Catcher In The Rye Critical Lens

The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, was published in the year of 1951. The novel follows 16-year-old boy Holden Caulfield after he was kicked out of a preppy private school, Pencey Prep. Holden travels around New York City over a three-day time span in 1948 during the month of December. We get to read about his experiences and his surroundings from his perspective, learning what he learns as the story progresses. Through the book, Salinger touches on the subjects of relationships, professional and sexual, loneliness, and deception, sometimes having Holden tell us upright or having other characters reflect that, mostly the latter because Holden is quite revealing about his sentiments. Holden, the protagonist, as well as antagonist, and

In the novel, Jean (Scout) Louise Finch, a 6-year-old girl, and her brother, Jeremy (Jem) Atticus Finch, 10-years-old, live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill Harris, 7-years-old, and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus Finch, their father and a successful lawyer known throughout the town, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against rape charges set forth by Bob Ewell, the antagonist, the trial and other events expose the children to the evils of racism and stereotyping. Scout, the protagonist and narrator of the novel, starts her story in the early 1930s, the years of the Great Depression when poverty and unemployment were at large, over a time span of about three years. Her tone throughout the novel is carefree at the beginning, a little melodramatic and foreboding in the middle, and inspiring and nostalgic towards the end. Although she acts like a tomboy, Scout has a fierce temperament towards anyone who challenges her or her family, but at heart she believes in the goodness of people. Scout reacts to the terrible events of the book without losing hope in