Catcher in the Rye:
A Coming of Age Tale
This novel explores many themes that are commonly felt by teenagers.
Salinger's novel discusses Holden's stand against phoniness. Another major
theme running through the novel is self-loathing, and while it may not be quite
that extreme in all cases, most teenagers go through the "awkward" stage.
Loneliness is also expressed in the novel. Every teenager goes through a time
were they feel like they're alienated. In a lot of ways, Holden also literally wants
to be the catcher in the rye. These are just some of the themes that run through
this novel. Jerome David Salinger only wrote one novel, Catcher in the Rye. It
was published in 1951. It was called a genuine American tale and greatly
praised. After this success, Salinger went into seclusion. All he wrote before his
"disappearance" were four novellas and thirty-five short stories. Of these stories
he preserved only nine. J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye displays the typical
teenage alienation and depression.
Salinger's novel discusses Holden's stand against phoniness. Holden's
deep contempt for all things that are phony is expressed throughout the novel.
He even condemns people he doesn't know as phonies, such as the man that his
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wing of the dorms at Pencey is named after, an undertaker named Ossenburger.
"I can just see that big phony bastard asking Jesus to send him more stiffs."(p.17)
It is evident from the passage that Holden seems to think many people are
phonies, but mostly people who have done better than he has in life who he
doesn't always know. He especially hates the movies and comic books. "Those
stories with a lot of phony, lean-jawed guys named David in it, and with a lot of
phony girls named Linda or Marcia." (p.53) He feels that such things are larger
than life and fe...