Catcher in the Rye Archetypal Analysis
INTRODUCTION
Jerome David Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, is a work of fiction and a tragic-comedy. It is an interesting and controversial novel. Though controversial, the novel appealed to a great number of people. It was a hugely popular bestseller and general critical success. I chose this novel because of the negative status it has with parents, teachers, and school. I wanted to discover what the roots of this controversy are. The main character, Holden Caulfield, tells about his life before and after he was kicked out from Pencey Prep. The novel was told in first person through the eyes of the narrator, Holden. He recalls the events as a series of flashbacks placing the setting of the story in his mind. I was bored by the novel, but dutifully finished reading it anyway, I suppose so that I could say that I had. It wasn't an electrifying reading experience at first but on the middle part of the novel I started liking the novel. In some way, it seems that Holden and I have something in common, when I was a teenager that is, being judgmental. Throughout the novel, Holden was extremely judgmental of almost everything and everybody. He criticizes people who are boring, people who are insecure and most of all people who are “phony”, though he feels like everyone is a “phony”. Holden is so much like Bart of “The Simpsons”; they both think that everyone they knew was a phony which sometimes irritates them. They are both very unpredictable.
JOURNEY OF A HERO Every story of has a character, every character has his journey and in this journey has a hero. I would like to analyze the journey of the key character Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year old prep school student, which I think is the hero since he is the protagonist in the novel.
The Departure
Holden had received a notice that he is being expelled from Pencey Prep School, which is his fourth school, since he failed four out of his five subjects. I think that number 4 is
Jerome David Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, is a work of fiction and a tragic-comedy. It is an interesting and controversial novel. Though controversial, the novel appealed to a great number of people. It was a hugely popular bestseller and general critical success. I chose this novel because of the negative status it has with parents, teachers, and school. I wanted to discover what the roots of this controversy are. The main character, Holden Caulfield, tells about his life before and after he was kicked out from Pencey Prep. The novel was told in first person through the eyes of the narrator, Holden. He recalls the events as a series of flashbacks placing the setting of the story in his mind. I was bored by the novel, but dutifully finished reading it anyway, I suppose so that I could say that I had. It wasn't an electrifying reading experience at first but on the middle part of the novel I started liking the novel. In some way, it seems that Holden and I have something in common, when I was a teenager that is, being judgmental. Throughout the novel, Holden was extremely judgmental of almost everything and everybody. He criticizes people who are boring, people who are insecure and most of all people who are “phony”, though he feels like everyone is a “phony”. Holden is so much like Bart of “The Simpsons”; they both think that everyone they knew was a phony which sometimes irritates them. They are both very unpredictable.
JOURNEY OF A HERO Every story of has a character, every character has his journey and in this journey has a hero. I would like to analyze the journey of the key character Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year old prep school student, which I think is the hero since he is the protagonist in the novel.
The Departure
Holden had received a notice that he is being expelled from Pencey Prep School, which is his fourth school, since he failed four out of his five subjects. I think that number 4 is