Catcher in the Rye 1

Question one is “what does the writing reveal about the author's values and attitudes? From what perspective does he/she write?” The novel is the Catcher in the Rye. The author is J. D. Salinger

The author writes in first person perspective. This means the main character is telling the story form his point of view. Catcher in the Rye is told by a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield. I think this is important for this book because it is Holden’s life we are reading about. By telling the story, Holden is showing readers a different life.

The writing of Catcher in the Rye reveals many of the author’s values and attitudes. The first thing I noticed was the author may have had an angry attitude. The main character, Holden, is mad at his parents, teachers, and the world. Holden has given up on trying in school and his relationship with his parents.  He seems unhappy and depressed. This makes me wonder if the author had these feeling while writing the book. The author also could have known someone who was feeling depressed and unhappy and wanted to share their thoughts.  If the author was writing about himself he probably did not have any values. If someone does not care about anyone or anything they usually do not have any huge values.

Holden is rebellious. He has been kicked out of four schools and fails to change his ways. I think the author was rebellious or wished he was rebellious as a teenager. Holden is also honest. He tells the truth straight up, he cusses openly, and he points out flaws with others and himself. I like that about him. I do not like fake people and Holden is definitely not fake.

Holden does have a nice side. He seems to love childhood and innocence. It seems that the book has a lot of thoughts of loving childhood, again like the museum part, or the part of the book towards the end where Phoebe is on the carrousel. The carrousel part is the only part where Holden becomes really happy, instead of most other things that seem to make him really depressed. The author wanted him to be somewhat happy in the end.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Print.