The Catcher in the Rye
How do readers relate?
Many readers relate to Holden Caulfield because during that era of 1951 the Americans were going through many changes. Elvis Presley began to change the generation. The readers related because they wanted change and they wanted to change the type of society they live in.
What causes were Americans committed towards the era that The Catcher in the Rye was released and how did this book affect society?
The Catcher in the Rye was published at a time when the burgeoning American industrial economy made the nation prosperous and entrenched social rules served as a code of conformity for the younger generation. Salinger’s writing seemed to tap into the emotions of readers in an unprecedented way. As countercultural revolt began to grow during the 1950s and 1960s.Holden seemed to stand for young people everywhere, who felt themselves beset on all sides by pressures to grow up and live their lives according to the rules, to disengage from meaningful human connection, and to restrict their own personalities and conform to a bland cultural norm.
Why was the Catcher in the Rye book banned?
The catcher in the Rye book was banned for many reasons. Such as in excessive vulgar language or one too many sexual scenes, also because there was a problem based on the morals and beliefs of the 1950's common American saying that the book should not be accepted into society because of the too much anti-American themes set in this book. Many people also there was a excessive violence presented in the catcher in the Rye.
Analyze and explain the following quote, "he criticized the values of his time and resisted becoming a conventional member of his society".
The quote shows that Holden the protagonist of the Catcher in the Rye didn't want to be a person of the society that needed to follow what everyone else was doing. he was an outcast in his society he didn't like how the views of the society were and wanted no part in it.
What were the conventional terms during the time era that the Catcher in the Rye was released?
The paradoxical nature of the Fifties was evident in the cultural arena. The Eisenhower era was a time of both squeaky-clean Disneyland and unkempt, edgy beatniks.During the Fifties, mass culture began to dominate in the United States. This accounted for much of the blandness that critics lamented. Television network executives in particular wanted to cater to the largest audience possible, so they shaped their programs to offend the least number of viewers. But mass culture also left room for diversity.Though television had been invented in the 1930s, few Americans had watched a TV show even into the late 1940s. But by the end of the Fifties, TVs were present in 90% of homes and watching television was the favorite leisure activity of nearly half the population.There was a flip side to the homogenized fare of television. Those who saw middle-brow books, shows, and movies as insipid, particularly with the prospect of a nuclear holocaust hanging over the world, lashed out at the meaninglessness of it all.
What does Holden stand for and how does he convey to his views?
Pencey Prep and Elkton Hills are examples of institutions that serve as symbols. For Holden the schools represent the phony, cruel world of those who run them. Even the advertisements for Pencey Prep are misleading. Holden's red hunting cap is another small artifact of symbolic meaning. He bought it for one dollar in New York on the Saturday morning when he lost the fencing equipment. The cap is practical at times but is foolish-looking, with its extra-long bill and earflaps. It represents Holden's delightful attraction to unusual qualities, in objects as well as people, that others might miss. He realizes that the hat is unfashionable and occasionally is careful about who sees it, but he loves it anyway.Radio City Music Hall, with its Christmas show, the Rockettes, and the painfully sentimental war movie, symbolizes much of what Holden despises about inauthentic art that panders to the audience. Holden sees nothing religious or beautiful about the stage show. This is what Holden stand for in the novel and why they are important or dismissive in his point of view.
What were men, women, and teens committed to during the time era the Catcher in the Rye was released?
The men and women were committed towards keeping there old away of life and staying with little modernization at a time. while the teens were rebelling from the inside out there were going against the societies norms. they were having a new sense of freedom they didn't used to have.
Why do you so many readers relate closely with Holden Caulfield?
Many readers relate closely to Holden because during the 1950's we had just finished world war 2 and the parents of families were very patriotic. although their children weren't so happy they wanted to go against the norms. to do what they wanted for an change. The character Holden was showing the points of view of many teenagers and young adults and giving them something to relate to and they are not alone in going against the society.
How did the historical event prior and during the catcher in the Rye release affect the readers criticism towards the novel?
The historical events prior to the releasement of the novel there was war world 2 which could have affect the views of the society in which there was cultural differences and different points of view of how the government should be run. Many patriotic Americans did not like this type of novel because it was un American while others mostly young adults and teenagers favored this type of story because it was something new they have never read before they could relate and almost say that they could have been in Holden's place.