Ashley Stockton Period 4 12/6/2007 Book Notes Title: The Catcher In The Rye Author: J.D.

Salinger Genre: Psychological novel 1st Published: 1951

Titles Significance: You know that song If a body catch a body comin through the rye! Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobodys around-nobody big, I mean-except me. And I am standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start going over the cliff-I mean if theyre running and they dont look where theyre going I have to come out of somewhere and catch them. Thats all I do all day. Id just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know its crazy, but thats the only thing Id really like to be. I know its crazy.(173) Plot summary: The Catcher in The Rye is the story of Holden Caulfield. Holden is a young man who is very depressed and seems to hate everything about life in general. Holden has been kicked out of several schools and he has just been kicked out of yet another one, Pencey, do to his lack of effort and him falling every class but English. Holden has a younger sister named Phoebe and an older brother named D.B. and also a younger brother named Allie who died of Leukemia. Holden cant stand the thought of going home so he decides to hang out in a hotel for a few days before going home so hopefully his parent would have some time to digest the fact that he flunked out of yet another school. This entire time he becomes more and more depressed and on several occasions considers calling this girl named Jane Gallagher who was his neighbor and who he was very found of. Despite considering the idea of calling her throughout the entire book he never does and decides that he is not going back home but going to get a job somewhere in the middle of nowhere so that way he can just be alone and not have to deal with all the phonies in the world. Before he can leave he decides that he has to say good bye to Phoebe, one of the people in the world who he likes. Phoebe is so upset by this that she wants to go with him this makes Holden upset and he tells her to shut up. In the end he doesnt leave and ends up a mental hospital which is where he is telling this story from. Setting: New York Characters: Holden Caulfield - Is the protagonist and narrator of this story. He is 16 years old and has just been expelled from yet another school. He is also a very depressed person who seems like he is on the verge of a mental break down at any moment.

Phoebe Caulfield - Phoebe is Holdens ten-year-old sister that Holden loves a lot. Holden spends most of the book complimenting her. Phoebe loves Holden very much and cant stand to see him ruin his life. Allie Caulfield - Holdens younger brother who died of Leukemia and use to write poems in a baseball mitten that Holden has kept his entire life. D. B. Caulfield - Holdens older brother who works has a writer in Hollywood. Holden sees this as selling out and is upset at his brother for giving in. Stradlater - Holdens roommate at Pencey who goes out with Jane Gallagher one of the few people who Holden respects. Jane Gallagher - A girl that Holden spent an entire summer with when they where neighbors. Holden respects and adores Jane and is very upset when he thinks about her going out with Stradlater. Ackley - Holdens next-door neighbor in his dorm at Pencey who barges into his room all the time and has horrible hygiene. Sally Hayes - A very attractive girl whom Holden has known and dated for a long time. Holden considers Sally stupid that doesnt seem to stop him from trying to persuader her to run away with him. Mr. Spencer - Holdens history teacher at Pencey Prep, who tries to convince Holden to try harder in school. Mr. Antolini - Holdens former English teacher at the Elkton Hills School. Mr. Antolini gives Holden a place to stay but Holden runs away when he wakes in the middle of the night to find him petting Holdens head. Maurice - The elevator operator at the Edmont Hotel who offers Holden a prostitute. Sunny - The prostitute Holden hires through Maurice. Point of view: It is form a first person point of view. It is from the view of Holden our narrator which is often unreliable at times considering his bleak outlook on life. Central conflict: Is Holdens struggle within himself dealing with his failure in yet another school and his issues with depression due to his brothers death and the witness of a fellow classmate committing suicide. Style:

Tone: The tone seems to be that of disgust with the way people act and how all these different people that J.D. Salingers main character Holden comes in contact represent all the personality types in the world that he hates. Symbols: Holdens Red Hunting Hat

Is a symbol of his felling of isolation and need to have solidarity in his life. Although the hat makes him feel insecure he still wears it because it separates him from the rest of the world which in his opinion is full of phonies. The Museum of Natural History Holden likes the fact that things never change in the museum but every time he goes there he is somehow different and how he wishes that he too could be frozen in time. The Ducks in the Central Park Lagoon The ducks symbolize change which Holden is afraid of but it isnt permanent because they always come back which is the way Holden wish things could be. Themes: The pain that comes with growing up is a prominent theme in the Catcher in The Rye the entire book Holden criticizes people for being phones in the grown up world and he struggles throughout the book to not become apart of that world. For example when he explains to Phoebe what he wants to be the man idea behind it is that he is the only adult and he is saving them while at the same time being saved. Another theme is that somehow his depression protects him from the rest of the world its like if he blocks himself from everyone else they cant hurt him. Significant quotes: If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.(Salinger1) "Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody."(Salinger155) "Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them - if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry."(Salinger189) "Dont ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."(Salinger214) "I felt like jumping out the window. I probably wouldve, too, if Id been sure somebodyd cover me up as soon as I landed. I didnt want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory."(Salinger104) "Im always saying Glad tove met you to someone Im not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though."(Salinger87)

Ask her if she still keeps all her kings in the back row.(Salinger34) It's funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they'll do practically anything you want them to.(Salinger158) When the weather's nice, my parents go out quite frequently and stick a bunch of flowers on old Allie's grave. I went with them a couple of times, but I cut it out. In the first place, I don't enjoy seeing him in that crazy cemetery. Surrounded by dead guys and tombstones and all. It wasn't too bad when the sun was out, but twice - twice - we were there when it started to rain. It was awful. It rained on his lousy tombstone, and it rained on the grass on his stomach. It rained all over the place. All the visitors that were visiting the cemetery started running like hell over to their cars. That's what nearly drove me crazy. All the visitors could get in their cars and turn on their radios and all and then go someplace nice for dinner - everybody except Allie. I couldn't stand it. I know it's only his body and all that's in the cemetery, and his soul's in Heaven and all that crap, but I couldn't stand it anyway. I just wished he wasn't there.(Salinger155) THATS ALL Im going to tell about. I could probably tell you what I did after I went home, and how I got sick and all, and what school I am supposed to go to next fall, after I get out of here, but I dont feel like it. I really dont. That stuff doesnt intrest me too much right now.(Salinger 213)