Catcher in the Rye

Most often among the vast array of novels published today, there is usually a very insignificant amount of books that can have a truly heart-clenching plot. The classic novel The Catcher in the Rye is a prime example of a book filled to the brim with emotion. There aren't many books that can truly make a reader feel changed after reading them, but The Catcher in the Rye is different. Through symbolic representations and use of language, by the protagonist Holden, in the classic novel J.D Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, the story exemplifies an American teen's hardships and triumphs while growing up.

Holden Caulfield, the main character of the story expresses a unique teenage language. Holden's personal idiosyncrasies and loose phrases are what make him such an original person yet, such a recognizable teenager. "There are two major speech habits which are Holden's own, which are endlessly repeated throughout the book, and which are, nevertheless, typical enough of teenage speech so that Holden can be both typical and individual in his use of them "( Costello, Holden's 83). These speech patterns which Holden uses are "and all" and "I really did", they are two small phrases that help readers characterize who Holden truly is. The first phrase "and all" is used throughout the book and gives a feeling of looseness to his own personal thoughts. This shows that there is more to the story than Holden is telling us but he doesn't want to discuss it. A good example of this is from the first page of the book when Holden is talking about his early years and he says "Ð'...How my parents were occupied and all before they had me. " (1). The uniqueness of it is that Holden also uses the same "and all" for no apparent reason, such as on page one when he states "Ð'...He's my brother and all" (1). The other idiosyncrasy Holden uses is "It really is" or "It really did." Holden's most fluent use of this is for when he needs to make verification about anything. "In a phony world Holden feels compelled to reinforce his sincerity and truthfulness constantly with, "It really is" or "It really did."

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(Costello, Holden's 84). Another phrase in alignment with "It really is" is probably Holden's most recognizable phrase which is "If you want to know the truth". A prime example of this from the book would be when Holden said "I'm a pacifist, if you want to know the truth." (46). The thing about him saying he is a pacifist is unique considering that was right after he got into a fight with his room mate. Holden's speech is very typical, but at points can be very advanced.

"Another aspect in which Holden's language is typical is that it shows the general American characteristic of adaptabilityÐ'--apparently strengthened by his teenage lack of restraint. It is very easy for Holden to turn nouns into adjectives, with the simple addition of y" (Costello, Holden's 87). Two examples of this are when Holden turns the nouns show-off and Christmas to "show-offy" and "Christmasy". This shows Holden truly being a laid back normal teenager, who Holden likes to speak and use his vocabulary on different levels. An example of Holden speaking to an adult would be him saying "relieve himself" but; Holden speaking to another teenager would be more like "to take a leak". The fact that he speaks differently around different people shows Holden being more mature when he is alone rather than when he is around other kids. This proves that Holden wants to allow himself to fit in with other teenagers. "Such a conscious choice of words seems to indicate that Salinger, in his attempt to create a realistic character in Holden, wanted to make him aware of his speech, as, indeed a real teenager would be when communicating to the outside world" (Costello, Holden's 87)

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One of the final elements of Holden's vocabulary is the fact that he "never uses vulgarity in a self-conscious or phony way to help him be one of the boys" (Costello, Language 44). "Goddam" is Holden's most commonly used vulgarity. He uses it in all situations whether he is explain something, angry or in favor of something. Other curse words he tends to use are bastard and "sonuvabitch". Holden only uses "sonuvabitch" when he is fairly upset over something. A model of this would be when Holden and Stradlater fight over Jane Gallagher and he calls Stradlater "a sonuvabitch" (44). Holden in addition to the rest of his vocabulary likes to use the curse word "hell". He almost always uses it in a simile. This is very noticeable when he says things such as "cold as hell", "playful as hell" and "pretty as hell". "Hell" almost always has no relationship to its actual meaning. Readers can clearly see here that "Hell" is only used to emphasize what Holden is talking about and has no literal meaning when he says it. "The use of crude language in The Catcher in the Rye increases, as we should expect, when Holden is reporting schoolboy dialogue. When he is directly addressing the reader, Holden's use of such language drops off almost entirely."(Language, Costello 44). This proves that Holden is really just trying to fit in when he is around other teenagers. The final important curse word in The Catcher in the Rye is "F*&$". The "F" word is never a part of Holden's speech and the sparse appearance of it is only used in the novel when Holden "disapprovingly discusses its wide appearance on walls" (Language, Costello 44).

The curse words do not only have a major impact on Holden in terms of how he talks, but the curse words play a major part in the symbolism as well. The final time he sees this word on a wall is in the museum. The reader may conclude that this is the scene in which Holden has his final downfall in The Catcher in the Rye. The curse word written on the wall

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symbolizes that Holden can not escape reality no matter how