J.D. Salinger (novel "The Catcher in the Rye"). The Catcher in the Rye - Jerome Salinger The Catcher in the Rye

I SEE IT SO

The voice of more than one generation, which, in a earnest attempt to shout to the world, grew up as it wanted, broke down and suffered, went crazy and grabbed pistols, because they were not trusted to stand over the abyss in the rye with a noble mission - this is what one of the most famous novels of the 20th century is. The Catcher in the Rye by Jerome Salinger. The world through the eyes of a teenager, depicted with incredible power and amazing truth, for the first time became the property of high literature.

The psychological story of Holden Caulfield, an ordinary teenager, is typical: he does not get along with girls, he does not find a common language with friends, he fails to become a great athlete or the first student, he constantly gets into ridiculous situations, he is very lonely and restless. All his feelings with which he opens up to the world turn out to be inappropriate or ridiculous: pity for a young prostitute turns into a disgusting fight scene with a cynical girl and her pimp, a trip to a school teacher - fear of an elderly pedophile, a trip to a nightclub - disappointment, an escape home - running away from home.

It’s not that they didn’t talk about teenagers so truthfully before - they didn’t talk about them at all before. The problems of a difficult age for literature did not exist: they are too heavy, intimate, too immoral and ugly the search for oneself, one's sexuality, one's place in life, one's desires and one's possibilities. Many of us would like to forget these dramatic years - and literature forgot them with pleasure, touched by the pictures of childhood and busily delving into the problems of adult life. Where the people were "from twelve to eighteen" - remained a mystery behind seven seals.

And Salinger took and told.

For a long time, the novel was banned in all educational institutions in America: because of swear words, profanity, sex scenes and frank dialogues. But this could not stop the immediate and planetary popularity of the novel: it was translated into all world languages, released in millions of copies. And they continue to be republished today: Salinger's book is sold in the amount of 250,000 copies annually. Perhaps, until now, this is one of the few books in which a teenager can actually recognize himself and understand himself.

The value of this book cannot be overestimated. The teenager was noticed and given the right to see the world as hostile, ridiculous, interesting, frightening, unknown, but obligatory for knowledge.

A scandalous detail: in the pocket of Mark Chapman, the fanatical killer of John Lennon, immediately after the arrest, this book was found with an inscription on the first page: “To Holden Caulfield from Holden Caulfield. These are my statements." This is what a wonderful guy Holden can become if you continue to pretend that he does not exist in the world.

We were all lucky that Jerome Salinger saved thousands of teenagers in the rye over the cliff from falling into the abyss.

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• Catcher in the Rye by Jerome Salinger

The symbolism of the names of the characters in the story "The Catcher in the Rye" by Jerome David Salinger

Salinger's story with a difficult theme, filled with complex symbolism, subtle, barely noticeable motifs, where the lyricism of the narration is combined with humor, it abruptly moves from a sad style to a joyful one and vice versa, where a complex and multifaceted system of images, subtle psychologism in depicting the inner world of the protagonist and his relationship to other characters, all this puts the story "The Catcher in the Rye" on the level of world masterpieces of the twentieth century. This story absorbed the best achievements of Salinger in the early stories, some of them almost completely entered it ("Easy Riot on Madison Avenue"), he used the techniques that he had used before, the work turned out to be very concentrated and rich in various artistic means, with a very multifaceted content. In the early stories, one can find the main motifs that will come to the fore in the story, prototypes of characters, small details that carry deep meaning and symbolism. This study focuses on the names of the main characters, their close connection with their character and their role in the work. The names of most heroes are significant, the data is not just like that, they carry a hidden meaning, which allows you to better understand the character, so you should not leave them unattended when studying or just reading this work.

Holden Caulfield

Holden Caulfield is the main character of the work, the whole plot of the story is connected with him, the assessment of other heroes, their characterization is given in his subjective assessment. The main themes of the work - the theme of growing up, the difficult moment of transition to the world of adults, the collapse of illusions and ideals are connected with this, and the theme of conflict with reality, which follows from the previous one - are very well shown with the help of this extraordinary teenager, with his peculiar views, with his painful and, it seems, unusual, psyche. But for some reason it turns out to be extremely close to many readers around the world, the book is still sold in huge numbers every year. It seems that Salinger managed to capture and describe that complex inner world of a teenager, with his aspirations and impulses, often incomprehensible to himself, with childish naivety and rejection of the laws of elders. This unusual character turned out to be in fact the real prototypes of millions of teenagers. Holden's character, his ideals, beliefs, all this is reflected in his name, which has a close connection with his personality.
The name "Golden" (resonating with "hold" - to restrain) indicates that he refrains from entering public life, he does not perceive all the falsity and pretense of the world that surrounds him, however, he does not rebel, but only restrains himself so as not to become one of those he hates. The word "holden", best seen in the phrase "holden back" - that which is held back - characterizes one of the main features of the character and, perhaps, the concept of the author himself in relation to the world that Golden would have to express. He is holding back, as is Jane Gallagher, one of the positive characters, is also holding back, leaving his kings on the edge of the board. It is important to note here that Golden is not at all a rebel, as it might seem at first glance, he embodies not a rebellion, but only a rejection of the world, the rules of the game that he imposes on everyone - hypocrisy, deceit and falsehood. How can one not recall his nightly conversation with Phoebe, when he announces his attitude to the world: “I have not seen a worse school than Pansy. There is falsehood and show-off all around. they show off everything." He protests against this state of affairs, does not accept it, but does not rebel against the world, he refrains from decisive action, from struggle, and this he does not need, this is contrary to his character.
Another meaning of the word "holden" - that which hides, hides - characterizes another Golden rice - a certain isolation in itself, secrecy. Among adults, among most of his friends, even among his girlfriend Sally Guys, he does not find understanding, so he trusts only Phoebe with his main dream. Lack of understanding, such a characteristic motif for Salinger's work that runs like a red thread through his works, is also found in Holden, although this is most clearly shown in the story about Semore Glas.
Surname - Caulfield (Caulfield) - decomposed into two parts. The first part has a deep meaning. The word "caul" (hat, anat. water shell of the fruit) is directly related to the theme of childhood in the story. From a biological point of view, this word means a part of the amnion (embryonic membrane), a membrane that protects the embryo from mechanical damage and creates conditions for its development. Here we see a direct metaphor for Holden's ideal - to be a catcher in life, to protect children from the cruelty of adults, from dirty curses on the walls of the school, to save them from the abyss of growing up, at least until the appointed time. The second part (field - field) also evokes associations with his dream, with fields of rye.
The first and last names together create a brief but quite accurate portrait of the character, which indicates his main features and impulses. The names of other characters also embody Holden's features, through his attitude towards them, through the symbolism of their images.

