experimental or
innovative)
*a divergence from past art forms
* reactions and meaning-making from the
viewers/readers/listeners
Can you think of ways your generation tries to stray from the
mainstream?
ABOUT SALINGER
Born 1919 in New York City to parents Sol and Miriam;
father was Jewish, mother, Catholic
Attended public and private schools in Manhattan; then
Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania (may be
basis for Pencey Prep, a boarding school the main
character attends)
Attended college, but didn’t graduate
ABOUT SALINGER
Distinguished himself as writer in second semester of night
class at Colombia, but many of his submitted stories were
rejected by The New Yorker.
Served in WWII: participated in D-Day Landings in 1944; was
one of first soldiers to enter a liberated concentration
camp
Was treated for shell shock, aka combat stress reaction, after
the war
Met and began correspondence with Earnest Hemingway
while overseas; E.H. called Salinger “a helluva talent”
ABOUT SALINGER
The Catcher in the Rye, featuring Holden Caulfield, was
published on in July 1951
Salinger on Catcher: "My boyhood was very much the
same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great
relief telling people about it.”
Novel was immediate popular success but also faced
criticism for profanity, irreverance, and other
“inappropriate” content
Attention after publication of Catcher led Salinger to move
to a small town in New Hampshire; he never published
anything after 1965 and remained a hermit until his
death in 2010.
ABOUT SALINGER’S TECHNIQUES AND
THEMES
Techniques/aspects of style:
*internal monologue
*stream of consciousness
*sparse but revealing dialogue
*young characters as focus
* colloquialisms intermingled with elevated diction
Themes in Catcher and other works:
* youthful innocence and the loss thereof
* alienation and isolation of the individual
* failure to live up to parental and society’s expectations
Be on the lookout for these elements!
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MODERN
ERA
Two devastating almost-global wars: World War I
(1914-1918) and World War II (1941-1945)
Huge changes in industry and technology as
compared to the 19th century
The rise in power and influence of international
corporations
Interconnectedness across the globe: cultural
exchanges, transportation, communication, mass
(or popular) culture from the West (with "West"
being considered Europe and North America)
MODERNISM
Uses images ("word pictures") and symbols as typical and
frequent literary techniques
Uses colloquial language rather than formal language
Often, the intention of writers in the Modern period is to
change the way readers see the world and to change
our understanding of what language is and does
MODERNISM CONTINUED
Uses language in a very self-conscious way, seeing language as
a technique for crafting the piece of literature just as an
artist crafts a piece of art like a sculpture or a painting.
Sees language as a special medium that influences what that
piece of literature can do or can be
Form, style, and technique thus become as important--if not
more so--than content or substance.
EXISTENTIALISM
Philosophical ideology that became prevalent after WWII
Individuals give meaning to life – meaning cannot be found through society or religion
In literature, the existential writer reacted to traditional storylines and character
development – the author of these traditional works would manipulate the plot
and character choices so that everything resolved (life made sense)
With existential plots, life doesn’t make “real” sense---only the “sense you choose to
make of it.” These stories deal with the absurd series of events that each person
tries to make sense of.
Three core existential thematic elements: death, alienation, authenticity
Many critics argue that Catcher in the Rye fits the definition of existential through
these elements. As we read, you decide!