Background Notes for the novel…
a. Point of View: First–person narrative, (I)
b. Stream of Consciousness: Reveals Holden’s inner
thoughts, emotions & memories.
c. Confessional: Tone is confidential & intimate.
d. Dialogue: Holden repeats conversations.
e. Flashbacks: Contains memories of earlier events, told
in retrospect.
f. Colloquial (local) Language & Slang: Holden speaks
in a language that is real; it is authentic for 1950s.
g. Plot Structure = Episodic: Holden re-lives the 48-hour
period following his expulsion from Pencey Prep School.
h. Frame Novel: A story within a story. Inserting a story within
the body of a larger story that encompasses the other one.
i. Genres:
1. bildungsroman: A coming-of-age story. A novel in
which an adolescent protagonist comes to adulthood
by a process of experience and disillusionment. This
character loses his or her innocence, discovers that
previous preconceptions are false, or has the security of
childhood torn away, but usually matures and
strengthens by this process.
i. Genres:
2. Picaresque: A chronicle, usually autobiographical, of
the life story of a rascal of low degree engaged in menial
tasks and making his living through his wits. The picaro
(protagonist) provides satire of the social classes
through various pranks and predicaments and by his
association with random characters. Romantic and an
adventure story, the picaresque novel is marked by
realism in petty detail and by uninhibited expression.
a. Pragamatist:
1. Logical, reasons to solve problems
2. Practical approach to life
3. Factual, not idealistic
4. Characters: Sally Hayes, Carl Luce
b. Realist:
1. Sees the world as it is
2. Realizes the world & humanity have faults & flaws
3. Characters: Mr. Spenser, Robert Ackley, the two
Nuns in NYC
c. Materialist:
1. Values materialistic possessions & money; greedy?
2. Characters: D.B. Caulfield, Ward Stradlater, Dick Slagle
d. Romantic Idealist:
1. Sees the world as he/she wants to see it, not as it truly is.
2. Romantic idealism is a naive, miscalculated dream of a
perfect world without factoring in the flaws of the real world.
3. Character: Holden Caulfield
e. Existentialist:
1. Existentialism: A 20th Century philosophy arguing that
human beings are cursed with absolute free will in a
purposeless universe.
2. They believe people are free & therefore responsible for
what they make of themselves; individuals must
fashion their own sense of meaning in life instead of relying
on religious, political, and social conventions.
3. With this responsibility comes profound anguish & dread
4. Character: Holden Caulfield
f. Pacifist:
1. One who opposes war & the use of military force.
2. Character: Holden Caulfield
a. Hero: Protagonist:
1. Central character in a work of fiction.
2. Term applies to characters who are the focus of the
reader’s attention without reference to moral
superiority of one character over another
(doesn’t have to be a “good guy’).
3. Examples: John Proctor, the Godfather, Walter White
b. Tragic Hero:
1. A protagonist in a drama or novel who has a flaw, error
or defect that is the cause of his/her downfall.
2. Examples: Romeo & Juliet, John Proctor, Walter White
c. Anti-Hero:
1. Protagonist whose distinctive qualities are directly
opposite of the traditional hero.
2. This opposition does not necessarily imply that the
character is evil or bad.
3. This often reflects the author’s belief that modern life
no longer tolerates or produces individuals capable of
classic & genuine heroism.
4. Examples: Clark Kent, Peter in Office Space, Walter
White, Dexter, Huckleberry Finn, Holden Caulfield
d. Unreliable Narrator:
1. Narrator who is not always perceptive about what is
happening in the plot, or someone who is
deliberately lying.
2. Consider as you read The Catcher in the Rye:
Is Holden an unreliable narrator? Can you trust him?
3. Examples: Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird,
Montresor in The Cask of Amontillado,
Narrator in Fight Club, Huckleberry Finn in The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Definition: Repeated symbols or patterns in literature.
a. phoniness/duplicity
b. alienation/isolation
c. failure to communicate/be understood
d. concerns with death
e. resistance to change
f. preference for remaining a child
g. concerns regarding lack of validation
h. masking identity
i. religion
j. feeling of falling/disappearing
k. guilt
Definition: A word, character, place or object that means
something significant beyond its literal level.
a. red hunting hat
b. Allie’s baseball mitt
c. ducks/pond
d. snow
e. carousel
f. museum
a. Critics praise the novel for its…
1. realism in the use of language & dialogue.
2. social criticism.
3. presentation of real problems of adolescence.
4. portrayal of the innocence of childhood.
5. quest for truth.
6. emphasis on individual discovery & growth.
b. Others have tried to ban the novel for its..
1. use of slang (1950s).
2. use of profanity.
3. protagonist as an inappropriate role model.
4. sleazy scenes/situations.
5. lack of moral instruction.