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Catcher In The Rye Research Paper

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The Catcher in the Rye by Jerome David Salinger is a classic novel. This novel was published in 1951. Salinger uses profanity, slang as well as open conversation about sexuality were seen as taboo. Many critics at the time said it was not serious literature, but they were wrong. The Catcher in the Rye discusses a person’s struggle with living in a hard and heartless world. I It opens minds to ideas other than the cultural norm and since it has been published it has been seen as a classic. Many found it to be very relatable as many teens experience angst throughout their teenage years.The book takes place in New York City in either 1948 or 1949.
The main character is Holden Caulfield. He is a sixteen year old that has just been expelled from …show more content…

society. Each person around him was a fake and he could never see the good in people and things. This is due to Holden's strong opposition to material wealth, which is a dominating characteristic of the society which he could not accept. Many say that he’s just a spoiled rich boy who doesn’t appreciate all of the opportunities given to him. I think he was constantly viewed as spoiled and rich and learned to hate it and criticize it. He can't communicate with anyone and feels that the only person he can even relate to is his sister Phoebe. Holden cannot function as a normal part of society because of his hatred towards all "phonies", which he believes everyone to be.
Phoebe seems to be the only person that Holden feels he can relate with, this may be because she is still young and has yet to enter the adult world. She is naive. Holden wants to hold on to his childhood, yet he strives to fit in as part of what he perceives as the adult world. Through adolescence, teenagers constantly experience being treated as both a child and an adult or they feel like they’re both. He tries to shield the people he knows from the real world and encourages them to stay as they are and hold on to their innocence. He believes the [adult] world is full of

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