Phoebe Caulfield
In the image of Phoebe, Holden's love for children is most clearly embodied. This is noticeable even when he is angry with her. With the advent of Phoebe, a whole new side of the Golden character opens up, what he understands as happiness. Phoebe's purpose in the novel is to keep Holden tethered to reality so his fantasies don't kill him. Fear of what Phoebe will do without him keeps Holden from going west. When she is about to go with him, he returns to reality, understands the idealism of this journey, knows perfectly well that this journey can destroy Phoebe's childish innocence, that his variable behavior can harm her. He makes the decision to stay for Phoebe, to keep her from falling off the cliff behind the rye field. Phoebe is the light that illuminates part of the Golden Dark Depression: "I quietly, without shuffling my feet, walked around the room [where Phoebe slept], looking at this and that. My soul suddenly felt warm, comfortable. Even a premonition that I I get pneumonia, it disappeared. I just felt good, good."
Phoebe's name has three different meanings:
- The Anglo-Saxon and Greek word phoebe means radiant, which corresponds to its function of enlightening the Golden mood in the novel.
- In Greek mythology, Phoebe corresponds to her, she was identified with Artemis, as the goddess of the moon.
- Also, the word phoebe means a small bird (lapwing) which is characterized by constant movement and jumping. This parallels the fact that Phoebe is fragile, she is constantly on the move - dancing, laughing, writing stories, talking about her friends.
All three meanings refer it to heavenly heights. Phoebe shines like a luminary in Golden's life, bringing him true happiness. Like the lunar orbit around the Earth, Phoebe is always in Golden thoughts, influences his decision, like the moon on the ebb and flow of the Earth, subconsciously, keeping him from rash decisions. She is somewhat similar to a fragile bird: “Phoebe is only ten years old. Thin like me, but not thin, just the right size for roller skates. Once I looked at her from the window when she walked through the Fifth avenue to the park, and suddenly thought: "What a skinny Phoebe - just right for roller skates!". The name gives a completely exhaustive portrait of this character.

Sally Hayes
Sally Guys is a limited socialite that Golden dated when he was at Pencey. He says that he used to think that she is smart, because she knows a lot of theater and literature, but when enough time passed, he saw that this was not so. And after that, he was in love with her, although he remembered his true feelings when he experienced a sudden attraction to her.

Her last name - Guys - indicates a deceptive fog (haze ["heiz]), which symbolizes how Golden is lost under her gaze, how she clouds his consciousness: "Scream, but when I saw her, I wanted to marry her. Some kind of swing. I didn’t even really like Sally, and suddenly I felt that I was in love with her and I wanted to marry her! By God, waving. Don't say anything."

Faith Cavendish
On the image of Face Cavendish, another facet of Holden's character is revealed. Despite the fact that he painfully endures a break with childhood, former ideals, he sometimes tries to look like an adult. He believes that he can appear older and more mature than he really is. He believes that tall stature, gray hair, smoking and drinking will help him impress as an older man. Before calling Cavendish, Golden smoked a lot of cigarettes at the Edmonton. This smoking symbolizes his attempts to appear older. When he called, he lowered his voice for the same purpose: "I tried to speak in a bass voice so that she would not guess how old I am. In general, my voice is already quite low."
Feisine surname is defined as sweetened chewing tobacco. This is directly related to Golden's smoking, because both smoking and talking with Faith are related to Holden's attempt to look like an adult. The name Faith expresses Holden's belief that he can look more mature.

James Castle
The surname of James Castle reflects his high ideals. He seems to be in a castle, towering over his hypocritical peers. He refuses to take back his words under any conditions and commits suicide before being forced to do so. James jumps out of the window, as if from his castle of high ideals. The word "castle" suggests large peaks, kings rising above others and appearing unearthly and mighty.
The character of James Castle is also related to the fall motif that runs throughout the story. Castle's death evokes a parallel with Golden's gradual decline in health, and fights with Maurice where he, like Castle, says what he thinks, and this fight also ends in death, though the imaginary death of Holden.

Robert Ackley (Ackley)
Ackley's name (Ackley [??kl?]) sounds like acne (acne) - one of his main features. There are also similarities with the word hackly ([?h?kl?], badly done, jagged) and the exclamations ouch (scream of pain), ecch and ack (exclamations of disgust). The name fully corresponds to the character of the character, indicates his main features, what kind of reaction he can cause, he annoys Holden, but at the same time Golden pities him, in his example he points to the falseness that reigns in Pansy: "We sit, for example, in And all of a sudden some ugly idiot knocks. Do you think they'll let him in?! And no matter where the poor man goes, the doors are closed to him everywhere. There was also that foolish secret society - I was also afraid to join it. And Robert Ackley , one bore, covered in eels, also wanted to join that society. Everyone walks and follows them, but they do not accept him, and that's it. Just because he is a bore and covered in eels. " Despite his own right to Ackley at the end of the story, Golden says: "I know only one thing: I miss all those about whom I spoke. Even the same Stredlater and Ackley."

Carl Luce
Golden is infatuated with Carl Luce, mainly through his intellect - he has the highest IQ in the Wooton School. Golden believes that this is the only thing worthy of attention in him.
Karlov's surname Luce means "light" in Spanish. Knowledge is light, ignorance is darkness. This best characterizes Lewis and Holden's attitude towards him.

Ward Stradlater
The name of one of the negative characters also characterizes him well. The name of this hero echoes the word straddle (spread legs wide, etc.), well describes his temper, arrogance and self-confidence.
As we can see, most of the main characters have names, many can tell about their character, their habits, the attitude of the narrator towards them and, through him, the author himself. Some names have complex symbolism, like Phoebe or Holden Caulfield, others are simpler.

Born into a Jewish family. His father, a successful sausage merchant, gave him an excellent education and expected his son to continue the family business. But his real passion was literature. What characterized the creative style of the writer? Probably, a sharp look, the ability to see the flagrant injustice behind the seeming official decency. To consider the circumstances under which a young man in a civilized country becomes unhappy. Salinger's fame was quick and dizzying: at the age of thirty-two, he became famous throughout the country by writing the novel The Catcher in the Rye.

His spiritual world was strange. To him, who acutely felt an acute shortage of spirituality in society, he seemed artificial and far-fetched.

Through the mouth of his character, the author says that he would rather choose a horse than a car, because it is at least possible to talk with her. The Catcher in the Rye is a troubling novel, a problem novel. Salinger tells readers in it that at a time when adults were “playing around”, endlessly rebuilding their far-fetched, and therefore imperfect world, children are perplexed, seeing it as it is given: with bright sun and green grass, a river, comrades in the yard . But gradually their clear and pure look fades as they plunge into the desert of life. They will leave their childhood dreams and impulses. They will, of course, grow up.

The book is a story of seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is no longer a child, but not yet an adult, completing a course of treatment for tuberculosis in a sanatorium. The young man tells about the events of the past year. After a conflict and fight with classmate Stradler, who is walking with a girl he liked, he leaves the closed school in Agerstown just like the previous one. The real reason is underachievement: Holden is not graded in half of the course subjects. The young man believes that everything around him is not real, feigned, "fake". Such is the hero of the book "The Catcher in the Rye". The content of the novel further traces the adventures of a runaway schoolboy. He leaves for his native New York, but is afraid to return home because of the reaction of his parents to the fact that he dropped out of school. He stays at a hotel.

