PlotOverview

Briefly,butusingtheentirespace,discusstheplot,
conflict,andrisingactiontosummarizetheplot.
Useyourownwords.

TheCatcherIntheRye
,takesplaceinthe1940sin
NewYorkCity.HoldenCaulfield,asixteenyearold
boy,istheprotagonistandnarratorofthenovel.He
hasbeenkickedoutofmanyboardingschools
becausehedoesnotapplyhimself.Thelastschool
heflunkedoutfromwasPenceyPrep.Everytime
Holdenwantstomakeaconnectionwithother
people,itendsupfailing.HeleavesPenceyPrep
soonerthanhewassupposedtowithouthis
parentsknowing,andwandersaroundNewYork
cityforawhile.BeforeleavingPencey,hestopsby
tosaygoodbyetoateacherthathelikeswhile
everyoneisatafootballgame.Mr.Spencertriesto
talktoandconvinceHoldentoapplyhimself,buthe
doesntlisten.Holdensroommateiscalled
Stradlater,HoldenfindsoutthatStradlaterisgetting
readytogoonadatewithagirl

namedJane
Gallagher.Holdenspentalotoftimewithherone
summerandhereallycaresforher.Throughoutthe
novel,Holdengetsintoallsortsoftroublebecause
ofhisignoranceingrowingup.PhoebeCaulfieldis
Holdensyoungersisterwhomhelovesdearly.He
sneaksintohisfamily'sapartmenttoseePhoebe
becausehedoesntwanttoseehisparents.Sheis
happytoseehimbutupsetthatheflunkedoutof
anotherschool.Bytheendofthestoryhemeets
withJanetotellherthatheisgoingtorunaway,
shethenwantstorunawaywithhimbuthedoesnt
lether.

AbouttheAuthor

NovelNotes

TheCatcherInthe
Rye

J.D.Salinger

Includeimportantinformationabouttheauthor.You
maywanttoincludewhatinspiredthem,other
workstheyhavewritten,significantlifeevents,what
timeperiodheorshewrotein,andhowthetime
periodinfluencedthewriting.

WhenSalingerreturnedtoNewYorkCityin1946,
hefoundouthisworkwaspublishedinhisfavorite
magazine.
TheCatcherIntheRye
waspublishedin
1951.Thetimeperiodwasaroundthetimeofthe
endofworldwarll.

HistoricalContext

Includeinformationonthetimeperiod,social,
economical,cultural,andothersignificant
influencesthatcharacterizethisnovel.

Thetimethebookwaswrittenwasinthe1950s,by
theendofWorldWarII.Timeswerehardbecause
theUnitedStateswasentrenchedinanucleararms
raceandthecoldwar.Theprotagonist,Holden,
wasmeanttobethevoiceofhisgeneration.

ValeriaLepe

5/17/16

EssentialQuotes

Addtwoquotesthatcapturetheessenceofthe
novel.Besuretocitethequotationsproperly.

Ifabodycatchabodycomingthroughtherye
(Salinger155).

Dontevertellanybodyanything.Ifyoudo,you
startmissingeverybody(214).

AddWorkCitedHere:(googlehowtodothis)
Salinger,J.D.,E.MichaelMitchell,andLotte
Jacobi.TheCatcherintheRye.N.p.:Little,Brown,
1951.Print.

CharacterAnalysis

Themes

Identifyeachmajorcharacterinthenovel.
Describethemostimporttraitsthatcharacterize
thisperson.(
S
peech,
T
houghts,
E
ffectsonother,
A
ction,
L
ooks)

HoldenCaulfield
,istheprotagonistandnarratorof
thenovel.Heisasixteenyearoldjuniorwhohas
beenexpelledfromvariousboardingschools.Heis
ignoranttothethoughtofbecominganadult,and
hatestheworldaroundhim.Hehimselfdrives
everyoneawaywhentryingtogetcloseto
someoneandhecauseshisownfailures.

