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THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH CENSOR IN THE RYE JOSHUA D. YOM SPRING 2016 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a baccalaureate degree in English with honors in English Reviewed and approved* by the following: Robert Caserio Professor of English Thesis Supervisor Marcy North Associate Professor of English Honors Adviser * Signatures are on file in the Schreyer Honors College. i ABSTRACT J.D. Salinger’s 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye is a cult-classic in the canon of American literature, most commonly recognized as a “vulgar” book, subject to censorship and banning. This thesis argues that Catcher not only draws censorship, but offers treatment of censorship, particularly in the novel’s conclusion, in conjunction with a selection of Salinger’s preceding, developmental writings on Holden and the Caulfield family. Five of Salinger’s pre- Catcher writings are analyzed, examining the chronological development of Holden Caulfield, citing recurring themes regarding childhood, adulthood, and beauty as related to censorship. I intend to argue that Salinger’s novel presents the final form of the character Holden Caulfield as constituted by these preceding fragments. Identification and analysis of these fragments contributes to analysis of Salinger’s treatment of censorship or “catching” in the novel; Catcher is Salinger’s final development of Holden and his thesis on censorship. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................... iii Chapter 1 Five Stories .................................................................................................. 1 "Last Day in the Last Furlough"…………………………………………………2 "This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise"…………………………………………...8 "The Stranger"…………………………………………………………………..13 "I'm Crazy"……………………………………………………………………...18 "Slight Rebellion Off Madison"……………………………………………….. 27 Fragments of Holden………….……………………………………………….. 31 Chapter 2 Catcher or Censor? ….................................................................................33 Allie……………………………………………………………….…………….33 "Catching" Lad………………………………………………………………….36 Phoebe…………………………………………………………………………..37 Vulgarity……………………………………………………………………...…40 Catcher Caught. …………………………………….……………………….….42 Chapter 3 Conclusion………………………………………………………………..45 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………….......47 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. North and Dr. Caserio for their patience, help, and understanding. My senior year and the completion of this thesis was far from ideal, but their support made it possible. I would also like to thank Dr. Cantalupo. If it weren’t for his mentorship, I would have never become an English major or a member of the Schreyer Honors College. From my first day on campus to my preparation for the last, Dr. Cantalupo has been one of my greatest advocates. Lastly, I would like to thank my younger brother, Brandon. We’ve been through a hell of a lot together, our experiences at Penn State only the most recent challenges we’ve encountered. I know we’re no strangers to tough times or rough situations, but I also know that you’re the closest family I have and that I couldn’t have done it without you. 1 Chapter 1 Five Stories In his 2010 biography titled J.D.Salinger: A Life, Kenneth Slawenski’s pervasive thesis links the author’s life and experiences to the content of his writing and asserts that Salinger exercised an autobiographic tendency. In great detail, Slawenski draws biographic connections from Salinger and numerous individuals and events in his life to the content and characters of his writings, ultimately concluding that the final Holden Caulfield in Catcher is in fact a proxy Salinger. While Salinger’s autobiographic relationships with his writings are outside of the scope of this thesis, they raise an essential point. Slawenski’s thesis identifies continuity throughout Salinger’s narratives about Holden and the Caulfield family. While he describes these pre- Catcher writings as “a tangle of disjointed stories written as far back as 1941,” linked together by their common autobiographic relationship with the author, they are not as tangled or disjointed as Slawenski posits. Salinger’s pre-Catcher writings share common thematic concerns with childhood, adulthood, and beauty as related to concerns with censorship (Slawenski, 189). Of the stories Salinger wrote before Catcher, five in particular are significant in the conclusions they draw on censorship in relation to the development of Holden Caulfield as a censor or “catcher.” Chronologically, “Last Day in the Last Furlough” (1944), “This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise” (1945), “The Stranger” (1945), “I’m Crazy” (1945), and “Slight Rebellion off Madison” (1946) represent major developmental fragments of Salinger’s novel. 