Of course, he considers himself an adult. Therefore, he decides to "hang out" first in a hotel nightclub, which fails, then by going to his older brother D.B.'s favorite night bar. On the way, he asks taxi drivers the same question, completely stupid, the answer to which does not interest him. The young man, on the one hand, is drawn to people, he wants to contact them, and on the other hand, he repels them, seeing falsehood in their words and deeds. This is the main psychological problem of the protagonist of the novel "The Catcher in the Rye". Reviews of the American literary confirm. At the hotel, a young man is tempted by the offer of the elevator operator - to buy a prostitute for a while. But when she came, she changed her mind. The girl, along with the lifter, demand and take double the amount against the agreed amount. He then leaves the hotel and leads the life of a drifter. He invites Sally Hayes to the theater, then goes with her to the skating rink. The girl does not share with Holden Caulfield his irritation with others, does not support his idea to leave home for a couple of weeks to ride with him in a car. In response, the young man insults her, and they part. Holden is tormented by contradictions: drunk, he tries to apologize to Sally on the phone. Then he decides to see his sister Fabi, buys her a record, but accidentally breaks it. The illogical, impulsive actions of the protagonist determine the content of the novel "The Catcher in the Rye". Reviews of literary critics, therefore, are diametrically opposed: from admiration to rejection. Arriving home in the absence of his parents, he feels complete understanding from his sister, she lends him her deferred money. It was at this moment, at the first meeting with Fabi, that Holden Coldfield tells her what he wants to become in this world - a catcher of defenseless and naive children, wandering blindly in the rye and risking accidentally falling into the abyss.

He decides to stay with his former teacher, Mr. Antolini, but his suspicion and impulsiveness again play a cruel joke with him. The question arises: who, in fact, is the main character? Or do hypothetical children find themselves in a dangerous situation, i.e., “over the chasm in the rye”? The reviews of the Americans themselves are unanimous - the protagonist of the novel is in trouble. A purely American pattern works in his mind - "to go to the West and start there from scratch." Holden informs his sister about this plan. She comes with a suitcase and declares that she will go with her brother. Now it's Caulfield's turn to hold her. On the scene of Fabia circling on a carousel in the rain and admiring this spectacle of her brother, the plot of the novel ends. This was enough to buy property and settle in the provincial Corniche (New Hampshire). Here the writer lived as a recluse for the next sixty years of his life measured by God after writing “The Catcher in the Rye”. Reviews of literary critics on subsequent works are becoming more restrained. Why did it happen? Perhaps Jerome Salinger withdrew, because he initially expected a different reaction to the novel, more practical. After all, he revealed the real ulcers of the system of education and upbringing, why, having recognized the novel, society did not turn to eliminate them? Unfortunately, his later writings never achieved the success intended for The Catcher in the Rye (the novel's American title). Perhaps the triumph overtook him because in the novel he wrote about his youth, interweaving experienced emotions, memories, impressions.

Introduction. The Inner World of Holden Caulfield

II. Holden's conflict with the outside world. Holden Caulfield and Art

Conclusion

Introduction

Jerome David Salinger (1919 - 2010) - American writer, one of the most famous in the world and one of the most influential writers of US literature of the 20th century. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye was published in 1951 and a few months later reached number one on the American bestseller list. Seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the story, while recovering in a sanatorium for nervous patients, tells what happened to him about a year ago, when he was sixteen years old. The author introduces the Reader to the hero at the moment of an acute moral crisis, when a collision with others turned out to be unbearable for Holden. He notices and sharply reacts to the smallest manifestations of lies and falsehood anywhere: at school, family, social, cultural life of the country.

The protest of the individual against social apathy and conformism, voiced in Salinger's novel, at one time produced something like a revolution in the public consciousness, but the problems raised by the writer remain relevant today, and therefore interest in the novel is still great among the widest audience.

The object of the study is the image of Holden Caulfield in the novel by D.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. The subject of the research is the study of the psychological portrait of the protagonist and his relationship with the outside world.

The purpose of the work is to study the inner world of the protagonist, his own concepts of the world and society.

To achieve the goal of this work, it is necessary to solve the following tasks. First, identify the characteristics of the character of the protagonist. Secondly, to track how his perception of the world changes during the three days of his stay in New York after being expelled from school. Thirdly, to understand what is Holden's main conflict with the surrounding society. salinger novel conformism apathy

The main sources of literature were the works of N.L. Itkina "Poetics of Salinger" and T.L. Morozova "The Image of a Young American in US Literature". N.L. Itkina examines artistic images in Salinger's works in great detail, which helped to reveal the main features of Holden Caulfield's character. In turn, T.L. Morozova compares the image of the protagonist with contemporary American youth. Also, in the study of this topic, other scientific literature was used, which will be presented in the bibliography of the work.

The course work consists of three main parts: introduction, main part and conclusion. The main part, in turn, is divided into three chapters. The first chapter discusses the features of the inner world of the hero. The second chapter describes the problem of his conflict with society and the main differences from the established standards. The third chapter tells about Holden Caulfield's unusual attitude towards art and culture.

I. The Inner World of Holden Caulfield

Seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the story, while being treated in a tuberculosis sanatorium, talks about what happened to him about a year ago, when he was sixteen years old. He, without all this "David Copperfield kind of crap" ["David Copperfield haze" (7)], just talks about three days of his life, very hectic, careless and unbearable for him, trying not to miss a single little thing, naming everything things by their proper names. In these three days, it so happened that Holden, leaving school and not yet coming home, was suddenly knocked out of his usual rut, from his respectable everyday life, and was left alone with himself. He didn’t even stay, but simply hung over the gigantic, bustling and deserted city of New York.

When I first met Holden, he seemed to me a too pessimistic and strange guy who is always dissatisfied with something, but just after a couple of pages we can easily realize that he simply does not hide the feelings that most of us are afraid to show even to ourselves. In fact, Holden is the most ordinary teenager, no different from the rest. However, not everyone seriously thinks about what this world is and how to live in it. I think Holden Caulfield is an inner, deep, subconscious thing that is in every person, but not everyone dares to admit it and discover it for himself.

Salinger's hero feels completely disconnected from the society around him. There is too much unusual, alien to this world in it. Therefore, he is awarded with unflattering epithets: abnormal, eccentric, unadapted. It is distinguished by a complex spiritual organization, deep impressionability and heightened sensitivity, in which even minor irritations from the outside can cause a violent reaction. In almost everything, we can see the personal point of view of the hero, different from others. "I agree! Some boys get more out of school. I agree they do, some of them! But that"s all I get out of it. See? That "s my point. That"s exactly my goddam point" ["I agree that school gives more to many. And me - nothing! Clear? I'm talking about this "]. Or, for example, what he appreciates in human behavior, what kind of person looks like a real hero. Physical strength is not the main thing, it reveals weakness and limitation. Heroism, in Holden's understanding, is not Superman's fearlessness, but the victory of the spirit who overcame his own weakness. The only heroic deed in Holden's memory was committed not by an athlete, but by an inconspicuous thin boy who, under the threats and bullying of hooligans, decides to jump out of the window, but not give up his words. Descriptions of the meaning of the hero's life in the novel are a search for the standard of love, goodness, a superior person, an ideal person. He reads a lot, trying to find the answer to his questions in books. "I m quite illiterate, but I read a lot" ["In general, I'm not very educated, but I read a lot" (7)], says Holden. But, one way or another, a collision with real life cannot be avoided, which is why Holden conflicts with teachers , parents, classmates.

