How Does Salinger Relate To The Catcher In The Rye

Have you ever had so much on your mind but no one to tell it to? The world renowned famous author Jerome David Salinger felt this way too. He used his writing as a way to tell people what was on his mind. More often than not, he based his characters on himself; especially Holden Caulfield from his book Catcher In The Rye, which was an instant bestseller. Holden Caulfield is a depressed, naive teenager who resents the adult world and hypocrisy in “phonies”. He tends to distance himself from other people, despite also wanting connection. There is no coincidence that Holden has a striking resemblance to the author of the book himself. Holden and Salinger relate through their childhood, isolation, violent thoughts, and deep love and fascination of young people.
Both Holden and Salinger were born in New York to wealthy, upper-class parents. Holden’s flashback starts off with Holden at his school, Pencey Prep, which is in Pennsylvania. Holden soon tells the readers that Pencey is a

The concept of "the catcher in the rye," shows Salinger’s and Holden’s love and fascination in children. Holden daydreams about standing at the edge of a rye field catching any children that are too close to the edge of the cliff of the rye field and are about to fall off the cliff. To Holden, the children falling off this cliff symbolizes them falling into adulthood and losing their innocence. Holden likes children because of their innocence and because of the fact that they cannot be “phonies” because of their innocence. Holden views adults and teenagers as “phonies” and therefore does not give them respect. Instead, Holden respects children. He desperately wants to preserve the innocence in these children. Holden viewing adults and teenagers as “phonies” is why he would rather remain a child as opposed to growing up and being an adult.Holden wants to be the one who preserves this pure innocence of the children. Salinger used Holden to show his love, passion, and fascination for