Local roots of The Catcher in the Rye

With the death of J.D. Salinger on January 27th, Contemporary American Literature lost one of its most influential writers. What many in the Philadelphia area are not aware of, however, is the local roots and setting of Salinger's most famous work: The Catcher in the Rye. The book, controversial at the time of its release in 1951, introduced the world to the enigmatic narrator and protagonist Holden Caulfield, and has since become a mainstay in the American high school English Curriculum.

In the opening of the novel, Holden is expelled from the Pencey College Preparatory school in the fictional town of Agerstown, Pennsylvania. This prep school is based on an amalgamation of Salinger's experiences at two Philadelphia area schools: one, is a small liberal arts college named Ursinus College. Located in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, along route US-422, the school is a mere 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia past the King of Prussia Mall; and the other being the all-boys Valley Forge Military Academy and Preparatory School, located some 20 miles Northwest near Radnor Township in Strafford, Pennsylvania.

While the colleges themselves  promote their central place as the impetus for Holden's journey, what is more important and central to the narrative is how Holden Caulfield visualizes, describes, and understands that place, rather than the role that place holds. In this way the novel maintains an extremely personal experience of place and time, in many ways so personal that it alienates the reader. Told so thoroughly through Holden's voice, the only logical and interested reader would be that of Holden himself.

Through Holden's narration, the reader is confronted with this dichotomy of place, first with how Holden views his setting, and second, how the reader interprets the landscape of college, small towns, and the encompassing world of Academia. While we may imagine a world of possibility and learning, Holden dispels our myths, and possibly even ignores them. More importantly for him, the world of the Pencey school promotes and offers two separate experiences, “'Since 1888 we have been molding boys into splendid, clear thinking young men.'” recalling this school advertisement Holden comments, “Strickly for the birds. They don't do any damn more molding at Pencey than they do at any other school.”

The novel's setting, in reality is Holden's mind, his thoughts and distinct way of perceiving his version of reality. The physical “place” seems to disappear at times, and the reader becomes unaware of surroundings. The actions in the book could be taking place anywhere, or nowhere. While we cannot confine The Catcher in the Rye to a small town outside Philadelphia, we can enjoy and take pride in the fact that Salinger found inspiration for one of the great American novels at two local schools like Ursinus and Valley Forge.