Language Of Catcher In The Rye
The Language of Cather in the Rye
The passage of adolescence has served as the central theme for many novels, but J.D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye, long a staple in academic lesson plans, has captured the spirit of this stage of life in hyper-sensitive form, dramatizing Holden Caulfields vulgar language and melodramatic reactions. Written as the autobiographical account of a fictional teenage prep school student Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye deals with material that is socially scandalous for the times (Gwynn, 1958). As an emotional, intelligent, inquisitive, and painfully sensitive young man, Holden puts his inner world to the test through the sexual mores of his peers and elders, the teachings of his education, and his own emerging sense of self. Throughout the years, the language of the story has startled some readers. Salingers control of Holdens easy, conversational manner makes the introduction of these larger themes appear natural and believable. (Bloom, 1990).
At the time of the novel through today, Holdens speech rings true to the colloquial speech of teenagers. Holden, according to many reviews in the Chicago Tribune, the New Yorker, and the New York Times, accurately captures the informal speech of an average intelligent, educated,
holden, holdens, speech, character, vocabulary, words, school, salinger, language, know, hell, word, truth, time, reader, one, sonuvabitch, says, salzman, own, makes, make, limited, example, cursing, believable, anything, 1991, 1990, youth, yet, times, through, situations, simple, rye
