Importance of Language in The Catcher in the Rye Essay -- The Catcher

The backstop in the Rye, like many other great works, was met by prideful criticism and unyielding admiration. However, many literary critics also marveled at Salingers give of address, which was used to make Holden Caulfield, the main character, extremely realistic. Such language includes some(prenominal) repetition of phrases and blatant cursing, in order to capture the informal delivery of the average, northeastern American adolescent. Through Holdens thoughts and dialogues, Salinger successfully created a teenage boy. The language used in The Catcher in the Rye has long been a topic of controversy in the literary critics realm. Holden Caulfields thoughts and comments serve to deepen his character and to provide entertainment. Salinger wanted to create a typical teenager magic spell keeping Holden as an individual at the same time. Like to the highest degree teenagers, Holden intercommunicates in trite sentences. However, he also uses words in places that were thusly unc ommon. Holden often leaves his sentences dangling with words like and all and or anything. lots he uses these phrases to extend some indescribable emotion or satisfy like, ... how my parents were occupied and all before they had me and ...theyre nice and all. Many times on that point is no significance at all to the expressions as in ...was in the Revolutionary War and all, It was December and all, and ...no gloves or anything. (Salinger 5-7) Not only does Holden speak like this at the beginning of the novel, but also throughout the stallion novel, making this pattern a part of his character. Therefore, the and all and or anything tags to Holdens diction serve to make his speech authentic and individual. Salinger intentionally used such(prenominal) speech repetition to individualize Holden... ...oughout the novel made Holden Caulfield human. Due to the particular representation of a teenage boy, the reader is able to be shine conversant(p) with Holdens peculiarities, there fore making him seem more credible. By making Holden come to life through repetition of dialogue and thought, Salinger was able to create single of the most unforgettable characters. Works Cited and Consulted Bloom, HB. Major Literary Characters Holden Caulfield. Chelsea House Publishers. crude York, 1990. Costello, DP. The Language of the Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield. Cambridge, New York Cambridge University Press, 1990. Gwynn, F. The Fiction of JD Salinger. University of Pittsburg Press. 1958 Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston Little, Brown, 1991. Salzman, J. The American Novel New Essays on the Catcher in the Rye. Cambridge University Press, 1991.