Literary Analysis: The Catcher in the Rye
Here is your next big assignment, a 3-5 page typed essay on The Catcher in the Rye.
This essay should show your careful reading and understanding of the novel, as well as your developing
strength as a writer. Many of the writing prompts listed below reflect work done in class.
1) Analyze one of the following characters: Sunny, James Castle, Sally Hayes, Jane Gallagher, or Mr.
Antolini. How and why is this character important to the novel?
In your essay, you might also include additional, parallel characters (endangered kids, Holden’s “love”
interests, teachers) to help discuss this character’s significance.
2) Analyze Holden himself. In class we discussed four potential interpretations.
—
Holden is not well, either in mind or body. His language, his habits of mind, his actions, and his current situation all
suggest that there is something seriously wrong with this character.
—
Holden is immature. Although he is struggling to come to terms with the death of his brother, he is not so different from
other young characters: journeying through life, making decisions, pulled between memories of childhood and the
promise of the future.
—
Holden is a hypocrite. Although we might understand Holden, we cannot really like him. The author makes a point of
showing us a character who embodies everything he criticizes, showing just how unreliable this narrator is.
—
Holden is a truth seeker. He might be marked by sadness, not fully formed, or hypocritical, but he tells it like it is to the
reader, and what he has to tell us reveals key truths about society and the individual.
Choose one of these interpretations, or craft a new one of your own. You do not have to stick with the
interpretation you argued for in class discussion.
3) Analyze theme in The Catcher in the Rye: childhood and growing up, money and success, sexuality, religion
and faith, acting and performers, and honesty and lies.
4) Analyze an image or motif in the novel: games, hats, ducks, glass cases, carrousels, or the repeated
references to catching and falling. (For this last one, include references to the Robert Burns poem discussed in
class.)
5) Focus on a specific passage, using it to develop your argument about the book as a whole. For example,
many of Holden’s hopes and fears are sharply defined in pages 118-122. Analyze specific elements of this
passage (kids, skate keys, the museum) in order to discuss important ideas in the novel.
6) Analyze J.D. Salinger’s use of setting in the novel: Mirror, Mold, Challenge, Escape, or Alienation.
7) Write a personal response. Although this can be a risky option, it can be done well. Begin your paper with
the words “I am Holden Caulfield, ” and go on to explain how and why the two of you might be similar. Make
sure to use specific examples from the text to support your ideas.