Historical Context
for Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye
GI BIll passed by COngress-1944
This law provided a range of benefits for returning World War II veterans
Veterans of WW II were commonly referred to as G.I.s (Government Issue-- an individual of the military)
The Atomic Bomb
-The atomic bomb was dropped
on Hiroshima on Monday August
6, 1945
-Another one was dropped on
Nagasaki on Thursday August 9,
1945
End of World War II
The war officially ended
on September 2, 1945
Marshall Plan… 1948
The Marshall plan was proposed in 1948
in order to help redevelopment in
Western Europe after WWII and in order
to ensure US prosperity.
Our country gave $13 billion dollars
to help Western Europe rebuild.
COntainment… 1946
In 1946 there was a theory called “containment” that was
proposed to stop the spread of communism.
*Stop the spread by surrounding communist countries with
free and democratic states.
Korean War… 1950- 1953
A war between North
Korea (communist) and
South Korea
Famous for the strength
of the armies developed
and the use of weapons.
The Soviet Union, USSR, is the enemy… “Cold War”
M.A.D. Mutually
Assured
Destruction
(1946- 1991)
McCarthyism and the HUAC… 1950’s
Senator Joseph McCarthy was infamous for accusing
individuals in the US of being communists without
real evidence.
This was a way of controlling the US public through
fear.
The House of Un-american Activities Committee (HUAC)
was set up by McCarthy to find and prosecute
Americans who were accused of being communists.
Led to the “red scare”
Sputnik… 1957
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik
in 1957
*The world’s first artificial
satellite in space.
-Size of a beach ball. It took 98
minutes to go around the world once.
Suburban Life… 1946 and beyond
COnformity… 1950’s
The 1950’s saw rapid corporate growth in the United States.
Along with this growth came the concept of conformity.
The American Dream
The American Dream… continued
Baby Boomers
This is the generation of
people that were born after
WWII- between the years of
1946 and 1964.
*As of now (2016), this
generation is currently in
the age range of 51- 70
Some Interesting Facts from the 1950s
Television became “mainstream”
School enrollment went up significantly
Disneyland began construction in 1954
Rock and Roll took off
Modernism Reminder… The “Modernist” Character
On a quest to either understand themselves or to recreate
themselves into something different than who they were
born.
Trying to live as meaningfully as possible in a difficult
world.
They are, in effect, attempting to live in a world that has
lost rationality, morality and value.
*As you read, consider our main character and
compare/contrast him to Jay Gatsby and his own desires
to “reinvent his identity.”