preview

Catcher In The Rye Response

Decent Essays

The Catcher in the Rye was written by J.D. Salinger, an American author. The book was published in 1951. The Catcher in the Rye takes place in an unspecified location in 1951, starting out in a mental hospital. The story follows the main character, sixteen year-old Holden Caulfield. The Catcher in the Rye is pretty much him just talking about the events during and after his being kicked out of his school for flunking four out of five classes. His perspective as a teenage boy makes the book rather enjoyable, as you get to read about his wandering thoughts and it just feels very real.
The book starts out with a flash-forward, and almost immediately transitions to when he is kicked out of his school for his poor academic performance. He is failing four of his five classes, only passing English because he had apparently covered most of the material at a past school. We are then introduced to one of his neighbors within the dorm, who he doesn’t seem to like very much (and quite frankly, neither do I. Dental hygiene is important, and this man is very negligent in the tooth-brushing department.), and then to his room mate, who he discovers is going on a date with a girl who Holden knows, Jane. Most of the book is just him going about an interesting time in his life, and I found it to be enjoyable.
The first character we are introduced to, obviously, is Holden, the protagonist. The sixteen year-old teenaged boy with decent academic potential, but not enough motivation to apply himself. He details his love of women early on in the book, even checking out the mother of one of his acquaintances while lying to her about her son’s popularity at his former school. The next teenager we meet is Ackley. Ackley… disgusting. He does not brush his teeth, he smells bad. Ackley. He clips his nails on his friends floor despite multiple attempts to redirect him to the table. Ackley… gross, horrendous. 0/10, do not recommend. Holden’s roommate, Stradlater, is less of a disgusting human being. He is described as handsome, and secretly a slob. As in, he takes good care of his appearance, he shaves, but after he shaves? He will not clean the razor. Stradlater is apparently one of the only boys Holden knows who actually gets with girls,

Get Access