classmates, friends and family, I finally decided to write my paper on JD Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye." I first read the book in high school and really enjoyed the perspective that it gave me. Holden Caulfield, the book's main protagonist, is a troubled teen searching for meaning in life. I never liked how people wrote him off as a perverted, godless adolescent. I always thought that he had redeeming qualities and I could see a little bit of myself present in his character. That being said, I always chose to defend his character. . . and now I get to do that in my paper. My thesis is this:
While the juvenile tone and colorful language of JD Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" seems to create a tone of alienation and hopelessness, it instead reveals a veiled hope for meaning in human relationships and a yearning for faith and spirituality.
The book is one of the best examples of how Modernist literature comes off as alienated and indifferent but instead reveals a veiled hope for meaning and spirituality. I have enjoyed rereading the novel and finding instances where Holden Caulfield exhibits the above mentioned qualities.
That being said, I am still open to everybody's comments and opinions as I hope that it will inspire good conversation and better insight for my paper.
Huh. I had considered Salinger postmodern. How will you approach the temporal difference?
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ReplyDeletethe fact that it is a coming of age novel written in stream of consciousness that deals with disillusionment from society and alienation makes the novel more modern despite the fact that it was written after WWII.
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