Blog #35: The Catcher in the Rye

How does this novel reflect history? The Catcher in the Rye uses history, behavior, and social issues of the time period. The novel is set either in the late 1940's or the early 1950's on a long weekend for Holden Caulfield. This means that the story is held after World War II. For most of the story, Holden is in New York City trying to find a connection between his childhood and his transition into the adult life he is about to begin. I believe that the major conflict that Holden faces is related to his friendships. I think that at sometimes in his life, Holden would like to have adult relationships involving some sexual relations, but at other times he seems to reject the adult life and refer to it as "phony." I think that Holden needs to keep a steady opinion in is search for friendships because at some other points in the novel he regresses into a childish judgmental stage where he totally does not want anything to do with the adult life that is trying to keep away from. The reader notices the time period when Holden makes a reference to the dropping of the atomic bomb and he also talks about D-Day at one point in time. Holden says that he would never be able to make it through if he had to go to war, and he makes it clear the his brother D.B. went to war and made it through. I believe that the time in history was also revealed because right after the war in the 1950's most Americans had money to spend. This helps explain why there were a lot of people out and ready to go to the movies on that Sunday when Holden was on Broadway. I think that The Catcher in the Rye really displayed the time period in history by showing the social issues, behaviors, and historical events that set the story in the late 1940's to the early 1950's.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Back Bay, 2001. Print.