F. Salinger s The Catcher s The Rye - 1614 Words

The novel most commonly found on psychopaths shelves, also the best novel read in class. The Catcher in the Rye is a novel commonly found on psychopaths’ shelves and no one has ever found out why. It is a remarkable novel that has been banned in the past but is also studied today in schools around the world. In Mr. Capilongo’s grade 9 AP English class, three novels were read following the theme of â€Å"The teen experience†: To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham. The class enjoyed reading all three novels but when asked to think about which of the three novels is the best it became clear that the best novel is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Out of the three†¦show more content†¦The way Holden explains the things he finds interesting and uninteresting gives the reader a good sense of his personality (Page 2 â€Å"If there’s one thing I hate, it is the movies. Do not even mention them to me.†) Holden’s use of phrasing lets the reader und erstand his changing emotions easily. Another example is in chapter 14: Holden feels depressed after Sunny leaves and thinks about his dead brother Allie. â€Å"It was not that I didn’t used to take him with me when I went somewhere. I did. But that one day, I didn’t.† From this, it is clear that Holden has regrets about things he said or did to his younger brother before he died; thus showing that Holden is not only an angry teenage boy who is flunking school but he can be sweet and has a soft spot for his siblings. It is clear that the author has taken some time to develop Holden’s personality in depth and to show him feeling a variety of emotions. To further prove this, on page 211, Holden says â€Å"I was sort-of afraid she’d fall off the goddam horse [†¦] if they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off.† This shows character growth (from angry at life to a beginni ng of acceptance) which is crucial in this type of novel. J.D. Salinger goes past creating a complex character, he makes the character grow and