Catcher in the Rye Essays

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a. How does the context created in the first 20 pages of the novel create how the ending occurs for the reader?
In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger published in the year 1951, the context created at the beginning of the novel is that the character Holden Caulfield occurs to believe that the world is full of stupid people – who cause his relationships to be unsatisfying and unfulfilling. At the end of the novel, Holden is seen to find the satisfying and fulfilling relationship he had been craving for with his sister, and his way of thinking about the people he has been calling “phony” had changed as well. The context that was created in the beginning of the novel makes the ending seem much happier and relieving to the reader. As a result, after the long struggle with his life after getting kicked out of school, in the end, the reader finds Holden’s better settled life satisfying and comforting.
The context created at the beginning of the novel is that the character Holden Caulfield occurs to believe that the world is full of stupid people. This context caused him to think of other people in his life as “phonies” and not appreciate their presence. As a result, the relationships in his life occur to him as unsatisfying and this depresses him. In the beginning of the novel, as Holden talks about his room-mate Stradlater, he described him as a hot-shot who thinks other people are crazy about him. As he was not a big fan of his room-mate, this assumption made him think that Stradlater was wrong and stupid. Holden’s thoughts about other people were similar as well. When he went to visit his teacher before leaving school, his teacher talked about his poor performance in school and read out his poorly written essay. This caused Holden to get angry and start hating his teacher because he thought it was a “dirty trick” by trying to embarrass him. He didn’t appreciate his teacher’s concern about his life. Because of this context he had about people, he couldn’t even connect himself to his old girlfriend Sally on their date. When she complimented on his hair, he didn’t believe her and in his mind he insulted her. But eventually when he got more annoyed with her he acted rude and their date ended bitterly.
At the end of the novel, Holden is seen to find the satisfying
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