Caulfield does not quite understand what he wants to achieve in life and how to do it, but he is sure that in the world of adults, life values ​​\u200b\u200bare shifted. For him, the world of adults, into which he will enter, is immoral, deceitful, and therefore unacceptable. Holden lives in complete harmony with himself and his ideas. In response to his little sister Phoebe's question "What would you like to be? Well, a scientist, or a lawyer, or whatever", Holden, completely dismissing the possibility of becoming a scientist, argues: "Lawyers are all right, I guess--but it doesn't appeal to me," I said. "I mean they"re all right if they go around saving innocent guys" lives all the time, and like that, but you don"t do that kind of stuff if you" re a lawyer." engaged in "(7)]. Of all human affairs and activities, the only valuable and important, pure from lies, Salinger's hero recognizes what he is doing here and now, when he sits with his beloved sister Phoebe and chats about everything. Holden resists any attempt force him to act or think against his own impulse.His resistance tactics are both cunning and growth: from a frank yawn - a response to being forced to listen to a long instructive speech - to an inventive lie - a response to being forced to a direct answer, "I" m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life "[" I'm a terrible liar - you never never seen in my life" (7)], and, finally, the ability to bypass, hide from other people's thoughts, thinking in the middle of a conversation with teacher Spencer about school or how ducks spend the winter in the park. Holden Caulfield often talks about his so-called lying. Of course, he is not a liar, he just has a very rich imagination. He is drawn to invent, fantasize, fool someone's head, turn life into a game. Holden is amazingly frank, he speaks frankly about all the weaknesses, failures, about the sensations that he is embarrassed and painful to admit - for example, his talk about bras or cheap suitcases. An interesting fact is that Holden does not have to say that he considers himself stupid, he is generally quite ruthless to himself: "I"m the only dumb one in the family" ["In truth, I'm the only dumb one in the family" (7)]. In fact, he knows and understands well the things that he loves, for example, literature. Perhaps with these words he emphasizes the fact that this is the fourth time he has been expelled from school. It's not that he studied poorly - no, he is smart and could well continue his studies, but he is disgusted by the very spirit of the school, stiff and hypocritical. Holden sees these two qualities literally in everything, not only at school - from his friends and girlfriends to casual acquaintances. At the same time, he knows that he himself differs little from them, and this extremely depresses him. He understands that he cannot change anything - the only thing he can do is show an implicit protest against the order of things, without actively doing anything. This is the reason for his absenteeism, constant lies, contempt for norms and rules, sometimes reaching hysteria. His monstrous marks, like the essay about the boxing glove, are all also a sincere manifestation of his inner protest against the education system, the very spirit of closed schools for wealthy children. Even in the very fact of escaping from school, rebelliousness comes through: Holden suddenly runs away in the middle of the night and shouts goodbye: "Sleep tight, ya morons!" I"ll bet I woke up every bastard on the whole floor" (7)]. And now Holden is moving away from the lies into his own world. Returning home to New York, he is surprised to see that pimping, prostitution, violence and deceit coexist with mercy and kindness. Here are two nuns, met by Holden on the train, not only teach children, but also collect alms for the poor. The hero thinks a lot about this, gradually realizing how important a meaningful, purposeful life is. "I couldn't stop thinking about those two nuns. I kept thinking about that beat-up old straw basket they went around collecting money with when they weren "t teaching school" mite when they had no lessons" (7)]. Such thoughts now occupy the hero of Salinger. Holden has no values ​​in life other than a very vague idea of ​​how things should be. A vivid image is his dream, the very thing that he could do without self-loathing. Holden decides that it is necessary to save children from the abyss of adulthood, where hypocrisy, lies, violence, mistrust reign. "What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff--I mean if they"re running and they don"t look where they"re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them . That "s all I" d do all day. I"d just be the catcher in the rye and all" You see, they are playing and do not see where they are running, and then I run up and catch them so that they do not break. That's all my work. Watch over the guys over the precipice in the rye "(7)] - such is Holden Caulfield's cherished desire. A strange dream, but there really is something in it .. To save children, those creatures that do not yet have that hateful hypocrisy and narcissism that Holden sees in all people - away from everything, over a bottomless abyss. This desire also has a very deep meaning. Holden has a desire to create some kind of illusory world, where he wants to escape from the real world that does not satisfy him. This is an illusion, of course, but a saving illusion. It is not will allow Holden to go back to a world where everything is fake. After all, this is both a calling and a goal to dedicate yourself to. A very important moment in the book is when Holden hears a song that a little boy sings in the street: " If a body catch a body coming through the rye" ["If you caught someone in the evening in the rye ..." (7)]. give up like he did not live well in this disgusting world.

Holden suffers from insulting him at every step of the vulgarity, inhumanity, stupidity. It is hard for him from eternal loneliness and misunderstanding, only Phoebe supports him. The hero loves "his Phoebe" very much, admires and cares for her, it is people like her, Holden, who dreams of "saving over the precipice in the rye." Loneliness is the main theme. Holden Caulfield is not just lonely, he is lonely as hell ("lonesome as hell"). This world both oppresses him and attracts him. It is hard for him with people, without them it is unbearable. He craves attention and suffers from the fact that the interlocutor does not notice, does not see, does not hear or ignores his presence, like a teacher Spencer, who allows himself to feel free to pick his nose in front of him ("I guess he thought it was all right to do because it was only me that was in the room" ) ["Probably he thought it was possible, because there was no one but me" (7)]. Or because even when giving gifts a person does not take into account his personal taste and desires "She bought me the wrong kind of skates--I wanted racing skates and she bought hockey--but it made me sad anyway. Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad" . ["And she bought the wrong skates - I needed cross-country skates, and she bought hockey ones - but still I felt sad. And it always turns out like this - they give me gifts, but it only makes me sad" (7)]. And maybe this is another reason why many people love Holden so much. Indeed, in our society there are standard rules, a person tries not to show how bad he is in his soul, putting on a smile for the whole day. No matter what happens, we enter society cheerful and carefree. All sorts of standards only oppress Holden. "I keep making up these rules for myself, and then I break them right away" (7) He is often "sorry", often "sad". The elevator operator forced a prostitute on him, and she came. "she was young as hell. She was around my age" ["She was just a girl, by golly. Almost younger than me..." (7)]; "I thought of her going in a store and buying it, and nobody in the store knowing she was a prostitute and all. The salesman probably just thought she was a regular girl when she bought it. It made me feel sad as hell-- I don't know why exactly" [ "I imagined her walking into a store and buying a dress, no one suspects she's a prostitute. The clerk probably thought that she was just an ordinary girl, that's all. I felt terribly sad, I don’t know why” (7)]. It is surprising that Holden generally imagined a prostitute in ordinary life, where girls buy dresses and flip through magazines. In fact, this is a very rare human character trait - to look into a person's heart, and not judge by appearance. It is worth saying that Holden's personality causes boundless respect. Holden is ready to fight Stradlater over one misspelled letter in Jane Gallagher's name. The name is inseparable from the personality, and indifference to it touches the essence of a person. For example, the scene he saw through the hotel window, when a man and a woman, having fun, spit in each other's faces, strikes him with disrespect for the person and dignity of a person.

