Holden Caulfield-Alive and Well

• Published in: The ALAN review Vol. 37; no. 2; p. 25
• Main Author: Simmons, John S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Youngstown Assembly on Literature for Adolescents -- National Council of Teachers of English 01.12.2010
• Subjects: Bellow, Saul; Censorship; Language; McLuhan, Herbert Marshall (1911-1980); Novels; Reading; Salinger, J D (Jerome David) (1919-2010); School libraries; Secondary Education; Steinbeck, John (1902-1968); Student Teachers; Students; Teacher Educators; Teachers; Twain, Mark (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) (1835-1910); Writers; Young adults; Florida; New York; United States > US
• DOI: 10.21061/alan.v37i2.a.3
• ISSN: 0882-2840

[...]the copyright page includes the description, "An Unauthorized Fictional Examination of the Relationship between J. D. Salinger and His Most Famous Character." [...]the once-daring language was described by some as "grating and dated." Authors who choose the latter make a pact with their audience: you must take on faith (since neither the writer nor the reader was there) that they are recreating the speech patterns, dress, and other habits of those who lived at that time. [...]Arthur Miller, in writing The Crucible in 1953, would have us believe that his characters used the argot of early 17th-century residents of Salem, Massachusetts. The actions and knowledge often reflect corrupt and questionable values, the actions/knowledge often convey mixed messages, and the role models are often suspect. [...]the incorporation phase often produces a young person like Holden Caulfield, who is alienated, misled, and skeptical of his membership in the "club."