THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
Jerome David Salinger is an American writer, a classic of US literature of the XX century. Salinger was born on January 1, 1919 in New York City to a Jewish and Irish family. His father, a wealthy merchant Solomon Salinger, sought to give his son a good education. In his youth, Jerome studied at the military Academy in Valley Forge. He was educated in New York schools, a military school and three colleges. However, he did not show any particular success or career aspirations anywhere, which caused his father's displeasure, with whom he eventually quarreled forever. His writing career began with the publication of short stories in New York magazines. During the Second World War, the writer took part in the military operations of American troops in Europe from the very beginning of the Normandy landings. 11 years after the first publication, Salinger released his only novel, The Catcher in the Rye (1951), which met with unanimous critical acclaim and remains especially popular among high school students and students. The book was banned in several countries and in some places in the United States for depression and the use of abusive language, but now in many American schools it is included in the lists of recommended reading literature.
After the story "The Catcher in the Rye" gained deafening popularity, Salinger began to lead the life of a recluse, refusing to give interviews. After 1965 he stopped publishing, writing only for himself.
He died on January 28, 2010 in his own home in Cornish (New Hampshire, USA)\
Summary
The narration goes on behalf of a 16-year-old boy, expelled from the school for academic failure. Holden Caulfield finds no interest in teaching and in school activity: he fails four subjects out of five, and he is kicked out of school; in a trip to competitions in fencing(фехтование) he forgets the sports equipment in the subway and his friends turn away from him; relationships with classmates don’t fit, because Holden does not like their desire to seem better than they are, to pronounce what they don’t think, do what they don’t care and so on. All these lead to the fact that Holden feels very insecure in society and avoids all forms of friendship, good relations. After quarreling with the fight with his roommate, Holden decides to leave the school a few days earlier than necessary, and leaves the hostel, moving to the hotel. Trying to fill the remaining days with some kind of activity, Holden goes to bars, meets with former friends and teachers, but in everything and in all he is disappointed and hates everyone. Not enjoying anything, he tries to communicate with his sister Phoebe, with whom he had a warm relationship. Meeting with his sister brings a little relief; she remains, probably, the only person who can at least somehow influence him. In a conversation with his sister, Holden says that he would be happy to catch children over the precipice in the rye (this is a distorted poem by Burns). The book ends with Holden feeling happy when he sees his sister riding a carousel.
Main Heroes and Their Characteristics
· The main character is Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old teenager.
· Phoebe is the younger sister of the protagonist, an angelic image that has a religious background.
· Stradlater is a neighbor and a classmate.
· Jane Gallagher is the girl with whom Holden was familiar, but never found the courage to talk about his feelings with her.
· Sally Hayes is the girl of the main character.
· Allie is the brother of Holden, who died of anemia.
· Ackley is a roommate.
Main Topics of the Book
· The theme of loneliness. Holden Caulfield does not feel a spiritual kinship with anyone, so it's hard for him to learn and remain calm. His acquaintances at school are superficial, and the loss of a brother and separation from his sister weighs his soul. The author shows how dangerous it is to leave a child alone in such a period: he can turn off the road simply because he had no one to pour out his soul. Salinger, at the same time, shares a loneliness-ailment and solitude, which is a boon for a person who wants to stay away from society.
· Love. Phoebe in the novel personifies angelic selfless and selfless love. It is this feeling that should bind the family so that it can withstand the difficulties of the outside world. It also changes the main character for the better. Not the strictness of parents and not expensive schools make a person sympathetic, but sincere participation, trust, and tenderness showed to him.
· A family. The boy lacked the warmth of parental care; he was not close to his father and mother. Of course, this fact provoked his bitterness against the world of adults. From the lack of communication with them, he does not understand what kind of people they are, if they do not know "where the ducks go."
· Experience and mistakes. A teenager goes through a lot of trials and temptations, often makes the wrong steps, which he then regrets. For example, his attempt to call a prostitute into a room turned into a complete fiasco, and he regrets what he did.
· The theme of conscience. Internal moral principles help Holden stay on course.
· Unlike his self-satisfied neighbor, he doesn’t stop being a modest and naive boy. He is inclined to carefully consider even what he has already done, and check with his code of rules.
· First love. The hero falls in love with Jane, but can not say about his feelings even to himself, not talking about the girl. He starts a relationship with Sally but understands that girls are different, and he does not need any, but quite a certain girlfriend. With the help of this romanticism, he differs from Stradlater, who does not understand the inner worlds; in particular, he is only interested in the physical side of feelings.
Main Problems of The Novel
· The problem of art. The hero critically assesses the contemporary culture, disappointed in his own brother, because he exchanged his literary talent for the work of a screenwriter in Hollywood. Holden hates the cinema where the constant happy ending always wins over real life. He sees a lie in the actor's game, so he cannot calmly watch plays and films. But he has a developed taste in the book field, he writes well. In this rejection is the personal position of Salinger, who forbade(forbid –запретить) the screening of the book.
