J.D. Salinger Essay, Research Paper
Born in 1919 to a comfortable Manhattan household, Jerome David Salinger grew up in a New York City surroundings. Salinger s upbringing was non unlike that of Holden Caulfield, the Glass kids, and many other characters used in his narratives. Bing a diligent pupil was ne’er his first precedence: after he flunked out of several homework schools, including the esteemed McBurney school, his parents sent him to Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania from which he graduated in 1936 ( J.D. Salinger, Novels 117 ) . While go toing a Columbia University composing class, Salinger had his first piece of short fiction published in Story, an influential periodical founded by his teacher, Whit Burnett. Salinger & # 8217 ; s short fiction shortly began looking in Collier & # 8217 ; s, The Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, and other magazines providing to popular reading gustatory sensations. Salinger entered military service in 1942 and served until the terminal of World War II, take parting in the Normandy run and the release of France. He continued to compose and print while in the Army, frequently transporting a portable typewriter with him in the dorsum of his landrover. After returning to the States, Salinger & # 8217 ; s calling as a author of serious fiction took away. He broke into the New Yorker in 1946 with the narrative & # 8220 ; Slight Rebellion Off Madison, & # 8221 ; which was later rewritten to go a portion of The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger rapidly became one of the top subscribers to the esteemed magazine. After The Catcher in the Rye was published, nevertheless, Salinger found himself at the centre of a storm of contention. His novel was lauded by many, but condemned by others for its linguistic communication and societal unfavorable judgment. As it began to happen its manner onto the recommended reading lists of educational establishments, it besides became the mark of legion censoring runs. The promotion bit by bit forced Salinger into a province of isolation. The old ages passed, and his go oning work on the Glass household saga drew increasing critical onslaughts from even those corners of the literary constitution that had one time accorded him an about cult-like fear. He withdrew from printing and public life wholly. His fresh length narrative Hapworth 16, 1924, which one time once more revolved around an incident in the Glass household, appeared in the New Yorker in 1965 ; it was his last published work. Since the early sixtiess, he has lived in privacy in the province of New Hampshire. Reportedly, he continues to compose, but merely for his ain satisfaction ; he is said to be wholly unconcerned with his standing, or deficiency of it, in the literary universe. The Catcher in the Rye and much of Salinger & # 8217 ; s shorter fiction portions the subject of dreamers adrift in a corrupt universe. Often, the anomic supporters are rescued from desperation by the artlessness and pureness of kids. J.D. Salinger uses word picture and other literary elements in Franny and Zooey and manner and subject in The Catcher in the Rye to uncover the subject of a sensitive single searching for spiritualty. ( J.D. Salinger, Novels 117 )
Franny and Zooey takes topographic point over a long weekend in the autumn of 1954 at an Eastern Ivy League college in New York City. The two chief characters of this work are Franny and Zooey Glass. This fresh unifies two related narratives, both of which appeared in the New Yorker, in 1955 and 1957 ( Harris 147 ) . The supporter Franny is Franny Glass. She is a twenty-year-old college pupil in the thick of a dislocation. She is an actress and an English Major, but has become turned off by college, both socially and academically. Zooey is the supporter of the Zooey subdivision of the novel. He is 25 old ages old and helps his sister through her religious dislocation. He is a telecasting histrion and the most popular member of the Glass household.
In Franny Franny Glass meets her fellow Lane Countell for a football weekend at college. Unfortunately, they do non acquire the chance to fall in in many of the celebrations because Franny begins to hold a dislocation during their first tiffin together. All I know is I m losing my head, Franny said. I m ill of self-importance, self-importance, self-importance. My ain and everybody else s ( Salinger, Franny 29 ) . She so tells Lane that she is ill of the phoniness at school and of the self-importance of the module. Franny has quit the drama because she is embarrassed about what she considers to be moving bogus. As Franny gets worked up, Franny reveals that she has began declaiming the Jesus Prayer, a uninterrupted supplication meant to cleanse one s spirit. Lane largely brushes off Franny s concerns. Later, Franny swoons in the bathroom and wakes up declaiming the Jesus supplication. The Zooey subdivision of the novel picks up where Franny left off. The writer of Franny is Buddy Glass, one of Franny s and Zooey s older brothers. The narrative resumes the Monday after the weekend Franny s breakdown started, and Zooey is at place in New York City. In his conversation with his female parent, Bessie Glass, it is revealed that Franny is now at place, kiping and shouting on the life room couch. Bessie wants Zooey to speak to Franny, which he finally does. During a long personal treatment, we learn that the two of them have been raised on a blend of different faiths taught to them by their older brothers Buddy and Seymour. Over the class of this treatment, Zooey helps Franny kind out her religious and personal beliefs leting her, by the terminal, to eventually happen peace.
