Holden, A Reflection of J.D. Salinger
By Ruben
Once you read the book Catcher in the Rye (1951), you will probably wonder about what will happen to Holden Caulfield, the books protagonist, later in his life. The book ends with Holden being in a mental hospital, and the author does not imply anything clearly on how Holden’s life will develop. However, one can predict how Holden’s life is going to be, by inspecting the author, J.D. Salinger’s life, because he had a similar adolescence to that of Holden. Through the many similarities between J.D. Salinger’s life and his fictional character Holden’s, the author’s work is a reflection of the author’s life.
J.D Salinger’s father was an import trader, who sold things like cheese, or meat.[1] Young Salinger wanted to be an author, but his father wanted him to be an importer, and did not value his son’s education. He must have had a confusing adolescence. He went to a private school called McBurney School, but he got kicked out[2]. Then Salinger got into Forge Military Academy, but he did not do well academically there. However, he did excel at English[3]. Which caused him to persue writing as a career. In his youth, Salinger was very interested in Dramas, and his dream was to go to Hollywood.
By comparing Holden Caulfield and young Salinger’s life, a lot of similarities can be seen. For instance, Salinger’s expulsion from the McBurney School must have influenced the creation of the two schools in The Catcher in the Rye, Whooton school and Elkton Hills. The Forge military Academy is a probable model for the Pencey Preparatory School in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden’s character, like Salinger was not that good academically, but was good at English. For example in chapter 4, Holden’s roommate, Stradlater asked him to write a composition for him and added, “…Hartzell thinks you’re a hotshot in English and he knows you’re my roommate. So I mean don’t stick all the commas and stuff in the right place.” (Salinger, page 28)[4] Also, Salinger’s dream to be a drama writer or actor, appears in The Catcher in the Rye through the Hollywood writer D.B. Caulfield, Holden’s brother.
As one can see, Salinger’s youth formed the basis for The Catcher in the Rye. Because of this parallelism one can predict how Holden Caulfield’s later life could develop. Salinger’s character after adolescence can be explored by reading the book “The Dream Catcher.” Which was written by Salinger’s daughter Margaret Salinger. According to this book, Salinger is a person with extremely self-centered mind even in his adulthood. Salinger did not pay enough attention to his wife so his wife, who even tried to commit suicide and take her daughter with her by setting fire to their house.[5] At last, Salinger and his wife got divorced 8 months after their marriage. He began writing again after the divorce but since 1965, he did not publish any of his writing and chose to live a life of solitude.[6]
Considering that Holden Caulfield’s character is very self-centered and negative, I believe that Holden’s adulthood would be as unfortunate as that of Salinger’s. Holden would not of had a happy marriage, because he is so selfish and doesn’t know how to deal with women. Holden’s mannerisms caused him many difficulties relating to women. For instance in chapter 17, Holden takes Sally on a date and towards the end says to her, “You give me a royal pain in the a$$ if you want to know the truth.” (Salinger, Page 133)[7]. Like Salinger after 1965, Holden would avoid people, because he thinks all adults are phony and he wanted to be a “catcher in the rye”.
One can see remarkable similarities by comparing Salinger’s youth and Holden Caulfield’s in The Catcher in the Rye. Furthermore, Salinger’s adult life could have been written as “The Catcher in the Rye, Volume 2.”; because Holden’s future can be predicted by inspecting Salinger’s adulthood. These predictions are possible because Salinger’s life experience and character are largely reflected in his work, The Catcher in the Rye.
Works Cited
Ø Salinger, Margaret. Dream Catcher: A Memoir. New York: Washington Square Press, 2000.
Ø Lutz, Norma Jean. ”Biography of J.D. Salinger”, in Bloom's BioCritiques: J. D. Salinger. Bloom, Harold. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2001. pp. 3–44.
Ø Salinger, Margaret. Dream Catcher: A Memoir. New York: Washington Square Press.2000.
Ø "J.D. Salinger" Wikipedia. Jan 9, 2008.
2 comments:
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