The Catcher in the Rye Group

Question:

corporalseda
corporalseda
Student
High School - 9th Grade

Catcher in the Rye specific summary.

I need a very short summnery that will summarize just enough to pique the readers interest. Like something in a bookcover flap.

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Posted by corporalseda on Thursday October 15, 2009 at 8:35 PM and tagged with catcher in the rye, holden caulfield, literature, summary.

Answers:

  1. ask996
    ask996 Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    For many, being 16 is not an easy time of life, but for Holden Caulfield it is nearly impossible. He is being asked to not return to school at the end of the semester. This is the fourth time he has been kicked out of a school for failing to achieve even minimal success, but we find his issues run much deeper than academic failure. He struggles with depression over the death of one younger brother and the abandonment of another for the life and excitement of Hollywood. He decides to run away from school and hide out from his parents until they would normally expect him home, and during his time on the run he continues a downward spiral which includes a somewhat ambiguous moment at the home of a former teacher. (Holden’s not sure if it’s a homosexual pass or not.) He witnesses a cross dresser in the hotel window across from his, and through all this, he identifies for us his desire to help the innocents avoid the pain and suffering he has felt. Hence the title The Catcher in the Rye. All this is being told from the confines of a mental hospital where Holden finally ends up.

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    Posted by ask996 on Sunday October 18, 2009 at 9:16 AM