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Rhetorical Analysis Of The Catcher In The Rye

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In The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, repetitive diction, direct address, and sensory imagery are used to portray Holden’s reverent tone when discussing his sister Phoebe and to emphasize Holden’s desire that his audience like and are impressed by Phoebe like he is. Holden, talking about how great his sister is, ends up revealing more about his childhood and how Phoebe is living a childhood much better than his own. While rambling on about Phoebe he says, “you’d like her” multiple times (68). Holden wants to ensure that his audience likes his sister as much as he does, which is why he utilizes repetition to emphasize his honest assessment of his sister. Holden knows he is a liar and in fact claims to be so; he often uses repetition …show more content…

Holden constantly criticizes people throughout the book and rarely says anything positive about people. So, by Holden saying “nice” when describing Phoebe, leds back to his reverent tone and how he loves Phoebe so much. Holden is incapable of saying anything bad about Phoebe, and if Phoebe had any flaws, Holden would tell his audience how her flaws were good flaws. Holden also tells his audience that, they “ought to see old Phoebe” because he wants tem to see why he is so fond …show more content…

Holden does think his audience understands what his sister is like, and has to keep on talking about Phoebe, so his audience gets the full understanding of her. Holden always uses the word “killed” and uses it in different ways. Holden sometimes uses “killed” in a positive way, but sometimes he uses “killed” in a negative way. When talking about Phoebe, Holden says, “She killed Allie, too” and “... she kills everybody-everybody with any sense anyway” (68). As Holden uses “killed” in this situation, what “killed” is referring to, is someone who likes Phoebe as much as Holden does. Phoebe is even seen by Holden as an impressive young child, and tells his audience that, “she'd wear white gloves and walk right between us, like a lady and all” 68). Holden compares Phoebe to “a lady” and convey’s even though she is a little child, she looks and acts like an adult at times. However, Holden does not want Phoebe to grow up the way he did, wants to protect her innocence, and does not want Phoebe to end up like him. That is why Holden wants to be “The Catcher In The Rye,” and wants to “catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff” (173). By not letting the kids fall off the cliff, he is protecting

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