The catcher in the rye- The narrative point of view, the style and the genre The style in which “The Catcher in The Rye” is written is unusual. The main character in the book, Holden, is the central, first-person narrator. The way in which the book is written helps the reader to understand the character better since it written is his point of view. It also makes the character more realistic since it is narrated by him. The style of the essay relates to teenagers. This is because of the profanity and all of Holden’s thoughts and actions mentioned in the book. The story in The Catcher in The Rye is told by Holden Caulfield. Therefore, the narrative point of view is first person. This makes the characters seem more real because Holden’s actions, thoughts and what he sees is descriptive. For example “He’s in Hollywood. That isn’t too far from this crumby place, and he comes over and visits me practically every weekend. He’s going to drive me home when I go home next month maybe. He just got a Jaguar. One of those little English jobs that can do around two hundred miles an hour.” (Salinger 2010:1) From this we can see that he mentions specific details about his brother, like his job and car which makes him seem more realistic. He mentions specific characteristics about people which make them seem more lifelike. For example, ‘I mean he was all stooped over, and he had very terrible posture…” (Salinger 2010:7) and “He was one of those very, very tall, round-shouldered guys- he was about six four- with lousy teeth.” (Salinger 2010: 20) Holden also describes places. For example, “He was reading the Atlantic Monthly, and there were pills and medicines all over the place, and everything smelled like Vicks Nose Drops.” This describes his history teachers’ house. All these specific details help create a mental picture which is realistic. Holden’s descriptions help the reader to understand the characters better because he describes their characteristics in detail so it is easier for the reader to relate to the characters. The writing style of the book is colloquial. In the book, Holden behaves exactly like a teenager would. He speaks and acts in an immature manner just like a teenager. Since he is the narrator we get lots of information on his character, like how he thinks, what he does and how he talks. All these details make Holden seem more convincing. We see the colloquial language when Holden says “That sonuvabitch Hartzell thinks you’re a hot-shot in English, and he knows you’re my roommate.” (Salinger 2010:30). Other examples include “I was probably the only normal bastard in the whole place – and that isn’t saying much” and “Oh, Christ. Don’t spoil it, ’I said. I’m twelve, for chrissake.” (Salinger 2010:78). When we look at Holden’s language we can identify language that the younger generation uses. Holden’s tone is frequently cynical, bitter or sarcastic. For example “Then, the next morning, in chapel, he made a speech that lasted about ten hours” (Salinger 2010:17). The narrative point of view can be linked to the writing style of the book. The two are used interchangeably. The style of the book represents Holden’s character. As we can see Holden 1
uses slang and this is his style. Therefore, since Holden is speaking his mind the writing style of the book would have to be colloquial. If the book was written by a different person they would not be able to explain and capture his thoughts the way he does. The genre of The Catcher in The Rye is coming-of-age. The reason for this is because the book starts when Holden is the process of growing up. The book depicts the journey of how he forms his opinions and how he matures and becomes an adult. We see this at the beginning where Holden says “If you really want to hear about it, the first 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, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.”(Salinger 2010:1). When we look at this quote carefully we can see the tone is an immature anger. Holden doesn’t mention why but we see it in the comments he makes. At the end of the book we see how Holden has completely changed his views when he says “That stuff doesn’t interest me too much right now.” (Salinger 2010:230). At the end of the book we see how there is a contrast in the person he was at the beginning and the person he becomes in the end. In conclusion, we see how being exposed to different situations and decisions change the type of people we are and shape us into adults. It is evident that the problems we face and the challenges we go through help us to grow up and be mature and responsible adults. We also see how the people who are in our lives and the people we meet also contribute to shaping our character.
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