The Catcher in the Rye by J D

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Why I chose ● primer on misanthropy ○ misanthropy: hatred of people ● clear sense of alienation, which many students identified ● stark difference in the representation of the individual vs society

Techniques ● Most candidates could identify at least some of the techniques in use, ○ eg animal imagery (“laugh like hyenas”) ● but may not have given thorough explanations to support their analysis ○ by referring to the crowd as hyenas, Caulfield is deliberately comparing them to scavengers, loathsome and parasitic, utterly devoid of creativity or sincerity ● or been able to assemble these observations into a coherent thesis

Diction There are certain words that candidates may not recognise due to their usage being a little archaic ● phony: false, untrue; compare bogus ● profanity: ‘for God’s sake’ and ‘goddam’ were potentially more controversial in 1951 than they are today; in 1939 the Motion Picture Association banned the use of the word ‘damn’ in film due to Gone with the Wind

● sort of sets the stage for male romantic leads being Byronic assholes ○ see: Edward Cullen

Satire While a significant number of candidates managed to identify the use of satire in the passage, relatively few managed to actually explain what satire is or how it works. ● Satire: the depiction of follies and vices, usually in a humorous manner, used to criticise behaviour, ideally for constructive ends ● Eg: “Ernie … gave this very phony, humble bow… It was very phony--I mean him being such a big snob and all. ”

Satire Analysis ● Accusing Ernie of being ‘phony’ draws attention to the convention of mannerly humility, ● modesty is a matter of politeness and etiquette, even when it is insincere; ● by suggesting that Ernie, a ‘terrific piano player’ is also a ‘snob’, Caulfield is suggesting that public shows of modesty are dishonest, and expresses disdain for this social convention

Irony Some candidates managed to identify the situational irony in the passage: ● Salinger depicts Caulfield as someone who blames society for fostering dishonesty in others (“I partly blame all those dopes that clap their heads off”) ● but Caulfield himself, for all that he expresses disdain for the people around him (“people are always ruining things”) ● also exercises emotional dishonesty, in inviting Ernie, whom he appears to despise, to drink with him as he is lonely (“sitting there all by myself”)

Irony ● Hypocrisy: ○ Caulfield criticises Ernie for being obsessed with appearances (“he had a big damn mirror… so everyone could watch his face as he played”) ○ but is himself constantly commenting on the appearances of others, often judging them on that basis alone: ■ “funny-looking guy and this funny-looking girl” ■ “Real ugly girls have it tough” ■ “there was this very Joe-Yale-looking guy”

Criticism Salinger certainly depicts Holden Caulfield as a highly critical young man, who has an especial mistrust of adults (he’s obviously younger than most of the crowd), but the question is whether Caulfield is immune to his own criticism: ● for all that he seems irked by the folly of others (“They killed me”), ● he himself seems to lament a societal falseness and coldness (“nobody cared how old you were”) that he does nothing to dispel

Criticism Who is Salinger satirising? ● a society obsessed with appearances and false modesty? ● or the disaffected youth who hold themselves superior to adults while they are themselves as flawed as the people they despise?