Sample essay paragraphs on The Catcher in the Rye

A. The book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger tells about a boy named Holden Caulfield who has to leave school and he is afraid to tell his parents so he goes to New York and stays in a hotel where he meets a prostitute and gets beat up by a bellboy. He also goes to bars and movies and jazz clubs and has a date with a girl. Then he sneaks into his own house so he won't wake up his parents and he talks to his little sister. She wants to run away with him but he makes her stay and then he stays too. This is a good story about being a seventeen-year-old.

B. In my view this Holden Caulfield is a real loser. He was so weird. I mean he was always complaining about other people and getting into fights and getting sick and thinking weird thoughts. If he was so unhappy why didn't he do something about it?! I can't feel sorry for people who just moan and groan about how bad they feel. He should have pulled himself up by his own bootstraps, held his chin up, and put his nose to the grindstone to make something of himself. Like at school. If he was such a hotshot comp writer like his English teacher said, why couldn't he pass his courses? Why did he flunk out? There are too many people in the world who don't have Caulfield's opportunities to get educated. He shouldn't waste the ones he has.

C. The Catcher in the Rye is about a child's fear of falling into adulthood. To Holden Caulfield growing up means plunging down into a dark, frightening abyss. Like James Castle who jumped from the prep school window wearing Holden's turtleneck sweater (p. 170), Holden imagines himself jumping out of a hotel room window (p. 104). His old teacher, Mr. Antolini, warns him of a "special ... horrible kind" of fall he could be heading for (p. 187). These fears of falling may be the source of Holden's wish to be the protector of children, "the catcher in the rye" who keeps them from running off the cliff in their games. Like these children, he is "on the edge of some crazy cliff" (p. 173). His actual fall is a mental and emotional breakdown: he loses his personal balance. Perhaps this collapse is an effort to save himself. It keeps him from growing up and becoming one of the old phonies he detests. Although Holden Caulfield pretends to be older in order to buy the liquor that keeps him childish, I think he is terrified of the real world of grown-ups, however much he claims to despise it.

D. Why does Holden Caulfield love his red hunting cap so much? Does the nature of the hat reveal characteristics of its wearer? For example, a red hat is a sure way to call attention to oneself, by bearing a colorful sign of difference. Certainly Holden considers himself special--a realist in a world of phonies. Yet he lacks sociability. It's as though he's saying, "Look at me! But don't try to talk to me." Hunting caps are also for hunting. Is Holden showing any aggression through his headgear? He seems full of anger at people around him, like the fat elevator operator, or people in general. The color red is also for a hunter's protection, setting him off from the natural tones of trees, deer, or ducks, so that he won't be blasted by a fellow sportsman. Perhaps Holden is signalling some anxiety about being a stranger in his world. Wearing a hunting cap in the city does signify alienation. But Holden wears his cap backwards. This is another sign of his rebellion against convention, but it may be even more significant. The backwards cap is in the style of the catcher in baseball, and is the color of Allie's hair: the dead poet-player who was Holden's brother and closest friend. Holden's game is to catch other children so that they won't hurt themselves, and to catch the memory of Allie and hold it close. So Holden becomes both guardian and child, stranger and brother, hunter and duck.

E. Adolescence in twentieth-century America can be a time of trial. Young people experience a range of pressures. Parents expect them to behave in ways that evoke parental pride. Teachers urge them to study diligently and learn new ideas or skills. Society wants productive and useful citizens and future taxpayers. Peers seek company in their own difficult searches for self in a world of shifting values. Perhaps the greatest pressure, however, comes from within, as each young person tries to manage his or her developing notions of identity, sexuality, and career, and learns to cope with new, adult opportunities and responsibilities, from drinking to working to falling in love. In short, American adolescents feel under pressure to be their own persons in a world of severe and conflicting demands. Some young people feel understandably anxious, alienated, and ambivalent in such circumstances. Holden Caulfield, the "hero" of J. D. Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye (1951), represents an extreme example of such a person.

F. The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, published in America in the 1950’s, is truly one of the greatest books of the twentieth-century. Salinger's mastery of the English language is very impressive, and he uses his great way with words to paint very vivid pictures of the things he writes about. The experiences of his characters are very applicable to our lives today. His main character has a lot of troubles and most people today can identify with things like that. Every person, male or female, young or old, white or black, should read this great book.

G. This book is evil. It shows a young person rebelling against parents, teachers, and any sort of authority. It makes fun of Jesus Christ. It uses sexual scenes and dirty language to create an obscene and pornographic atmosphere that pollutes the minds and morals of our youth. Books like this should be banned. If publishers insist on making money with this kind of filth, then the books should be seized and burned, and the publishers should be arrested. What is our country coming to when such trash is even taught in schools?!