Jerome David Salinger passed away by natural causes on Wednesday January 27th at the age of 91, as stated by his son actor Matt Salinger. Salinger is the author most famous for creating the character of Holden Caulfield—a slight nod to Salinger as a teenager himself—in the novel A Catcher in the Rye, a book read among students and adults alike for both classroom work and fun.
A Catcher in the Rye is known for its focus on the main character of Holden and the different direction it takes through development of the self. The readers are introduced to Holden in the beginning of the book as he is the narrator of his story. He becomes expelled from school, and right away they can get a sense of his behavior and how it reflects his personality. In the right way, the hero of Salinger’s novel is famous because he is the anti-hero and instead attention is turned to his flaws. Holden’s rebelliousness and apathy is acknowledged and grasped in not making him a failure, but rather celebrating his strong sense of independence—even in the face of failure—and how he comes to terms on grasping his identity.
Out of school, Holden is left to fend for himself and he ends up in scattered places and visiting different people. Throughout this time he reflects on his past and his time in school, and of course his comparison to other people his age. Holden has a sense of who he is by how he is not like other people are. He uses the term “phonies” frequently to describe those who he thinks are blindly following the bandwagon and do not think for themselves.
J.D Salinger wrote this book about a teenager, but he originally intended it for adults and did not see the success it had among teenagers until after it was published in 195. Since then A Catcher in the Rye is read and interpreted by readers everywhere as a story of finding yourself—or not. Holden makes a display of not settling down right away and choosing a life’s path, like he is supposed to. His whole argument is that it chooses you, stating that he does not know what he wants to do until he does it, and to make a decision before so is foolish.
The book’s title phrase “Catcher in the Rye” refers to the identity Holden makes about himself. This comes from a poem quote by Robert Burns called “Coming thro’ the Rye.” He overhears a child incorrectly reciting the lines as “a body catch a body coming through the rye” and this is where Holden comes up with his own interpretation He describes “some crazy cliff” and it is his job to keep children from falling off of it, hence the “catcher.”
This metaphor comes from Holden’s rebellious conclusion believing society does nothing but corrupt children and he feels it is his best interest to protect them, defining what he believes to be his purpose. Holden first comes to this thought in a conversation with his little sister Phoebe and he describes to her what his dream job would be—something only from a dream that Holden himself recognizes as being “crazy.” He tells her he imagines a big field with a cliff with children running and playing, and his whole job would be to make sure they did not venture out too far and fall off.
Salinger will be remembered for this story and the controversy and inspiration—or lack thereof—he inspired with this character. Not only this, but he has sparked some mystery about himself and behind the literary curtain in his mind. As his family mourned his death, they were left to wonder what else he left behind, and if anything else he was jotting down could be another literary sensation.
His daughter Margaret had written a memoir and described her father to always be up very early in the morning writing. The family believes that there could have been more masterpieces that he had not published—as it is uncertain what is in Salinger’s safe. Salinger’s son Matt said questions about his father’s safe should go to his agent. Salinger’s publisher Little, Brown & Co. has said that there are no plans to publish any new books. Whatever else Salinger was working on, it seems that it was not his intention to publish them.
In an interview with The New York Times in 1974, Salinger had stated that he enjoys writing and not publishing more than he enjoys writing and publishing. “Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy,” he had stated. I like to write. I love to write. But I just write for myself and my own pleasure.”
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