A C O N T R OV E R S I A L C L A S S I C

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

J.D. SALINGER

• Born January 1, 1919 in NYC• Full name Jerome David Salinger

• Wealthy Jewish family• Failed McBurney School; transferred to Valley Forge

Military Academy • Attended NYU for one year• Traveled to Europe, stayed in Vienna for a few months

• Returned home; took night classes at Columbia• Professor Whit Burnett encouraged J.D. to publish some of

his writing• Short stories were published in Collier’s and Saturday

Evening Post

J.D. SALINGER

INFLUENCE OF WWII

• Drafted into the army; served from 1942-44• Landed at Normandy and fought in the Battle of

the Bulge • Hospitalized for nervous breakdown• Began working on The Catcher in the Rye

POST WAR WRITING

• Returned to NYC in 1946• Shorter work published in The New Yorker• 1951-The Catcher in the Rye• First and only published novel• Became very famous

• Previously published short stories were combined into collections and published in 1960s• Last new published piece was June 1965 • “Hapworth 16, 1924” in The New Yorker

SOLD OVER 120 MILLION COPIES TO DATE

POST WAR LIFE

• Married three times• 1945- Sylvia Welter• 1955- Claire Douglas• 2 Kids- Margaret and Matthew

• 1988- Colleen O’Neill• Moved to New Hampshire in 1953• Led reclusive life• Avoided public contact

• Died in 2010

PEOPLE INTERESTED BY AND JOKED ABOUT HIS ISOLATION FROM SOCIETY

HINTS AND CLUES EMERGING

• Daughter recently published memoir• Did not paint the

most positive picture of her father

POSTHUMOUS WORK?

• It is believed that Salinger continued to write novels while he lived in New Hampshire, but chose not to publish them• After his death people began to speculate

whether these would be released• 2015 is the estimated date of publication

ENDURING LOVE

• Why is The Catcher in the Rye so popular?• Coming of age novel• Many people identify with Holden’s struggles

as a teenager• Unique writing style (for the time)• Stream of consciousness• Unstructured, unedited writing that reflects

one’s observations or feelings• Might feel disjointed or “all over the place”• Feel like we are in the character’s head

ENDURING CONTROVERSY

• Controversial things in the novel:• Vulgar language• Drinking• Smoking• Sex• Depression• Death• Lies• Violence

CENTRAL QUESTIONS

• What is the individual’s relationship to society? Do we have to conform to society? • What does it mean to grow up? Is it possible to

grow up without becoming fake?• How do we deal with trauma or loss?• What is Holden searching for? What do we search

for in life? • Is Holden a likeable character?

WHY IS THERE NO MOVIE?

• Salinger refused to sell the rights for the novel• Many famous directors, actors, producers etc.

have tried to obtain the rights but failed