J.D. Salinger Essay

Salinger's children, as they appear in various novels and short stories, portray the ills of modern society through their innocence and spirituality, their honesty and sometimes, erratic behaviour. They are often as fragile and odd as they are intelligent and endearing, and the obscenities of life tend to overwhelm them at times. My intention is to show how Salinger uses the same technique over and over in his work. That is the use of children …

…nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all."