J.d sallinger

Universal School Pierre & Marie Curie

Term Paper Report on:

Gabriel Lee
11th grade

“Shine On You Crazy Diamond”

“I’m sick of just liking people. I wish to God I could meet somebody I could respect” - Holden Caulfield (16)

If Holden Caulfield were real, and he came to meet J.D. Salinger, in my opinion: he’d be glad to find someone with common thoughts and actions. Holden is afictional character created by Salinger in his book “The Catcher In The Rye”; who reflects teenage angst and rebellion, especially raging against people who he likes to call “phony”.

I picked J.D. Salinger for my paper because he is unique in his writings and lifestyle. His style is somewhat dark and his writings really touch me, especially his most famous book “The Catcher In The Rye”

“Lifeis a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules” - Mr. Spencer (Catcher In The Rye) (16)

J.D Salinger was born in New York City, New York. His parents were Sol and Miriam Salinger. His father was born in Cleveland and was the son of a rabbi. Miriam’s real name was Marie Jillich, but she changed her name to fit in Sol’s family. (15,12)

Salinger’s (Jerome David) date ofbirth is January 1, 1919. J.D. was his nickname when he was young, such as others like “Sonny”, and he never got rid of it as he grew old. He grew up in a fashionable apartment district of Manhattan, having a life somewhat like his character, Holden, in his book “The Catcher In The Rye”. (15,12)

Growing up must have been very hard for Salinger. In 1942, during World War II, he was draftedinto the army. This was very inspirational for his works. Salinger studied at Columbia University. There he took a class on short story writing. (3, 12)

J.D is a controversial writer. He started writing short stories in high school. He basically wrote during two periods (World War II, and the 1960‘s). The 1960’s was the period with problems such as the misfits of society. Mostly, Salinger hashis protagonist on a quest for happiness, which is not material but spiritual. (14)

He generally uses religion, loneliness, and symbolism to show the quest of his protagonist. He uses religion in order to portray comfort. J.D. uses loneliness to isolate his characters from evil. Salinger uses many lucky symbols too, and allusions from other works. (14)

“You take somebody that cries theirgoddam eyes out over phony stuff in the movies, and nine times out of ten they’re mean bastards at heart” - Holden Caulfield (16)

Salinger is one of the most important contemporary authors of fiction. He has allowed only one of his stories be made into a movie, “My Foolish Heart” (1942). He strongly refuses to permit any kinds of adaptation of his stories. He was asked on severaloccasions to adapt “The Catcher In The Rye”, Salinger refused, stating that Holden, the protagonist of this book, would not like it. (13)

Salinger’s stories were written between 1948 and 1959. In this period of time he wrote the following: (11, 12)

3 Collections:

Nine Stories (1953)

Franny and Zooey (1961)

Raise High the Roof Bean, Carpenters and Seymour: An introduction (1963)

2Anthologies:

Fifty Great Short Stories (1952)

Short Story Masterpieces (1954)

Novel

Catcher in The Rye

Short Stories:

Perfect Day for a Bananafish (1948)

“ What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they’re running and don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’djust be the catcher in the rye and all.” - Holden Caulfield (16)

The Catcher In The Rye is a novel written in 1950 which takes place in Pencey Prep school, then goes to various places in New York. The narrator and main character of this novel is Holden Caulfield. He is in a mental hospital. This novel is written in flashback. Holden is expelled from Pencey and has been kicked out of many...