2 “Last Day in the Last Furlough” The first piece, “Last Day in the Last Furlough,” was published in The Saturday Evening Post on July 15, 1944. “Furlough” points to The Catcher in the Rye in both characters and themes. Narrated in the third person, the story focuses on the perspective of Babe Gladwaller and his interactions with his younger sister Mattie, his parents, and Holden’s older brother Vincent Caulfield. These characters constitute a recurring cast of characters in name, role, or both throughout Salinger’s stories. Siblings, especially younger siblings, are established as essential and present in the majority of Salinger’s stories and in Catcher, heavily associated with the conflicts and their resolutions. “Furlough” has two primary sources of tension. Babe and Vincent are soldiers and they will be deployed in a week, a fact that Babe has concealed from his family. Vincent creates a second strand of tension in the beginning of the story, telling Babe that his younger brother Holden is missing. It is poignant that Holden is a soldier missing in action, his status in this piece seemingly prophetic. In Catcher, the reader follows Holden’s movements while he’s “missing- in-action,” both Pencey Preparatory School and his family unaware of his location or condition. Holden is not present in “Furlough,” but his absence nonetheless initiates ongoing themes Salinger develops over the course of these writings into Catcher. Babe recalls, after learning that Holden is missing, that Vincent had described Holden to him as his “kid brother in the Army who flunked out of a lot of schools” (Furlough, 49). Any reader of Catcher will find this description of Holden familiar, his poor school performance and potential attendance at Valley Forge Military Academy making this characterization very acquainted. It is significant that Holden is addressed in “Furlough” as Vincent’s kid brother. “Furlough” is the first story in this 3 thesis to establish the concern with adulthood and childhood, specifically interactions between adult and child family members as related to censorship. Babe further recalls that “[Vincent] talks about [Holden] a lot. Always pretending to pass him off as a nutty kid” (Furlough, 49). Vincent, in the remainder of “Furlough,” does not speak about Holden again, expressing no further concern about his whereabouts or wellbeing; his descriptions of Holden are brief and unemotional. Babe notes that Vincent’s descriptions are performative, or in some way conceal or censor the truth. Babe’s description of Vincent as “pretending” indicates a concern with the validity of Vincent’s descriptions, dishonest in describing Holden or otherwise dishonest in expressing the magnitude of his concern. In “Furlough,” Salinger probes the interplay between adulthood and childhood whereas the following piece, “This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise,” features Vincent as the narrator, consumed with concern for Holden. While absent-Holden is associated with childhood and immaturity, Salinger complicates Vincent’s treatment by placing the circumstances of Holden’s absence in the realm of adulthood. Holden is nineteen years old in “Furlough” and is missing in action while serving in the army, not missing from school. Salinger probes these considerations through Babe. While Vincent remains cheerful and jocular, Babe becomes sullen and introspective. His mood is in part caused by his withholding, or self-censoring, his imminent deployment from his family. It is reasonable to interpret Babe’s concern as a natural response to realizations of the implications of his imminent deployment, related to his own mortality, stimulated by the news of Holden’s disappearance. Salinger, however, characterizes Babe’s anxieties as concerned with censorship and children, and thoughts about his younger sister Mattie, juxtaposing adulthood and childhood, probing the separation between the two concurrently. 4 Babe’s concerns with censorship and the division between adults and children come in response to a conversation initiated by his father, Professor Gladwaller, at the dinner table. Professor Gladwaller describes his experience in WWI to Vincent and Babe through his strange recollection of cockroaches. "Cockroaches, said Professor Gladwaller impressively, everywhere you looked, cockroaches" (Furlough, 53). Professor Gladwaller’s brief words about insects are seemingly vague and lacking substance in describing a war, however his words draw a long, passionate response from Babe. It is important to note that Salinger forwards treatment of childhood concurrently with his treatment of adulthood. While Babe speaks, “Mattie [is] under the table, untying Vincent's shoes [while]