· Indifference. The narrator is amazed at how indifferent people are to each other. They speak inappropriately as if it is much more important for them to say their opinion than to listen to a person. The same issue is connected with the problem of loneliness, which forces the hero to take extreme measures. Nobody tries to understand him: teachers with their conservatism only press on nerves, neighbors, and friends are superficial and crazy about themselves.
· Selfishness. From this, in the first place, Holden suffers himself, but he sees it in anyone, just not in himself. However, narcissism recedes from the heart, inflamed by a sincere attachment to another person, and this problem is obviously solved.
· Cowardice. The hero is afraid of himself and the world around him, for this reason, he is so inspired by the prospect of saving children from falling: he feels himself to be this child. He wants to hide his timidity by any means: heprepares to escape, tries to plunge into alcohol and debauchery, just to prove to himself that he is not a coward.
· Falsity and hypocrisy. The narrator, though he feels falseness in other people, himself is betrayed by an ugly and senseless lie. He describes this condition as a disease: he wants, but cannot stop. But if his lie has no selfish motives and flows itself, then his friend Stradlater, for example, has a well-thought-out manner of communication with the ladies, within which he shamelessly lies even in intonations, grimaces and facial expressions.
Morality
The author teaches us sincere love and willingness to be responsible for it. For this reason, selfless love of Phoebe softened the nihilism of the hero, returned him home and dissolved his egoism in his happy laugh. In addition, D. Salinger is very sensitive to falsehood, hates lies and convicts it with Holden's lips. He, like his character, concludes: you need to be more afraid of hypocrisy and deception; they are driving you into a dead end. Only the disarming sincerity of a small child can touch the ice of a heart, rather than the high-flown sermons of marasmic teachers or the artificial passion of corrupt women. The lies nearly confused Colfeld himself, for which he executed himself in his thoughts, and he was embarrassed. However, in the finals, he realized that in order to speak the truth, you do not need to be brave; you just need to remain yourself.
На русском
Джером Дэвид Сэлинджер - американский писатель, классик американской литературы XX века. Сэлинджер родился 1 января 1919 года в Нью-Йорке в еврейско-ирландской семье. Его отец, богатый торговец Соломон Сэлинджер, стремился дать сыну хорошее образование. В юности Джером учился в военной академии в Вэлли-Фордж. Он получил образование в нью-йоркских школах, военном училище и трех колледжах. Однако он нигде не проявлял особых успехов или карьерных устремлений, что вызвало неудовольствие его отца, с которым он в конце концов поссорился навсегда. Его писательская карьера началась с публикации коротких рассказов в нью-йоркских журналах. Во время Второй мировой войны писатель принимал участие в военных действиях американских войск в Европе с самого начала высадки в Нормандии. Через 11 лет после первой публикации Сэлинджер выпустил свой единственный роман "Над пропастью во ржи" (1951), который получил единодушное признание критиков и остается особенно популярным среди старшеклассников и студентов. Книга была запрещена в нескольких странах и в некоторых местах в Соединенных Штатах за депрессию и использование ненормативной лексики, но сейчас во многих американских школах она включена в списки рекомендуемой литературы для чтения.
После того как рассказ "Над пропастью во ржи" приобрел оглушительную популярность, Сэлинджер стал вести жизнь затворника, отказываясь давать интервью. После 1965 года он перестал публиковаться, писал только для себя.
Он умер 28 января 2010 года в своем собственном доме в Корнише (штат Нью-Гэмпшир, США).\
Саммари
Повествование ведется от имени 16-летнего мальчика, исключенного из школы за неуспеваемость. Холден Колфилд не проявляет интереса к преподаванию и школьной деятельности: он проваливает четыре предмета из пяти, и его выгоняют из школы; в поездке на соревнования по фехтованию (фехтование) он забывает спортивный инвентарь в метро, и его друзья отворачиваются от него; отношения с одноклассниками не складываются, потому что Холдену не нравится их желание казаться лучше, чем они есть, произносить то, что они не думают, делать то, что им все равно и так далее. Все это приводит к тому, что Холден чувствует себя очень неуверенно в обществе и избегает всех форм дружбы, хороших отношений. Поссорившись с дракой со своим соседом по комнате, Холден решает покинуть школу на несколько дней раньше, чем необходимо, и покидает общежитие, переезжая в отель. Пытаясь заполнить оставшиеся дни какой-нибудь деятельностью, Холден ходит по барам, встречается с бывшими друзьями и учителями, но во всем и во всем он разочарован и всех ненавидит. Ничем не наслаждаясь, он пытается общаться со своей сестрой Фиби, с которой у него были теплые отношения. Встреча с сестрой приносит небольшое облегчение; она остается, наверное, единственным человеком, который может хоть как-то повлиять на него. В разговоре со своей сестрой Холден говорит, что был бы счастлив поймать детей над пропастью во ржи (это искаженное стихотворение Бернса). Книга заканчивается тем, что Холден чувствует себя счастливым, когда видит, как его сестра катается на карусели.