Does the Voice Matter?
            
             How important is the voice that tells a story? It seems
             almost trivial to claim that the same story can change
             because of the voice telling it to you. Does the voice and
             point of view of the narrator play a large enough role in a
             novel to change the attitude of the reader about the novel?
             J.D.. Salinger uses the dominant character of Holden
             Caulfield to be the first person narrator of his novel The
             Catcher in the Rye. The key to Holden's narrative voice is
             the fact that it added life and a connection to the
             character. This voice transforms an otherwise lifeless story
             to a jump start and electric novel. In order to find out how
             important this narrator was to the story we will compare the
             novel The Catcher in the Rye to the piece "A Slight
             Rebellion of Madison"(the summary of the very same novel as
             told in third person omniscient).
            
             In looking at the importance of Holden's role we will
             first look at the summary of the novel. In "Slight Rebellion
             off Madison" the character of Holden Caulfield has been
             eliminated and an outside third person narrator replaces
             him. This version goes through the story explaining the
             basic outlining of The Catcher in the Rye. The outline is
             what the summary gives to the reader and that's all it
             gives. The basic plot is average, but with out the
             connection to the reader it keeps the reader on the outside
             through the whole thing. The plot tells the happenings of a
             young man named Holden Caulfield, but without really knowing
             to much about the character of Holden the plot line is
             lifeless and boring for the reader. We see the experiences
             that Holden goes through, but the reader doesn't get
             involved. It is hard for most readers to sympathize with
             Holden therefore Salinger relies on the connection Holden
             makes with the reader to get the reader involved in the life
             of Holden.
            
             What about Holden's narrative...