The Catcher In The Rye :: essays research papers

In 1964, J.D. Salinger composed a novel titled The Catcher in the Rye that became quite controversial and was banned from several schools because of inappropriate content. The story is pretty dramatic, but it has many comical incidents. The book is trying to project the idea that you can run from your problems as much as you want; however it is inevitable that you face them. You can’t run forever! If this were a scary movie, the evil laughter would start now. Our main character Holden Caulfield at first appears to be having a conflict with society, but, upon closer examination, we see he is truly only at war with himself. Our story starts with Holden being kicked out of yet another school, this time Pencey Prep, for failing four classes. He is supposed to go home at Christmas Break and not return, however, things don’t work out like that. A situation progresses into a first fight when Holden finds out that his roommate had sex with a girl named Jane Gallagher, who it becomes apparent that Holden loves. Holden loses the fight and grabs his bags and hunting hat and heads for the train station a few days early. One conflict is Holden deciding how to tell his parents that he was kicked out of Pencey. Another less obvious conflict is Holden dealing with the people around him without getting the urge to blow up a building. He is completely convinced that everyone in the world is a phony, except for his little sister Phoebe, Jane, and himself. Throughout the story, he is plagued by phony people. These two problems connect when Holden is attempting to plan his future away from such phonies and do it without his parents finding out about Pencey. After he leaves Pencey, Holden takes a train to New York, where his only plans are to plan to make plans. He meets all sorts of people in New York, including a ditsy blonde named Bernice at the Lavender Room. He buys a hooker named Sunny from a guy named Maurice, but pays her just for talking. There’s a mix-up about the payment, so Maurice beats him bloody. He goes to see a show with a girl named Sally Hayes and wants to run away with her, then decides she’s phony, so he leaves her at a diner. He meets an old friend named Luce for drinks and ends up getting drunk and embarrassing himself by calling Sally.