The hero lives a tense inner life. Any description turns into an experience. Holden admits that he is not particularly fond of describing houses and rooms, and instead of an impersonal school assignment to describe any place you have ever lived, he chooses an object as close to him as the baseball glove of Allie's deceased brother. He establishes a personal, intimate connection with objects, imperceptibly passes from the external to the internal: from the glove to the story of Alli and his death, and finally to himself. For Holden, feelings, sensations are important, and not just the appearance of "New York" s terrible when somebody laughs on the street very late at night. You can hear it for miles. It makes you feel so lonesome and depressed" ["New York is generally scary when it's empty at night and someone cackles. He is always open to the unexpected. His behavior is unpredictable not only for others - the dumb Stradlater, whom he constantly stuns with the theme of the composition, then an unexpected attack - but also for himself. His sudden declaration of love to Sally , the decision to flee to the West - all these actions are instantaneous, momentary, having no connection with either the previous or subsequent behavior of the hero. Each movement of Holden is immediate and natural for this minute, because he does not think about the next minute. The logic of Holden's actions depends only "Then, all of sudden, I started to cry" [ "And then I suddenly started crying.." (7)]; "All of a sudden then, I wanted to get the hell out of the room" that room" (7)]. One can feel the manifestation of his intuitive trust in life. The unintentional turns out to be more correct than the conscious choice and bestows unexpected joy. The boring roommate turns out to be able to whistle virtuoso, refuting the characterization of "boring" given to him earlier; the book that Holden was given by mistake in the library instead of the one he wanted turns out to be fascinatingly interesting, contrary to expectations. The present, the momentary has such authenticity, such vitality and rightness that even a lie, at the moment when it is uttered by Holden, turns into the truth "It was a lie, of course, but the thing is, I meant it when I said it" ["Of course it was a lie, but the point is that I myself at that moment was sure of it" (7)]. But Holden knows the truth about himself, which does not simplify and does not adjust life to uniformity. He realizes that sometimes he behaves like a thirteen year old, and sometimes much older than his years. He knows he is lying when he tells Sally that he loves her and offers to run away with him to the West, but he also knows that at the moment when he says this, he himself believes in his words. Truth is happening "here and now." Holden is constantly on the move, riding in a taxi, crossing the streets of New York, dancing, changing positions and movements. But it is not the external movement in itself that is important, but the fact that the inner rhythm of the hero's life coincides with it. He really thinks on the go, makes or changes decisions in time with the steps. "All of a sudden, on my way out to a lobby, I got old Jane Gallagher on the brain again" "and while I walked I sort of thought about war and all" (7) He has a love for dynamics. Everything that Holden likes is in motion - a boy walking down the road with a song, Phoebe on a carousel, Jane's mouth moving during a conversation. He has an innate sense of rhythm. And he also has a dislike for pauses, repetitions of phrases, stereotypes. Even photography irritates him with its dead immobility. True beauty should not be motionless, otherwise it portends death. The theme of death appears more than once in Holden's story, it sounds in the subtext, breaking through the repeatedly expressed desire to die "I almost wished I was dead" ["I wanted to die, I swear" (7)], then in imaginary pictures of one's own death, where Holden sees himself dying, mourned and buried, then in an overwhelming fear of disappearing, disappearing into the crowd, he often sees himself covered in blood. The sight of his own blood both terrifies and fascinates Holden.

It should be noted another important problem that arises in the subtext of the words of the protagonist. It is a question of origin and in relation to the topic of religion. Although Holden himself does not like to talk about his parents and "any David-Copperfield dregs", he exists primarily in his family ties. His father - a man with an Irish surname - was a Catholic before marriage. His parents are of different faiths, but apparently consider this fact insignificant. Holden is uncharacteristic of religiosity, although he believes in the boundless goodness of Christ, who, in his opinion, could not send Judas to hell, and cannot stand the apostles. The story brings up several times the question of the religion of Holden and his parents. In the scene at the train station, when Holden strikes up a casual conversation with two nuns in the canteen, he admits at the end that this conversation gives him unfeigned joy. He insists that he was not pretending, but, he adds, it would be even more pleasant if he were not afraid that the nuns could ask every minute if he was a Catholic. In fact, his father was a Catholic, but after marrying his mother, he "gave up this business" (7). Likewise, when Holden and another cute boy from Hooton are talking about tennis, and suddenly the boy asks if Holden has noticed a Catholic church in the city. "That kind of stuff drives me crazy" (7)

Holden describes to us those days of his life when he was surrounded by big and small troubles, when everything was bad for him: his coat was stolen, he forgot his swords for fencing competitions in the subway car, and he was expelled from school for the fourth time and much more. Everything is disgusting. In the heart of longing and a sense of hopelessness. So Holden wanders around in this world sadly and stupidly, helpless in front of a life that does not suit him, in which it is bad to live. It is not surprising that Holden is eagerly looking for at least some kind of outlet, longing for human warmth, participation and understanding. So the question arises, what does he want, how he thinks the future. It turns out that Holden cannot imagine anything really positive. In the near future, he sees nothing but all that routine of his "ancestors": studying in order to become "slick", and then "working in some office, making a lot of dough, and riding to work in cabs" [" work in some office, earn a lot of money and go to work by car .." (7)]. Hence the naive dream of simple mechanical work, which makes it possible to lead a quiet life with a deaf-mute wife. At the same time, Holden himself would like to pretend to be deaf and dumb in order to, as far as possible, break all ties with the world in which life is so uncomfortable. The unreality of such a plan is clear to Holden himself. He can only find a symbolic formula for his aspirations. He imagines a huge field of rye, where children play on the edge of the abyss. He, Holden, is the only adult on this field. He is the only one who can save and saves children from falling into the abyss. By the end of the novel, it becomes especially clear that Holden's big world can only be opposed by the world of children, who also need to be protected from adults. They haven't been damaged yet. But literally on every wall, a very real obscene inscription awaits them, and Holden cannot, although he passionately desires, erase these inscriptions. So, Holden cannot fight the disgusting world. "If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the "Fuck you" signs in the world. It "s impossible" ["If a person has at least a million years at his disposal, he still cannot erase all the obscenity from all the walls in the world. This is an impossible thing" (7)]. Holden is able to see with the utmost sincerity, to show this world in such a way that his disgust is transmitted to us.

Holden's rebellion against reality is brought to its logical conclusion not by himself, but by Phoebe, who was about to flee to the unknown Far West with a huge suitcase. Ultimately, they seem to have reversed roles: ten-year-old Phoebe is ready to rush headlong towards a new life, while Holden involuntarily looks around for elements of stability, a connection with the past. Native school, music on the carousels in Central Park a stone's throw from home, thousand-year-old mummies in the Museum of Natural History. And so the brother and sister Caulfields remain in New York because it is always easier to run away than, having gathered courage, continue to defend the humanistic ideal - simple, obvious and difficult to achieve, like all the romantic dreams of youth.

