Book Report 2 - The Catcher in the Rye

Joseph Ng

The title of the book is "The Catcher in the Rye", by J. D. Salinger. The story started out with "Holden Caulfied" (the main character), getting kicked out of another private school. Holden wanders around the city aimlessly and lost. The narrator of the story is the main character, Holden Caulfield. The story takes place during the 1940’s in New York City. The forms of conflicts were man versus man, and man versus society.

Holden Caulfield was the main character of the book. He tells the story as a flashback. Holden was a troubled boy, and became that way mainly because of the death of his younger brother Allie. Holden didn’t trust many people, and called a lot of them "phonies." His definition of phonies were people he didn’t like, and people that put on false appearances. As the story progresses, he gets more paranoid, and thinks about getting shot and killing himself. But then he regresses when he thinks about how Phoebe would feel if he died. In the beginning of the story, he hated every, and the people he called phony, such as Stradlater, but at the end of the story, he misses him and some other the other phonies.

Allie Caulfield wasn’t a living character, but his presence was felt throughout the story. Allie was Holden’s younger brother. When Allie died, Holden went crazy and broke all the windows. This showed how much Allie meant to Holden. Holden carrie’s Allie’s baseball glove around because it has sentimental value. Holden describes Allie as a smart and friendly person. This character influenced Holden a lot and most likely is the reason why Holden is psychotic.

Phoebe Caulfield is Holden’s younger sister. She was an intelligent, young, innocent and pure girl. She is one of the two only people that Holden holds dearly to his heart. Phoebe asks Holden to stay because she doesn’t want him to leave. This shows the relationship between the two characters. Holden doesn’t describe any changes in Phoebe in the story. This character is the only person that Holden confides in.

One main conflict was man vs. man. Holden was unstable. He didn’t know what he really wanted. On a date with Sally Hayes, he couldn’t stand her. However, out of nowhere, he thought about running away with her. That proves his unstableness. Also, when he was offered a prostitute, he said he would like to meet her. However, when the prostitute (Sonny) went into his room, he became nervous and too embarrassed to do anything. Also his constant thought of committing suicide showed his hatred of his life. This foreshadows on what happens to Holden later on in the story, as well as explaining why he is in an institute in the beginning.

Another conflict was man vs. society. Holden felt he wasn’t fit for society. He would call all the people he had a conflict with phonies. He considered his ex-roommate Stradlater a phony because he would put up false appearance to impress people. Holden thought Mr. Antolini was a "flit" because he touched his hair while he was sleeping. His views towards a lot of people were wrong, such as his to Mr. Antolini. However, at the end of the book he realizes that maybe Mr. Antolini wasn’t a "flit", and he was just being affectionate.

The point of greatest tension was when the Maurice (the elevator operator) and Sonny come in to ask for more money. Holden goes through a struggle with Maurice and Sonny. After they left, Holden thinks about his brother Allie, and a tough movie hero that has just been shot. He also contemplated on committing suicide. There is no real resolution in the story, but it ends up with Holden resting in a hospital.

The novel ended with Holden getting sick. The author left the feeling of loneliness and un-cared for. I felt that if Holden’s parents would have paid more attention to Holden, rather than to send him from one school to another, then he wouldn’t have contempt for so much people. The theme applies to people in general who feel alone in the world with personal issues. This theme doesn’t relate to me because I don’t feel alone and I have people to communicate with.

"The Catcher in the Rye" was a good book. It allowed the author to paint a picture into the readers’ mind about how Holden as a character felt, and why he acted this way. This book includes a lot of psychology in it. I would recommend this book to people who feel alone, or have personal issues so they can compare it with the book.