The Catcher in the Rye: Author's values and attitudes

In many books I feel that the author reflects some of their own traits, habits, and personality through the main character and in The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger shows us a part of him that the reader may not have known of. Holden is a boy who does not believe in movies. He thinks they are fake and phony and maybe that is a value of Salinger. It is very possible that he favors in the direction of non-fiction because he knows that it is the truth and that it is not "phony". I also think that Salinger values family and even more importantly the love of siblings because of how much Holger cares for his little sister Phoebe. Maybe Salinger had a little sister and that he feels the same way for her that Holden does for Phoebe. I think that Salinger, like Holden, had a very immature perspective on life. Perhaps Salinger thought he could just run away when he was young and start a new life for himself somewhere out west and not have to face his consequences. Holden thought up all of his insane and non-practical ideas for the sole reason being that he did not want to have to go home to his parents because he thought that they would be mad at him and he believed that if he just ran away and never came back or at least for just a while that they would forget about it and not be mad. From all of that Salinger may also freedom and the choices a person has instead of being told what they must do.

This book is written in first person. I know this because Holden is someone who is in the story but he is also the one who is telling us the story of his solo travels in the city of New York. There is no narrator and it is told from "I". "I'm not kidding" (Salinger,185) meaning that we are in the mind of Holden.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print