Franny and Zooey characteristics Salinger s two prevailing concerns: the sensitive stripling confronted with the self-importance and the hardhearted universe, and a acute intrest in faith and spiritualty. While Franny is praised for its construction and adept word picture of the college surroundings and linguistic communication, Zooey is frequently regaured as disffuse. Franny and Zooey remain two of Salinger s most of import and sensitively drawn characters ( Harris 349 ) .
The Catcher in the Rye is Salinger s novel which made him cognize as a celebrated and controversial writer. There are three storytellers of the events of this book. The first is the writer, J.D. Salinger who is angrily looking back at what has happened. The 2nd is the 17 twelvemonth old Holden, still institutionalized stating the narrative as a past event. The 3rd, and most immediate, is the 16 twelvemonth old Holden who does most of the narrating throughout the novel. The signifier of narrative in which the novel is told is first individual.
The book is rich in symbolism. The writer intimations about the rubric twice before it is revealed. The first clip, Holden hears a small male child in New York vocalizing If a organic structure catch a organic structure comin through the rye, ( Salinger, The 132 ) . The 2nd clip, Holden is with Phoebe and brings up the subject, mentioning to the vocal as If a organic structure catch a organic structure comin through the rye ( Salinger, The 210 ) . Phoebe corrects him but Holden s dream of being a backstop stays with him. He wants to be able to salvage the kids from maturity and disenchantment. Holden s red hat is a symbol that displays his self-aware isolation from others. He
wears the chapeau and keeps it with him when he is experiencing insecure throughout the novel. At one point in the novel he gives it to Phoebe, but she gives it back cognizing the significance it holds for him.
Alienation and solitariness is the chief subject that runs throughout the novel. The fresh Tells histories of a deeply troubled adolescent who has to have on a ruddy chapeau as a security cover. When he wears the chapeau he still does non suit in, but he finally does non desire to. Throughout the fresh Holden invariably struggles with his immerging gender. He is unable to acquire close to or even to like any of the misss he meets. Alternatively, he merely writes them off as sex objects. He besides shows disgust when he encounters other male deviants or idiots. Confusion about his idenity is common for striplings but for Holden it is terrorizing ( J.D. Salinger, Novels 120 ) .
Throughout the fresh Holden continually sets himself up for failure and he is someway able to be proud of it. He fails in every brush associating to others with in the novel except for those with Phoebe. Holden uses failure as a manner to pull attending to himself. He urgently desires attending from his parents because what he truly wants is for them to accept him and love him for who he truly is. Holden is fallacious and manipulative in most of his traffics with other people throughout the novel. Holden knows that he is a good prevaricator and self-praises of his power as a prevaricator. Throughout the novel, another Holden is shown as one that feels sorry and wants that he would non victimize as many people. I thought it was If a organic structure catch a organic structure, I said. Anyway I keep visualizing these small childs playing some game in this large field of rye and all. Thousands of small childs and cipher s around- cipher large, I mean- except me. And I m standing on the border of some brainsick cliff- I mean if they re traveling I have to come but from someplace and catch them. That s all I d do all twenty-four hours. I d be the backstop in the rye and all. I know it s brainsick, but that s the lone thing I d truly like to be. I know its loony ( Salinger, The 157 ) . This quotation mark shows how caring Holden is and how much he genuinely wants to assist others. It besides shows a different side of him that is non revealed in the novel until he admits he is a failure. This portrays Holden non merely as a failure, but besides a profoundly sensitive and compassionate individual.
