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Catcher in the Rye

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The Catcher in the Rye “Is The Catcher in the Rye, as a work of literature still relevant for today’s youth?” Name: Sara Sigurdson Course: English A1 Supervisor: Mr. Peter Steadman Word count: 3851 Candidate number: 00136022 Table of Contents Content Page Number Abstract 3 Introduction 4 The Actual Catcher in the Rye 4 The Sexual Matter 5 The Caulfield Family 6 Narrator and Protagonist 8 Role Model 9 Mr. Antolini 10 Targeted Audience 10 Guidance 12 It is not Criticism 13 Exposing Culture 13 Conclusion – Fall of Innocence 15 Works Cited List 17 Abstract This essay is a detailed analysis about The Catcher in the Rye investigating whether it is relevant for youth and …show more content…

In his dream, Holden gets to play a guardian, saving the pure and innocent from falling over the edge, a topic that plays very well on why this novel is appropriate for youth in our society today. Just like in the 1950’s when the book was written, this example stands for the hope of protecting a juvenile teenager’s innocence all through the step towards becoming an adult. Salinger enlightens us of that the beauty of keeping purity - in this case the children growing up too fast - is important to everyone, everywhere. (Aldridge, 128) There is also symbolism to be found in Holden's name (Hold on), about him holding on to his childhood. “Hold on” works as a symbol for how Holden expresses the theme of keeping innocence in his life as he personally acts as the catcher in the rye. The sexual matter The same pattern of guarding purity is found in the sexual matter of this novel. When it comes to the theme of sexuality it is easy to find a relationship between what the society looked like in the 1950’s and what our society looks like today. Sexual revelation is a constantly growing pattern through different media, and The Catcher in the Rye acts like guidance for misplaced and confused teenagers growing up in this continuous

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