Cather In The Rye

Catcher in the Rye

If you have ever been an adolescent , you have known alienation According to the American Heritage Dictionary , alienation can be defined as , emotional isolation or dissociation (2000 ) This seems to be the running premise of the book Catcher in the Rye , written by J .D Salinger . It is about Holden Caulfield , an adolescent who narrates a rather pessimistic view of what has happened to him so far . The opening lines of the book echoes alienation , (f )irst thing you 'll probably want to know is where I

was born , and what my lousy childhood was like and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me . but I don 't feel like going into it , if you want to know the truth (1

Alienation can be identified through these five qualities powerlessness meaningless perception of normness isolation self-estrangement (Latter Rain ) Caulfield manifests these qualities in turn as the novel progresses . Self-estrangement is evident as he relates his own personal history

saying that that stuff bores me (1 ) This strikes the reader as a reflection of how Caulfield feels regarding his life . This is reiterated throughout the book , as he treats his being kicked out of schools as an everyday occurrence . He does not feel responsible , nor does it extract from him a great deal of feeling . Caulfield was kicked out of his preparatory school , Pencey Prep , for too many failed subjects he failed all but one subject , English , because . I had all that Beowulf and Lord Randal My Son stuff when I was at the Whooton School . I mean I didn 't have to do any work in English at all hardly , except write compositions once in a while (10 ) This is the fourth time he is being kicked out of a school . Caulfield is not particularly disturbed with the turn of the events , as can be gleaned from his conversation with his English teacher , Mr . Spencer "Do you have any particular qualms about leaving Pencey "Oh , I have a few qualms , all right . Sure . but not too many . Not yet , anyway . I guess it hasn 't really hit me yet . It takes things a while to hit me . All I 'm doing right now is thinking about going home Wednesday . I 'm a moron "Do you feel absolutely no concern for your future , boy "Oh , I feel some concern for my future , all right . Sure . Sure , I do " I thought about it for a minute "But not too much , I guess . Not too much I guess This does not concern him too much , much like his expulsion from the other schools do not affect him . This is seen as Mr . Spencer and Caulfield talk about his plans for the future "Do you feel absolutely no concern for your future , boy "Oh , I feel some concern for my future , all right . Sure . Sure , I do " I thought about it for a minute "But not too much , I guess . Not too much I...