Holden was expelled from Pency for academic failure. After an unpleasant eventide with his roomie Stradler, he decides to go forth Pency for awhile and pass a few yearss in New York. Once in New York he begins to experience despairing and lonely because of the grownup universe which he was non yet ready for. Unable to see his sister Phoebe or his girlfriend Jane Gallaguer, Holden finally spends the eventide with Sally Hayes. Increasingly lonely, Holden eventually decides to mouse into his parents flat so he can speak to Phoebe. He borrows some money from her, so goes to remain with his former English instructor Mr. Antolini. That dark, at Mr. Antolini s house, he feels that Mr. Antolini is doing a homosexual move towards him. Holden so leaves the flat and spends the dark at Grand Central Station. The following twenty-four hours, Holden experiences the worst twenty-four hours of his dislocation. He wanders the streets and looks for kids. He tries to go forth New York forever and hitchhike West, but when Phoebe insists on traveling with him he changes his head. He alternatively decides to remain and watch out for her and protect her from the grownup universe. He so decides to take her to the park that ever makes her experience happy. The fresh terminals with Holden declining to speak, and coverage that he goes back to school the following twelvemonth.
Salinger s Franny and Zooey and The Catcher in the Rye have many common features. Salinger has about indistinguishable subjects running throughout both of the novels. The chief subject that runs through Franny and Zooey is a profoundly troubled, rebellious, and defensive adolescent confronted with self-importance and the hardhearted universe. Franny displays this when she struggles with self-importance and decides that the Jesus supplication will work out her jobs. At the terminal of the novel, she is able to happen peace with herself because of what Zooey has helped her to get the better of. The chief subjects that run through The Catcher in the Rye are disaffection and one of a deeply troubled rebellious adolescent who is fighting with the grownup universe. This is displayed in The Catcher in the Rye by Holden inquiring from topographic point to topographic point and non being able to happen an environment which he is comfy in. He besides had to have on a chapeau as a security cover because he thought it would protect him from the universe. Salinger chose to hold these subjects run throughout his novels because they were existent to him. He struggled with many of the jobs in his life that he wrote about in these novels. Many critics believe Salinger s pick for a hero is basically a spiritual job, that is, the job of happening a moral universe ( Levine 499 ) . Many critics besides say that The humor stamina, and sensitiveness of the novel are typical of Salinger s work as its best. His characters seek the presence of grace in life even when they know the pursuit is an impossible one ( J.D. Salinger, Cassell s 455 ) . Another similarity that Salinger has in his plant is the scene. The Catcher in the Rye and Franny and Zooey are both set in the New York country. He writes the novels in these scenes because they are scenes that he is comfy with and used to. He besides uses the scenes because they are where the jobs that he encounted in his life took topographic point.
Franny is really much like Holden without the cursing. Franny has a job covering with the self-importance and phoniness of other pupils, while Holden has a job covering with the occurrences of the grownup universe. Zooey and Phoebe besides have many common features in that they both help change the chief characters. Franny and Zooey and The Catcher in the Rye both show Salinger s current theological and spiritual beliefs at the clip that the novels were written. Many people that know him say Salinger has a manner of working his current mental infatuations into his narratives ( J.D. Salinger, Cassell s 455 ) . In both novels, Salinger uses a technique that is alone from many other writers through the usage of his descriptive inside informations.
J.D. Salinger uses word picture and other literary elements in Franny and Zooey and manner and subject in The Catcher in the Rye to uncover the subject of a sensitive single searching for spiritualty. In Franny and Zooey, Salinger tells the narrative of some of the spiritual jobs he encountered in his life. In The Catcher in the Rye, he illustrates to the reader some of the jobs that he encountered during his teenage and early grownup old ages. Both of these novels have the same chief subject, which was that of a sensitive adolescent holding problem covering with the universe. J.D. Salinger uses the events that have taken topographic point in his life to compose the novels Franny and Zooey and The Catcher in the Rye.
