Textual Analysis ofThe Catcher in the Rye

Themes in CatcherThe most prominent theme of The Catcher in the Rye is alienation.

Alienation: is a withdrawal or separation of a person or a person’s affections from an object or position of former attachment: estrangement from the values of one’s society and family.

Alienation is also a sociological concept developed by several classical and contemporary theorists. It is “a condition in social relationships reflected by a low degree of integration or common values and a high degree of distance or isolation between individuals, or between an individual and a group of people in a community or work environment.” The concept has many discipline-specific uses, and can refer both to a personal psychological state (subjectively) and to a type of social relationship (objectively).

Holden Caulfield's alienation is unique to the post-war, post-

modern society. The New York City life that Holden narrates is filled with encounters and opportunities for connection, and yet through each confrontation he pulls away and apart into his own negating mind. Specifically this novel connects with young people who:

Feel constricted by the rules and conforming nature of society

Struggle to make meaningful connections to people and ideas – constructing meaning

Struggle to find meaningful relationships and companionship

Alienation

Literary Focus

Date of Publication: July 1951

Genre: post-modern, coming-of-age

Setting (Time): late 1940s – early 1950s

Setting (Place): New York City

Tone: negative, cynical, bitter towards both society, self and relationships, distrusting

Point of View: First-Person Narration from Holden Caulfield’s Perspective

Irony in Catcher in the RyeLiterary Technique

Irony Holden’s psyche wants to connect and attach with other people on an adult level, especially in a sexual way.

However, his character is ironic in his contradicting need to reject the adult world as “phony,” and to retreat into his own childhood memories.

His internal conflict attempts to create meaning and attach to his present existence, rather that detach into alienation and his inner consciousness.

Symbolism in Catcher in the Rye

Literary Focus

Symbolism

Holden’s Red Hunting Hat

The red hunting hat is one of the most recognizable symbols from twentieth-century American literature

The hat symbolizes the very heart of Holden’s character: his need for isolation, to be unique, to be an individual versus his need for companionship and acceptance.

The hat itself is distinctive (especially in NYC), and it shows that Holden desires to be different from everyone around him. At the same time, he is very self-conscious about the hat and aware of what others may think of it.

Themes in Catcher in the Rye

Literary Focus

Themes

Alienation

Attachment and Detachment

Constructing Meaning

Sexual Exploration

Non-Conformity

Hopelessness

Feelings of Loss and Regret

The Phoniness of the Adult World

The Painfulness of Growing Up

Nostalgia

Attachment Theory: Bowlby and AinsworthWhen a baby is born he cannot tell one person from another and indeed can hardly tell person from thing. Yet, by his first birthday he is likely to have become a connoisseur of people. Not only does he come quickly to distinguish familiars (familiar people) from strangers but amongst his familiars he chooses one or more favorites. They are greeted with delight; and they are sought when absent. Their loss causes anxiety and distress; their recovery, relief and a sense of security. On this foundation, it seems, the rest of his emotional life is build – without this foundation there is risk for his future happiness and health.

~John Bowlby (1967)

The child described as securely attached to an adult explores her surroundings with enthusiasm, checking back with her secure base, (mother, father, or primary caregiver) periodically. ~Mary Ainsworth

Attachment Theory: John Bowlby

Attachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans. • Its most important tenet is that an infant needs to

develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally. Attachment theory explains how much the parents’ relationship with the child influences the child’s development.

• Attachment theory is an interdisciplinary study encompassing the fields of psychological, evolutionary, and ethological theory.

• Historic Context: Immediately after World War II, homeless and orphaned children presented many difficulties. Psychiatrist John Bowlby was asked by the UN to write a pamphlet on the issue of child estrangement which he entitled maternal deprivation. Attachment theory grew out of his subsequent work on the issues raised.

John Bowlby – Attachment Theoryhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D-9ylhnA7k

• Infants become attached to individuals who are sensitive and responsive in social interactions with them, and who remain consistent caregivers for some months during the period from; about six months to two years of age (early childhood) this is known as sensitive responsiveness.

• When the infant begins to crawl and walk they begin to use attachment figures (familiar people) as a secure base to explore from and return to. The caregivers' response leads to the development of patterns of attachment (schema); these, in turn, lead to internal working models which guide the individual's perceptions, emotions, thoughts and expectations in later relationships.

• Separation anxiety or grief following the loss of an attachment figure is considered to be a normal and adaptive response for an attached infant. These behaviours may have evolved because they increase the probability of survival of the child.

