The Catcher in the Rye by J.D
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Reading Guide The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye By J.D.Salinger About the book Although The Catcher in the Rye caused considerable controversy when it was first published in 1951, the book was also an instant hit (it was #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list for thirty weeks in a row). Catcher as ever since remained popular, especially with teenagers who embrace Holden Caulfield’s brash style and anti-establishment attitude. The book has also been the bane to many parents because of its sexual themes and use of obscene language. J.D. Salinger, the author, was aware of the controversy: “I’m aware that many of my friends are saddened and shocked over some of the chapters in The Catcher in the Rye. Some of my best friends are children. It’s almost unbearable for me to realize that my book will be kept on a shelf out of their reach.” For some reason-- perhaps the controversy over Catcher-- Salinger retreated from the literary world in the 1960s to a country house in Cornish, New Hampshire, where he lived a private life and avoided almost all press until his death. About the author Born in 1919 to a prosperous Manhattan family, Jerome David Salinger grew up in a New York City not unlike that of young Holden Caulfield. Salinger was never a diligent student: after he flunked out of several prep schools, including the prestigious McBurney School, his parents sent him to Valley Forge Military academy in Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1936. Many scholars believe that Salinger modeled Pencey Prep, the fictional school Holden attends, after Valley Forge. Salinger briefly attended New York University, where he dropped out after only one month. It was not until Salinger took a short story course at Colombia University that Salinger launched his literary career. Salinger’s first published piece appeared in Story, a literary magazine founded and published by his professor at Colombia. Salinger quickly became a popular short story writer for other popular magazines, including Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, and New Yorker. These stories are considered lost, as Salinger refused to reprint any of his stories from 1941 to 1948. Several of Salinger’s short stories are about draftees in World War II and may mirror Salinger’s experience in the war. He served in the Army Signal Corps and the Counter-Intelligence Corps from 1942 to 1945, participating in the Normandy campaign and the liberation of France. Salinger won five battle stars, yet kept writing during the entire war, keeping a typewriter in the back of his army Jeep (like Holden’s brother D.B. does in the novel. Salinger’s other published works are Nine Stories (1953), Franny and Zooey (1955), Raise High the Roof Beams (1963), and Hapworth 16, 1924 (1997). Salinger had two marriages (ending in divorce) and two children. Salinger died in 2010. Reading Guide The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Chapter 1 What happens in this chapter? Unfamiliar terms in chapter David Copperfield (p. 1): a novel by Charles Dickens, published in 1850, about young British boy and how he grows up to be gentleman For the birds (p. 2): idiom meaning something is worthless and unimportant Foil (p. 3): a light fencing sword without cutting edges and a button on its point Grippe (p. 3): a term for a chronic flu Anthony Wayne (p. 5): A general for the colonies during the American Revolution. His excitable personality and ferocity in battle earned him the nickname “Mad Anthony” t.b. (p. 5): short for tuberculosis, a disease which eventually fills its victim’s lungs with blood, killing them Things to think about Read the first sentence again. Holden says, “If you really want to hear about it…” Who do you think is the person he is talking to? The reader? Another character? What assumptions does he make about this person? Holden mention his brother D.B.’s stories, and that he likes “The Secret Goldfish” the best. What is “The Secret Goldfish” about? Based on what you know about Holden, why do you think he likes this story? What does Holden think about Pencey and schools in general? Hint: look at page two when he talks about the Pencey motto. On page 4, Holden hangs around the cannon on the hill, “trying to feel some kind of goodbye.” Why do you think Holden does this? What does this reveal about Holden? Why do you think Holden is going to visit Mr. Spencer? Reading Guide The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Chapter 2 What happens in