JaneGallagher
,isagirlthatHoldenhadspenta
lotoftimewithonesummer.Holdenreallycaresfor
her,sheisalsooneofthefewgirlsthatHolden
actuallylikesandfindsattractive.

PhoebeCaulfield
,sheisHoldenslittlesister
whomhelovesandcaresfor.Althoughsheis
young,sheisoneofthefewpeoplewhoactually
listensandunderstandstowhatHoldenhastosay.
Sheisverymatureandintelligent,sheistheonly
sourceofhappinessthatmakesHoldengenuinely
happyinhislife.

AllieCaulfield
,heisHoldensyoungerbrotherwho
haddiedofleukemia.Hewasasmartandfriendly
boy.Hehadabaseballgloveinwhichhewrote
poemsoningreenin,hereadthemwhilehewas
outinthefield.Holdenalwaysthinksabouthim,
anditsaddenshimtodoso.

Identifyandanalyzesomeofthesignificantthemes
inthenovel.

Alienation
,throughoutthenovel,Holdenseemsto
bedistancinghimselffromeveryoneheknows.
Whenhedoestrytotalktosomeoneiteitherends
upfailingbecauseofhisactions.Thereweretimes
whenhewouldtalktopeopleordosomethingand
thesituationwouldgetworse.Although,healways
feelslonelysohetriestocommunicatewithpeople
asmuchashecan.

Growingup
,theprocessofgrowingupitselfwas
thecompleteoppositeofHoldensdoingsand
actions.Holdendoesnotthinkthingsthroughand
misseseverychanceandopportunityhehasto
changehislifeforthebetter.Hebelievesthat
everythingthatiswronginhislifewilljustendup
fallingintoplace.Heistooignoranttounderstand
therealityoflife.

Phoniness
,thisisawordthatHoldensaysso
manytimesthroughoutthenoveltodescribe
everyoneandeverything.Holdenusesphoninessin
awaytoshoweverythingthatiswrongintheworld
aroundhim.

AlthoughHoldenexertssomuch
energysearchingforthephoninessinothers,he
neverdirectlyobserveshisownphoniness.

Sadness
,throughoutthenovel,Holdenalways
seemstobesadanddepressed.Heliterallyhasno
apparentreasonforbeingsadallofthetime,buthe
justis.ThemoreHoldentriestogetcloseto
people,theworsethingsget.

MotifsandSymbols

Identifyandinterpretsomeofthemajormotifsand
symbolsinthenovel.

Loneliness
,thisiswhatisolatesHoldenfromthe
restoftheworldandcauseshimtobedepressed
mostofthetime.Heisinsearchfromone
meaninglessencounteraftertheother.Heoften
sabotageshisownattempttoendhisloneliness.It
isthesourceofbothhispainandhissecurity.

Relationships
,
bothphysicalandemotional
relationshipsofferHoldenopportunitiestobreakout
ofhisisolatedshell.Italsoshowwhathefears
moreaboutbecominganadult.Everytimehetries
togethavearelationshiporanintimate
relationship,healwaysseemstostopitorruinit
somehow,alsobecauseheisreallyintoonlyone
girl.

LyingandDeception
,throughoutthenovel,
Holdenliestoeveryone,thatishowhegotinand
outofproblems.Hisrepeatedlyingthroughthe
storyonlyindicateshisowndeceptionbyrefusing
toacknowledgehisownbehaviorandactions,
whichaffectseveryonearoundhim.Lyingand
deceptionwashisonlywayout.

TheCatcherintheRye
,

thetitleofthenovel
itselfmakesitsfirstappearancewhenHoldenis
admiringaboyforwalkingonthestreetinsteadof
thesidewalksingingtheRobertBurnssongComin
ThrotheRye.Lateron,PhoebeasksHoldenwhat
hewantstodowithhislife,hereplieswithhisown
imagefromthesongthecatcherintherye.He
saysthathewouldliketosavechildrenfromfalling
offtheedgeofacliffbycatchingthembefore
tumbling,hehadmisheardthelyrics.