In the 1960s and 70s research developmental psychologist, Mary Ainsworth reinforced the basic foundations and introduced the concept of the “secure base.” She developed a theory of a number of attachment patterns in infancy: secure attachment, avoidant attachment and anxious attachment. A fourth pattern titled, disorganized attachment, was identified later.

In the 1980s, attachment theory was extended to adolescence and adults. Other interactions may be construed as including components of attachment behaviour; these include peer relationships at all ages, romantic and sexual attraction, and responses to the care needs of infants or the sick and elderly. It is believed that those who don't experience secure attachment may develop a sensitivity to rejection in later relationships.

Mary Ainsworthhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s608077NtNI

Attachment Theory Resources

Bowlby/Ainsworth – Attachment Theorist http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/attachment-theory-defi

nition-criticism-of-bowlby-ainsworths-theories.html#lesson The Strange Situation -- Ainsworth http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/the-strange-situation-t

est-ainsworths-attachment-theory-for-infants.html#lesson

Attachment Styles – Positive and Negative http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/attachment-styles-posi

tive-negative-fearful-secure-more.html#lesson

In hatred as in love, we grow like the think we brood upon. What we loath, we graft into

our very soul. ~Mary Ainsworth

Attachment Theory in Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life

of Boys by Dan Kindlon, Ph.D and Michael Thompson, Ph.D

Boys generally are an active lot, and often impulsive. Their energy is contagious, especially among other boys, and that physical energy can translate into a kind of psychological boldness. They often are the risk takers, seemingly oblivious to the potential hurt of a fall or sting of a reprimand. Whether their choices might eventually prove to be brave they consider the consequences.

Boys are direct; they speak before the act and speak in simple terms. Their more slowly developing their language skills are apparent in their often blunt and unsophisticated humor or their preference for action over negotiation – grabbing he box of markers rather than negotiating a turn for using them. Boy’s emotional immaturity allows them to celebrate themselves unabashedly, strutting, boasting, clamoring to be noticed. They’re not terribly concerned about pleasing others. When the fabled little boy declared that the emperor wore no clothes, he spoke with the candor characteristic of boys.

Raising Cain by Michael Thompson

Boys’ need to feel competent and empowered lead them to express a keen power-based, action-oriented sense of justice, fairness, good and evil. Spiderman, Batman, Ninja Turtle – heroic action figures dominate the landscape of young boys because they want so much to be seen in heroic proportions – to be big instead of small, to have power in the world instead of the role of powerless child, and to be the arbiters of right and wrong rather than a negotiator or an observer (30)

Applications in Catcher in the Rye

Attachment:“Anyway, I kept standing next to that crazy cannon, looking down at the game and freezing my ass off. Only, I wasn’t watching the game too much. What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by. I mean I’ve left schools and places I didn’t even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don’t care if it’s a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know I’m leaving it. If you don’t , you feel even worse… If I get a chance to remember that kind of stuff (memories of his experiences) , I can get a good-by when I need one – at least, most of the time I can. As soon as I got it, I turned around and started running town the other side of the hill, toward old Spencer’s house. He didn’t live on the campus. He lived on Anthony Wayne Avenue” (pg. 4-5).

Detachment:“When I was all set to go, when I had my bags and all, I stood for a while next to the stairs and took a last look down the goddam corridor. I was sort of crying. I don’t know why. I put my red hunting hat on, and I turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, “Sleep tight, ya morons!” I bet I woke up every bastard on the whole floor. Then I got the hell out” (pg. 52).

Attachment Theory in The Catcher in the Rye

How does this theory appear in the text? What is the situation? (citation)

Evidence/Citation (cite)

What does this emphasize or teach about Holden?

Attachment

Holden is thinking about how is about to leave Pencey, and is trying to have a meaningful memory of his experience there. He remembers a teacher, and runs to his house to say good-by.

“If I get a chance to remember that kind of stuff (memories of his experiences) , I can get a good-by when I need one – at least, most of the time I can. As soon as I got it, I turned around and started running town the other side of the hill, toward old Spencer’s house” (5).

Holden is trying to attach and find meaning in his experience through his memories of a environment that he shares with others. When he does, He does make an attempt to attach, but it is a labored effort for him.

Detachment

He leaves Pencey in the middle of the night without saying good-by to any of his roommates, and he leaves in a rude and bitter manner, shouting insults on the staircase(pg. 52).

“I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, ‘Sleep tight, ya morons!’ I bet I woke up every bastard on the whole floor. Then I got the hell out” (52).

Holden does have repressed resentment about not fitting in at Pencey, and thus, being asked to leave. He chooses to express this emotion negatively and obnoxiously, possibly to be revengeful. His detachment causes him to not care about others well-being.