When teacher Antolini predicts Holden's future alcoholic life and hatred for everyone, he replies with complete sincerity that he can hate terribly, but always not for long. Looking back, remembering those whom he used to hate terribly, but did not hate for long, he does not find anger in his heart, on the contrary, he experiences exactly the opposite feelings - sympathy, compassion, almost tenderness. The recurring theme of the novel "I hate it" is interrupted by another "I felt sort of sorry for him" ["I even felt sorry for him" (7)], and finally by the admission that he misses everyone "I sort of miss everybody I told about" . ["I somehow miss those of whom I spoke" (7)]. Still, the sympathetic nature of Caulfield is such that he never remains indifferent to the people he meets, they seem to become part of himself. In the last chapters of the novel, he already looks much more loyal. Holden begins to notice and appreciate such positive qualities as friendliness, cordiality and good manners, so common among his fellow citizens in everyday communication.

We can also notice that at the climax of the book, Holden is overcome by a sudden state of happiness, which is very unusual for him. His sensations show that in fact something has changed in him. "I felt so damn happy all of sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around. I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy, if you want to know the truth. I don't know why. It was just that she looked so damn nice, the way she kept going around and around, in her blue coat and all. God, I wish you could"ve been there." ["I suddenly became so happy because Phoebe was spinning on the carousel. I almost roared with happiness, to tell the whole truth. I don’t understand why. She was so cute before, she was spinning so cheerfully in her blue coat. It’s a pity You haven't seen her, by God!" (7)]

Holden's conflict with the outside world

On the one hand, this theme is universal, eternal. On the other hand, it is deeply personal and individual. In Salinger, the conflict is brought to the utmost acuteness thanks to the special sensitivity of the hero, his highest demands.

Holden is most oppressed by the prevailing spirit in American society of general deceit and mistrust between people. He suffers heavily from the hopelessness, the doom of all his attempts to build his life on the justice and sincerity of human relations, from the inability to make it meaningful and meaningful.

Looking into the future, he sees nothing but that gray routine that has already become the lot of the vast majority of his compatriots, the so-called prosperous average Americans.

Throughout the story, the hero experiences emotions of extreme loneliness and confrontation - the conflict of a person who thinks and feels with the world, if not always cruel, then insensitively indifferent, always taking a polar position, always "pulling" with him in "different directions", as in Holden's conversation with teacher Spencer.

In Holden's conflict with the world, he is opposed not by evil, but by the ordinary: the way everyone lives and acts, or almost everything they do. Looking out the window of a huge hotel, observing deformities and perversions, Holden wistfully realizes that he is the only normal person "I was probably the only normal bastard in the whole place" ["I must have been the only normal among them" (7)].

The reader respects Holden precisely for the infallibility of his moral sense, for the ability to love what really deserves love. It’s not Holden’s fault that the world so rarely gives him this opportunity to love, that much more often it forces him to see moral and physical squalor, mental limitation, lack of grace in everyday behavior, vulgarity and untidiness in physical appearance. The foul language he sees on the wall makes Holden furious and desperate.

People constantly insult him by cutting and cleaning their nails in his presence, picking their teeth. In these acts, the inner flaws of the soul come out: the dirty razor of the handsome Stradlater betrays his moral uncleanliness, the ugly hats - the spiritual squalor of their owners. But even what is accepted as the norm, everything that all people do is depressing, petty and meaningless for someone who, like Holden, is looking for a person who would not only be liked, but who could be respected. Protesting against the humiliation of the human, Holden is ready to elevate the animal to man. Like Swift's hero, who despaired of the human breed "yehu", gave preference to a noble animal, Holden also chooses the horse as the most humane creature of nature "I rather have a goddam horse. A horse is at least human, for God s sake. A horse you can at least.." . ["I wish I had a horse, damn it. There is something human about horses. You can at least talk with a horse .. "(7)].

Holden's main reproach is addressed not personally to this or that person, but to people in general and lies in the fact that people never notice anything, the majority do not want to see everything as it is.

He is outraged by "window dressing" and the absence of the most elementary humanity in life. Privileged school teachers lie, claiming they are raising good people. Here Holden recalls the director of one of the private schools where he studied. The director smiled sweetly at everyone and everyone, but in fact he knew very well the difference between the rich and poor parents of his wards. The need to obey the "general laws" extremely oppresses the hero. "I"m always saying "Glad to"ve met you" to somebody I"m not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though" ["I always say 'it's nice to meet you' when I'm not at all pleased. But if you want to live with people, you have to say anything "(7)], - Holden admits with annoyance and deeply suffers from this general deception and distrust, and from the hopelessness of his desire to build life on sincere, fair relationships. Most of those with whom To communicate Holden, his immediate environment: school teachers and students, casual acquaintances, taxi drivers, elevator operators, waiters and society as a whole - are satisfied with impersonal, formally conditional relationships. Interest in the interlocutor does not extend beyond clarifying his material and social status. In society, divided on cells, groups "The guys that are on the basketball team stick together, the Catholics stick together, the goddam intellectuals stick together, the guys that play bridge stick together" ["Basketball players have their own gang, Catholics have their own, these damned intellectuals have their own, bridge players have their own company" (7)], he seeks communication beyond barriers. Any fleeting contact he seeks to translate into a deeply interested, personal. Any dialogue, whether he asks a taxi driver about ducks or a school friend about his intimate life, he tends to reduce to the personal and exciting. His sincerity confuses and annoys the interlocutors, the taxi driver sees a mockery in the question, a school friend advises to grow up. Salinger's hero seeks not to penetrate society, where he is not allowed, but to get out of it. There is not a single social cell where he could find a place for himself.

It should be noted that Holden often feels shades of social relations and every time he suffers for the "humiliated and insulted", being ashamed and hiding an expensive leather suitcase from proximity with a neighbor's miserable suitcase, refusing scrambled eggs and sausage when next to him a person has only enough for coffee with a bun.

Holden is accused of acting like a twelve year old boy. However, "Sometimes I act a lot older than I am--I really do--but people never notice it. People never notice anything." ["Sometimes I act like I'm way older than my age, but that's something people don't notice. They don't really notice a damn thing" (7)], says Holden wearily. He knows a lot about people; knows, in particular, that an adult looks at a sixteen-year-old from his adult "bell tower" and does not even make an attempt to figure out what is happening in the infinitely vulnerable soul of a sixteen-year-old.

Most of all, he suffers from a lack of attention and understanding, because all the people with whom he tries to talk - schoolmates, taxi drivers, elevator operators, prostitutes - do not listen or do not understand him, that they are devoid of intelligence, sensitivity, tact, speak banalities, repeating themselves and laughing out loud at things that aren't funny. His main reproach to the world is that "there is no one to talk to for real." His problem with getting used to society is that he cannot bear all the falseness and posturing of the people around him. He cannot accept people for whom money, profit, fame and "landscape" beauty are of exceptional importance. Holden hates human stupidity, spiritual emptiness. He is lonely and cramped in the very center of New York, because everywhere he meets only indifference and misunderstanding. Having a rich inner world and spiritual potential, Holden cannot realize himself in the outside world. He is incapable of resisting this society. Realizing his weakness and lack of freedom, he prefers to flee.

Based on everything that has been said above, we can conclude that the conflict of Salinger's hero with the world consists in the fact that he is trying to shake the insensitive blunt force of those whom he testament "morons", attacks it with sarcastic irony and stumbles upon eternal deception, the absence all morality and stupidity, but does not give up and continues to fight.

