The Catcher in the Rye | The Catcher in the Rye

At a glance:

Author: J. D. Salinger
First Published: 1951
Type of Work: Novel
Type of Plot: Social realism
Time of Work: Late 1940’s
Setting: Pennsylvania, New York City
Principal Characters: Holden Caulfield, Phoebe Caulfield, Mr. Spencer, Mr. Antolini, Robert Ackley, Ward Stradlater, Maurice
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

Holden Caulfield was expelled from Pencey Prep, in Agerstown, Pennsylvania, just before Christmas. Before leaving his preparatory school, Holden said good-bye to Mr. Spencer, one of the Pencey teachers with whom he had good rapport, and had an altercation with his roommate, Ward Stradlater, and a dormitory neighbor, Robert Ackley. A disagreement over a composition Holden had agreed to write for Stradlater and Holden’s anger with Stradlater’s treatment of the latter’s weekend date, whom Holden knew and liked, precipitated a fight in which Holden was cut and...

The Catcher in the Rye | The Catcher in the Rye

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