Book Review1

Tarlac National High School Tarlac City S.Y. 2007-2008

BOOK REVIEW In

ENGLISH II

Submitted by: Sarah Jane C. Salenga II-Kamagong Submitted to: Mrs. Josie N. De Guzman Teacher

I. Title of the Book: Most Frequently Challenged Books II. Author of the Book: Joyce Meynard III. Title of the Story: The Catcher in the Rye IV. Author of the Story: J. D. Salinger. V. Characterization: 

Holden Caulfield - is the protagonist and narrator of the story. Holden is seventeen when he tells the story, but was sixteen years old when the events took place.[9] His narration begins with his expulsion (for academic failure) from a school called Pencey Prep. He is intelligent and sensitive, but Holden narrates in a cynical and jaded voice. He finds the hypocrisy, phoniness, and ugliness of the world around him almost unbearable.

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Allie Caulfield - was Holden's younger brother, who died of leukemia when Holden was thirteen. Allie was redheaded, mild, considerate, intelligent, and very caring. Allie and Holden were very close. The night of Allie's death, Holden smashed all the windows in the family garage with his bare fists leading to permanent damage to his hand. Stemming from this injury, Holden can no longer make a tight fist with his right hand. Holden remembers his lost brother by a baseball glove with poetry written on it that was Allie's.

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Phoebe Caulfield - is Holden's younger sister, whom he adores. She is in the fourth grade at the time Holden leaves Pencey Prep. Holden holds her as a paragon of innocence, and gets furious at the sight of graffiti in her school that reads "fuck you", for fear that the school children would see it and be somehow tainted. He also thinks that she is too affectionate, which will also lead to loss of innocence. In some ways, she can be even more mature than him, even criticizing him for childishness.

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D.B. Caulfield - is Holden's older brother and lives in Hollywood, where he works as a screenwriter. Holden is disdainful of D.B.'s profession, and calls his brother a "phony", because he claims that his brother is prostituting his works. Holden professes to despise cinema, but throughout the book he proffers thoughtful and in-depth commentaries on films he has seen.

VI. Introduction: The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J. D. Salinger. First published in the United States in 1951, the novel has been a frequently challenged book in its home country for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and teenage angst.

The novel's protagonist, Holden Caulfield, has become an icon for teenage rebellion and defiance. Written in the first person, The Catcher in the Rye follows Holden's experiences in New York City in the days following his expulsion from Pencey Prep, a college preparatory school. VII. Synopsis/Summary: The novel covers a few important days in the life of Holden Caulfield, a tall, skinny, highly critical and depressed teenager who academically flunked out of Pencey Prep, a boarding school. Holden is 17 when he tells the story; he was 16 when the events occurred. Because he is so critical of others, and points out their faults only to exhibit them himself later, Holden is widely considered to be an unreliable narrator[citation needed], and the details and events of his story are apt to be distorted by his point of view. His penchant for wild exaggeration only serves to exacerbate this. His story starts on Holden's last day at Pencey Prep. He is standing on the crest of a hill that overlooks the American football field. It is the final game of the season, but Holden has never cared much for established tradition. He instead runs across the street to the residence of Mr. Spencer, his history teacher. It is revealed here that Holden has been expelled, and that he doesn't particularly care. Mr. Spencer is disappointed in Holden, and lectures to him about the importance of hard work and education. Holden becomes annoyed and lies about having to remove some equipment from the gym to get out of the discussion. His socially inept neighbor, Robert Ackley (called Ackley for short), is also introduced. Ackley's relationship with Holden is fairly complex: On one hand, Holden expresses disgust at his hygiene, acne, and personality, yet spends time with him of his own free will; he is drawn to Ackley because there is nobody else, going to movies and having snowball fights with him even though he comments on how abrasive Ackley is. Arriving at New York, Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel where he becomes increasingly disappointed by his surroundings, "screwballs all over the place." Having nothing much to do, he calls up a girl, Faith Cavendish, whom he was totally unacquainted with (a friend of a friend), to meet her for a drink, despite it being very late. She also says no. Unable to get comfortable, Holden goes down to the lobby downstairs in the Lavender Room to relax, trying his best to fit in with most of the older people. He makes a move on the young women sitting in the table nearest him, but they only laugh at him. Eventually they give in and Holden dances with each one of them. He enjoys the night but notes many times to himself they have almost nothing in common, thus plugging any opportunity to further a relationship. Holden continues to wander New York City encountering more people in the midst, each escapade leaving him somewhat more depressed than before. Many times in between chapters, he remembers nostalgically of him and Jane doing various things to keep himself calm. As he becomes increasingly lonely and depressed, he takes another cab to a different bar, Ernie's, to get drunk. Typically he derides this one too saying there were too many phonies in there. He is forced to leave when he accidentally runs into his brother's annoying ex-girlfriend.

Back at the hotel, Holden encounters the elevator boy, Maurice, who offers to send up a prostitute to his room for five bucks. In a rather rash decision, he accepts the offer hoping the experience will cheer him up. But when the young girl, Sunny, comes to his room, Holden cannot bring himself to have sex with her, feeling much too depressed. He tells Sunny he is recuperating from a surgical operation on his clavichord, an obvious play on clavicle and spinal cord, and pays her, instead, to sit down and keep him company for a while. Later, she leaves, only to return with Maurice shortly after, who intimidates Holden and uses brute force to hustle an extra five bucks from him. The next day, he makes a date with one of his previous girlfriends, Sally Hayes. They attend a matinee performance featuring the The Lunts and later go ice skating at Radio City Music Hall, but retire indoors to talk once their ankles tire. Their conversation soon turns into a fight and the experience leaves him more depressed, as he realizes that they do not have much in common. Holden in a final attempt to make peace with Sally gets a sudden idea to leave and go Northeast, live off of the land and build a cabin, offering Sally a chance to go with him — get "married or something." Sally rejects him and his idea, especially after Holden plaintively blurts out that she's "a royal pain in the ass." At that point, Sally becomes offended. Holden then apologizes for a while to no avail. Eventually he leaves without her. Holden goes to a former teacher's house, Mr Antolini, where his teacher gives him a speech about life and how, in order to live happily, Holden has to be prepared. Holden views Mr. Antolini as a father-figure and holds much respect for him. Mr. Antolini speaks as if he has been in Holden's situation before, hopelessly hating every person he ever sees. Mr. Antolini also gives Holden a paper with a quote on it, which reads "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one." Holden is told to hold on to the note and keep it. After preparing the pull out couch with Mr. Antolini, Holden awakes to find him stroking his head. Holden, taken aback by this, interprets this as a sexual advance, and runs out of the apartment to sleep in Grand Central Terminal, against the wishes of Mr. Antolini who says he was just admiring him. At this point in the book, he explains that he will be going to another school in the fall again but doesn't know for sure if he will start applying himself. He finishes talking with the words, "Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody". VIII. Conclusion: Bruce Brooks noted that Holden's attitude is the same at the end as it was in the beginning, which implies a lack of growth in distinguishing the story from young adult fiction. On the other hand, Louis Menand claimed that teachers assign it to students because of the optimism at the end, that "alienation is just a phase."While Brooks maintained that Holden acts his age, Menand observed that Holden thinks like an adult with his ability to see through people clearly. The novel has been interpreted as having only a negative answer to the social problems it expresses. In another type of critique, its philosophy has been negatively compared with that of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.