The Catcher in the Rye | The Catcher in the Rye

At a glance:

Author: J. D. Salinger
First Published: 1951
Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Social realism, Bildungsroman
Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, Family or family life, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Adolescence, Sex or sexuality, New York City, 1940’s, Alienation, Friendship, Brothers and sisters, Mental illness, Truthfulness and falsehood, Students or student life, Psychiatry or psychiatrists, Private schools
Locales: New York, NY, Pennsylvania

More than most modern novels, The Catcher in the Rye is about identity. It tells of the often frustrating and futile search for self by a young person wandering in an adult urban world. Holden Caulfield’s emotional development has been arrested by the death of his younger brother Allie, and by a series of encounters that have shown him just what a “phony” world he is trying to grow up into. In the weekend in New York City that the novel chronicles, Holden searches for self, and, at the end, finds it.

The Catcher in the Rye | The Catcher in the Rye

At a glance:

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