III. Holden Caulfield and Art

Holden Caulfield was one of the first to dare to accuse contemporary America of complacency and hypocrisy. The main accusation that Salinger's hero throws at the world around him is the accusation of falsehood, of conscious, and therefore especially disgusting pretense, of spiritual callousness. According to Holden, real art in this society is opposed by its false image, its false reflection in popular culture.

The protagonist has a very true, almost impeccable taste - in relation to the theater, cinema, literature, to "idiotic stories in magazines", he knows how to distinguish when the singer "knew her job", and when "there was nothing there - only acting" , he knows the real price of tearful sentimentality. "You take somebody that cries their goddam eyes out over phony stuff in the movies, and nine times out of ten they"re mean bastards at heart. I "m not kidding" ["In general, if you take ten people from those who look at a fake picture and roar in three streams, you can guarantee that nine of them will turn out to be the most hardened bastards in their souls. I'm seriously telling you" (7) ]. Salinger's character has an unmistakable sense of the measure and degree of things; any quality that goes beyond this measure threatens to degenerate into its opposite, like the playing of the pianist Ernie or the acting of the Lants, who "played well, only too well", so that due to the perfection of skill, the complacency of the performer begins to show. "If you do something too good, then, after a while, if you don"t watch it, you start showing off. And then you "re not as good any more"

Especially goes from the hero to the inhabitants of the culture, the creators of the American mass cultural consumer goods. Holden wholeheartedly hates the "trash" produced by Hollywood. "If there s one thing I hate, it s movies. Don t even mention them to me" ["If there's one thing I hate, it's movies. I hate it "(7)]. For Holden, the real personification of falsehood and evil is Hollywood, where you do not have to create to be considered a creator. Actually, Hollywood is a miniature model of American society, modeled on the American dream.

He retells the content of one movie and warns "All I can say is, don" t see it if you don "t want to puke all over yourself" ["In general, I can advise one thing: if you don't want to vomit right on your neighbors , do not go to this film" (7)]. Holden loves life too much, it is unacceptable for him to live in a fictional world where everything around is artificial and unreal. "I"d tell you the rest of the story, but I might puke if I did. It isn't that I'd spoil it for you or anything. There isn "t anything to spoil for Chrissake" ["I would tell you how it was next, but I'm afraid that I'll be sick. It's not that I'm afraid to spoil the impression for you, there's nothing to spoil" (7)]. Sometimes the very existence of films Holden regards as a humiliation of humanity. People in life no longer know when they are telling the truth, and when they are lying, all experiences and emotions are securely hidden, and how they still allow themselves to think that they can achieve some kind of effect on stage. "The goddam picture started. It was so putrid I couldn't take my eyes off it" He was so vile that I could not take my eyes off "(7)]. He hates cinema, because it spoiled his older brother, who, while living at home, was a real writer. Holden even refuses to act in a short film when he is invited to shoot as a first-class golfer.In the movies, he is jarred by the unnatural behavior of the actors. "the way it is in the dirty movies? How would you know you weren "t being a phony? The trouble is, you wouldn't" ["... in a word, like in the movies, in trashy films. How do you know if you are doing all this for show or for real, whether it is all fake or not? No way to know!" (7)]. Holden is annoyed by the fact that society finds its stereotypes on absolutely everything. For example, he has his own idea of ​​\u200b\u200bhow Hamlet should be - "a sad, screwed-up type guy" [" an eccentric, a little crazy" (7)], - and he does not like Laurence Olivier in this role, who looks more like some kind of general.

But still, from time to time, Holden is forced to watch a soap opera or a vulgar action movie with everyone. "So what I did, I went to the movies at Radio City. It was probably the worst thing I could"ve done, but it was near, and I couldn't think of anything else" ["and I went to the movies at Radio City. It was impossible to think of anything worse, but I was nearby and did not know at all where to go "(7)]. But most importantly, it also fills his inner life in some way, nourishes his imagination. He finds a way out of all this in a parody of false art. So he shows caustic miniatures, retelling the typical plots of Hollywood melodrama. But the power of irony cannot always be won. The influence of Hollywood is deeper and more serious: it penetrates the consciousness of the hero, builds his fantasies. Severely beaten by a driver, Holden imagines himself as the hero of a melodrama, bleeding from a bullet in his stomach and mercilessly taking revenge on his enemy with the same weapon. Blood, a revolver, six bullets are well-known cliches of Hollywood action movies, despised by Holden, but the false hero game, the cheap banality of movie images exacerbates real pain, thoughts of suicide appear, fake blood is already indistinguishable from real. "Then I" d crawl back to my room and call up Jane and have her come over and bandage up my guts. I pictured her holding a cigarette for me to smoke while I was bleeding and all. The goddam movies. They can ruin you. I'm not kidding That's what it does to a person. You understand…" (7)]. He understands that it is from the action movies that his fantasies about the methods of reprisal against offenders come.

The main character's view of writing is also interesting. "He got me to read this book A Farewell to Arms last summer. He said it was so terrific. That"s what I can"t understand" that the book is amazing. That's what I don't understand at all" (7)]. It is important that a poet or artist have the same quality as Holden: to be unlike anyone else is a sign of giftedness. Incompetent authors, on the contrary, are barely distinguishable. It is worth saying that Holden has very unusual and interesting criteria for evaluating real art. For example, he judges a writer by whether he would like to talk to him on the phone or not. Thomas Hardy he would call, but Somerset Maugham would not. "I wouldn't want to call Somerset Maugham up. I don't know, He just isn't the kind of guy I'd want to call up, that's all. I'd rather call old Thomas Hardy up )] For Caulfield, there is no traditional system of authority that must be learned once and for all from school or from parents: personal opinion and attitude for him is more important than the cultural weight of the writer. "What really knocks me out is a book that, when you"re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours. That doesn't happen much, though. Holden reads only those books that he really likes, it can be assumed that he would not refuse to call Salinger either. Holden's favorite hero is Gatsby, he expects from the world his smile, not indifferently impersonal, but intended for those who are looked at and accepted. "I was crazy about The Great Gatsby. Old Gatsby. Old sport. That killed me." (7)].

Conclusion

Jerome David Salinger enjoys well-deserved popularity among American youth, which not only does not decrease, but grows from year to year. His novel The Catcher in the Rye, translated into almost all European languages, has received wide recognition throughout the world and continues to be one of the favorite books of the youth of the United States. However, this one has become a classic not only of American, but also of world literature. The formation of personality, the transition of a teenager to the world of adults - these problems will always be relevant.

Holden's story is a confession of a man who cannot and does not want to change the world, but is only able to see with the utmost sincerity, to show this world in such a way that his disgust is conveyed to readers.

In the course of the study on the topic of this course work, all tasks were completed and the goal was achieved.

The psychological portrait of Salinger's hero is extremely contradictory and complex. By nature, he is kind and gentle, but can attack a stronger guy with his fists when he mangles the name of a good girl. He himself runs from school, flunking four exams, but does not allow his sister Phoebe to skip classes. Holden has a merciless exactingness towards himself and towards people, a conscience stretched like a string, a sharply developed sense of justice, which is why he reacts so painfully to the slightest manifestation of "linden" and "window dressing" both at school and beyond. At the same time, he is extremely shy and touchy, sometimes unkind and rude. What depresses the hero most of all is the feeling of hopelessness, the doom of all his attempts to build his life in accordance with his lofty dreams. Holden's three days away from school taught him a lot and taught him a lot. "Big World" reveals to him its positive aspects, previously unknown to him.

