Understanding Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye

Understanding Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (Salinger 1953), is a novel told in an autobiographical manner which tracks Holden Caulfield on his two day sojourn through 1950’s New York City. This short twentieth century novel delves into the underlying problems that mire Caulfield to the point where it seems he will never enter the adult world. Holden's misguided morality brings …

…Critical Inquiry 3.1: 15-37. Rosen, Gerald. “A Retrospective Look at The Catcher in the Rye.” American Quarterly 29.5: 547-562. Salzberg, Joel, ed. “Critical Essays on Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.” Boston: G.K. Hall and Co., 1989. Strauch, Carl F. “Kings in the Back Row: Meaning Through Structure: A Reading of Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.” Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature 2:4: 5-30. Wakefield, Dan. “Salinger and the Search for Love.” New World Writing 14.1: 68-85.