Catcher in the Rye: Authors Value and Attitude, perspective

Catcher in the Rye is a very strange novel.  The author, J.D. Salinger, made his values very clear in this novel.  Salinger obviously values exposure of phonies. Salinger makes that clear because the main character  Holden has such a hate for them.  Holden talks about how he hate the movies because they are so phony and superficial.  He hates people that are superficial like Stradlater and Sally Hayes.  He hates them because they value looking good and they do not seem to care about much else.  The way Holden gets in spats with those two characters also contributes to the value of being genuine instead of phony.  Another value that the reader can spot is childhood innocence.  Holden grew very happy when thinking of his childhood: with Allie, Phoebe, and many memories he talked about.   He also felt so happy when watching Phoebe ride the carousel. This shows that Salinger values the innocence of children before they turn into a superficial adult.

Salinger's attitude when writing this novel seems very depressed and somewhat hostile.  Salinger set the mood of the novel with his attitude, and I thought it was very depressing.  When reading this novel it made me feel somewhat sad.  The way Holden had no one to relate to saddened me and probably many other readers.  Salinger was also hostile with his attitude because of the way he made Holden seem suicidal during the story.  Holden was never happy, and when he was not depressed he seemed angry.  However, the attitude was appropriate because the story was not a very happy tale either.

The perspective from which this book is written is first person from Holden Caulfield's point of view.  The reader can figure this out because it seems like Holden is talking directly to the audience, which can only be described as first person.  Holden talks straight to the audience about events that led up to his mental breakdown and why he is currently in a"rest home".

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Print.