Abstract

Jerome David Salinger is one of the most significant Amercian novelists in the American literary history. His famous novel, The Catcher in the Rye, vividly shows us an image of a teenager after Second World War. It is intended to reflect the World War II confusing contradictions of American youth's outlook on life and morality, revealing the American young people's inner world of loneliness and helplessness. The novel follows Holden’s experiences in New York City in the days after his expulsion from Pencey. In this novel, Great changes have taken place to Holden’s mental activity and his personality also changes gradually. 

The Catcher in the Rye leads the new trend of contemporary American literature. It has acquired the great reputation of Salinger Industry because of the number of essays and monographs published. From then on, people have done some kinds of researches on the protagonist and on the intrinsic meaning and so on. Nevertheless, when resolving this novel from the angle of marginal characteristics, most reviewers focus on the way of rebellion of the protagonist. This paper will analyse the novel from the angle of marginal characteristics and make a thorough inquiry of its reasons after reading it carefully. On the basis of previous researches, I will try to explain the marginal characteristics of Holden according to three aspects: cowardliness and passiveness, isolation from society and language characteristics. There are few related researches about the last point when referring to Holden's marginality both at home and abroad, so I will give emphasis on the argument. Through the research, it helps readers better understand the protagonist's image, especially the inner world. Besides, it can make the readers know the teenagers' mental state in the 1950s as well as the author's intention of creating the image of Holden.

Key words: Jerome David Salinger; Holden; marginal characteristics; Second World War.

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 Background and Objectives-1

1.2 Significance of the Study-2

2. Literature Review and Theoretic Framework-2

2.1 Marginal Characteristics-2

2.2 Research Situation-2

3. Cowardliness and Passiveness-3

3.1 A Yellow and Impatient Guy-3

3.2 Anxiety Disorder and Dissatisfaction-3

4. Isolation From Society-4

4.1 Loneliness-4

4.2 Escaping From the Reality-5

5. Language Characteristics-6

6. Conclusion-7

References-9