Holden Caulfield's conflict with the world is that he tries to shake the insensitive blunt force of those whom he covenant "morons", attacks it with sarcastic irony and stumbles upon eternal deceit, the absence of any morality and stupidity, but does not give up and continues to fight.

The main character is disgusted to live in a world where everything is built on falsehood and deceit. He also vehemently blames Hollywood and similar false art for this. Mass culture only promotes unnaturalness, which only makes people more stupid and unreal.

After reading the work "The Catcher in the Rye" and studying the scientific literature, one can draw a sad conclusion: the younger generation of the United States is on the edge of a cliff, on one side of which there is life according to the laws of goodness and justice, and on the other - the abyss of hypocrisy and evil. Holden, in my opinion, is one of the few people who keeps an entire generation of Americans from falling into the abyss of immorality. With his thoughts and actions, he shows that one cannot live in an atmosphere of hypocrisy, complacency, immorality, one cannot be indifferent.

Many readers are interested in Holden's future. But isn't Holden himself answering this: "It" s such a stupid question, in my opinion. I mean how do you know what you "re going to do till you do it?" ["I think this is a surprisingly stupid question. How does a person know in advance what he will do?" (7)]

List of used literature

1. Grudkina T.V. 100 Great Masters of Prose. - M: Veche, 2006.

Itkina N.L. Salinger's Poetics. - M: Russian. state humanit. uni-t, 2002.

Morozova T.L. The Image of the Young American in US Literature. - M: Higher School, 1969.

Salinger Margaret A. Dream Catcher: My Father J.D. Salinger. - St. Petersburg: Limbus Press, 2006.

5.J.D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye. - St. Petersburg: Anthology, KARO, 2008.

http://www.sellinger.ru/

http://www.lib.ru/SELINGER/sel_1.txt

http://lib.rus.ec/b/189217/read

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The name of this work is inextricably linked in the minds of modern society with the theme of growing up, becoming a person, finding oneself. The analysis of "The Catcher in the Rye" means a return to youth for the sake of understanding the protagonist, his psychology, the subtleties and versatility of a maturing, just emerging nature.

During his career, although not as long as one would like, Salinger managed to recommend not only as a very mysterious, wayward and freedom-loving personality. The fact that the author of "The Catcher in the Rye" (an analysis of the work will be presented in this article) was a real psychologist, subtly feeling every facet of the human soul, does not require any additional explanation.

What does romance mean to the world

The twentieth century, so rich in literary masterpieces in general, managed to give the world this amazing novel about growing up in the world of American reality. The analysis of The Catcher in the Rye, perhaps, should begin with a definition of its significance for world culture.

Only having appeared on the shelves of bookstores, the novel managed to cause a real sensation among readers of all ages due to its deep psychological content, relevance and complete compliance with the spirit of the time. The work has been translated into almost all languages ​​of the world and even now does not lose its popularity, remaining a bestseller in various parts of the globe. The analysis of The Catcher in the Rye as one of the greatest works of American literature of the twentieth century is included in the required curriculum of schools and universities.

Through the prism of an accomplished personality

The story in this work is conducted on behalf of a seventeen-year-old boy - Holden Caulfield, before whom the world opens up to a new future, adulthood. The reader sees the surrounding reality through the prism of his developing, maturing personality, which is just getting on the road to the future, saying goodbye to childhood. The world embodied in this book is unstable, multifaceted and kaleidoscopic, like the very consciousness of Holden, constantly falling from one extreme to another. This is a story told on behalf of a person who does not accept lies in any of its manifestations, but at the same time tries it on himself, like a mask of an adult who sometimes wants to seem like a young man.

The analysis of "The Catcher in the Rye" is, in fact, the reader's journey into the most hidden, deepest human experiences, shown through the eyes of no longer a child, but not yet an adult.

Maximalism in the novel

Since the protagonist is only seventeen years old, the book is narrated accordingly. It either slows down, representing an unprotected contemplation, then accelerates - one picture is replaced by another, emotions crowd out each other, absorbing not only Holden Caulfield, but the reader along with him. In general, the novel is characterized by an amazing unity of the hero and the person who picked up the book.

Like any young man of his age, Holden tends to exaggerate reality - the Pansy school, from which he is expelled for underachievement, seems to him the real embodiment of injustice, pomposity and lies, and the desire of adults to appear to be what they are not is a real crime of honor, deserving only disgust.

Who is Holden Caulfield

In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, the analysis of the protagonist requires a particularly careful and painstaking approach, because it is through his eyes that the reader sees the world. Holden can hardly be called an example of morality - he is quick-tempered and sometimes lazy, fickle and somewhat rude - he brings his girlfriend Sally to tears, which he later regrets, and his other actions very often cause disapproval of the reader. This is due to his borderline state - the young man is already leaving childhood, but is not yet ready for the transition to adult, independent life.

Hearing by chance an excerpt from a popular song, he finds, as it seems to him, his destiny, deciding to become a catcher in the rye.

The meaning of the name

The original title of the novel is "Catcher in the rye". Breaking into the text of the novel in the words of a popular song, this image repeatedly pops up in the mind of the young Holden Caulfield, who identifies himself with the catcher. According to the hero, his mission in life is to protect children from an adult, cruel world full of lies and pretense. Holden himself does not seek to grow up and does not want to allow this process to be completed for anyone.

What did Salinger want to say with such a title to the reader? "The Catcher in the Rye", the analysis of which requires a comprehensive, broad approach, is a novel full of amazing symbolism and secret meanings. The image of a rye field over the abyss embodies the very process of growing up a person, the final, most decisive step towards a new future. Perhaps this image was chosen by the author because, as a rule, young American boys and girls went to the fields for secret dates.

Another image-symbol

Ducks, it is not clear where they go in winter, is another equally important component of The Catcher in the Rye. An analysis of the novel without considering it would be simply inferior. In fact, such a naive, even a little stupid question that torments the hero throughout the story is another symbol of his belonging to childhood, because not a single adult asks this question and cannot answer it. This is another powerful symbol of loss, an irrevocable change that awaits the protagonist.

Resolution of internal conflict

Despite Holden's very obvious inclination towards some escapism, at the end of the novel he has to make a choice in favor of the transition to adulthood, full of responsibility, determination and readiness for a variety of situations. The reason for this is his younger sister Phoebe, who is ready to take such a decisive step for her brother, becoming an adult before the time comes. While admiring a wise girl on a carousel beyond her years, Holden realizes how important the choice he faces and how great is the need to accept a new world, a completely different reality.

This is what Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, the analysis of the work and its artistic originality tell the reader about. This is a life-long journey of becoming, placed in the three days experienced by the protagonist. This is a boundless love for literature, purity and sincerity, faced with such a multifaceted, versatile and complex world around. This is a novel about all of humanity and about each person individually. A work that is destined to become a reflection of the soul of many more generations.