The Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger

The story is narrated by the main character’s point of view, Holden Caulfield. Holden’s character is limited to other characters thoughts and we see the story through his eyes. Something that is different though is that he is telling the story in the past tense, everything has already happened. I didn’t realize that the story was being told in the past tense instead of the present until Holden was telling the story of when he was saying goodbye to his teacher, Mr. Spencer and he couldn’t remember exactly what he had said to his teacher when telling the dialogue to the reader. I enjoy books that are written through only one person’s view, rather than an omniscient narrator. Having a single narrator allows the reader to be able to connect more with the book because as you are reading you feel as if you are a part of the plot.

This book has always stood out to me and I have always wanted to get around to reading it but never had the time to read books I wanted to read because of school assigned readings or just too much homework to read for leisure. Since I’ve finally gotten the chance to begin reading it, I’ve been hooked. It isn’t the most difficult read but definitely interesting since the main character is around my age and imagining myself in his shoes is almost a type of dream because of the journey he experiences at such a young age on his own.

Also, what got me hooked in the beginning when I was still unsure if I was really into the book was when Holden returns to his dorm after meeting Mr. Spencer and sits down and has a conversation with his neighbor. This reminded me a lot of the book, Looking for Alaska and the parts when Pudge and Colonel would be in their dorm just talking and chilling, really with no purpose. I enjoyed those parts because it made the book seem more real, in the sense that the characters don’t always have to be doing something amazing but can sit down in their rooms, relax, and just talk. As well, when reading passages like those you get to learn a lot about characters and their personalities which I find quite interesting and different from other books.

Lastly, a quote I found really interesting was when Holden says,

"Boy!" I said. I also say "Boy!" quite a lot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes. I was sixteen then, and I'm seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I'm about thirteen. It's really ironic, because I'm six foot two and a half and I have gray hair. I really do. The one side of my head – the right side – is full of millions of gray hairs. I've had them ever since I was a kid. And yet I still act sometimes like I was only about twelve. Everybody says that, especially my father. It's partly true, too, but it isn't all true. People always think something's all true. I don't give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am – I really do – but people never notice it. People never notice anything.”

In a way this passage has a bit of foreshadowing to what is later going to happen with Holden’s journey in New York. He talks about how he is young but at the same time how he is tall and how he looks old due to his grey hairs. Also, with the grey hairs, he mentions how just one half of his head contains grey hairs. This could be connected in a way that he is saying half of his head is old but half is still youthful much like himself, and his personality.