this chapter? Unfamiliar terms in chapter Got a bang out of things (p. 6): slang for finding enjoyment Atlantic Monthly (p. 7): a popular literary magazine published since 1857; now called The Atlantic Beowulf (p. 10): an ancient Old English poem about the hero Beowulf defeating the monster Grindell Lord Randal My Son (p. 10): an Old English ballad about a man poisoned by his lover Chiffonier (p. 11): a tall chest of drawers, often with a mirror on top. qualm (p. 14): a feeling of doubt; a misgiving Things to think about On page 8, both Dr. Thurmer and Mr. Spencer tell Holden life is a game, but Holden disagrees. Why does Holden disagree? If life is a game, what would that imply for Holden? Holden talks about an irony between his physical body and emotional state on page 9. What is the irony he describes? What do you think Salinger includes this as part of Holden’s character? The novel is full of contradictions between Holden’s behavior and what he expects of others. What is contradictory or hypocritical about Holden’s anger at Mr. Spencer when he reads Holden’s paper aloud to him? (p. 12) Another contradiction: Holden says that he flunked out of his former schools, Whooton and Elkton Hills, because they were full of phonies. Yet Holden “shoots the bull” with Mr. Spencer, telling him how sorry he is while think about ducks. How do you think Holden justifies this? How does Holden define “phony”? At the end of the chapter, Holden says that wishing someone good luck “sounds terrible, when you think about it.” What does he mean? Do you think he’s right? Reading Guide The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Chapter 3 What happens in this chapter? Unfamiliar terms in chapter red hunting hat: see picture above rostrum (p. 17): a raised platform on which a person stands to make a public speech Ring Lardner (p. 18): a short story writer who satirized and criticized popular sports and marriage Out of Africa (p. 18): 1937 memoir by Isak Dinesen about her tragic life as an African plantation owner The Return of the Native (p. 18):1878 novel of a young man who loves a girl accused of witchcraft, but then she marries another man because of wealth and greed. She eventually drowns in a river. Of Human Bondage (p. 18): 1915 novel by W. Somerset Maugham about his growing up in England, Germany, and France, and his various affairs with older women and prostitutes Thomas Hardy (p. 19): British author who wrote The Return of the Native Eustacia Vye (p. 19): the tragic heroine in The Return of the Native hound’s-tooth (p.25): a checked pattern with notched corners suggestive of a canine tooth, typically used in cloth for jackets and suits (see right) Annex (p. 26): a building addition that houses the co-ed lobby for the dorms at Pencey Things to think about Holden reveals his age. How old is Holden? (Hint: look at page 25) Holden talks for almost all of page 18 about reading and his favorite authors. What kind of books does he like? Why do you think he likes these books? Use the unfamiliar terms box above to help you with this. Holden and Ackley talk about Holden’s red hunting hat he got in New York for a buck. Why do you think Holden likes it? Why, when Ackley asks Holden what he shoots on page 22, does Holden say, “people?” What does his response show about his character? Holden clearly doesn’t like Ackley, yet doesn’t tell him to go away. Holden doesn’t want Ackley to trim his nails in the room, yet loans Ackley his scissors. Explain Holden’s contradictory behavior. Reading Guide The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Chapter 4 What happens in this chapter? Unfamiliar terms in chapter Chewed the rag (p. 26): talked about nothing important Ziegfeld Follies (p. 29): a series of elaborate, big-budget theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931 viselike (p. 30): tight, like in the grip of a metal vise clamp Vitalis (p. 31): a type of hair cream similar to pomade and mousse muffler (p. 34): a scarf or wrap worn around the neck and face for warmth Things to think about Holden calls Stradlater a slob “in a different way” on page 27. What does he mean? How does this play into the theme of contradictions we’ve seen in the first three chapters? On page 28, Holden says that Stradlater “wanted you to think that the only reason he was lousy at writing compositions was because he stuck all the commas in the wrong place.” Why do you think Stradlater’s logic gives Holden “a royal pain?” What does it imply about talent? On page 29, Holden randomly tap dances, and on the next page, he starts wrestling Stradlater when unprovoked.