Blog 45

Question five asks..."How does this novel reflect the history, behavior and social issues of the time period and setting? What is this book's symbolic and thematic significance?" The first part of the question is actualy a very difficult question to answer for the book Catcher in the Rye. It is so difficult because there is not much happening in the book having to do with history and social issues during the time period that it was written. The Catcher in the Rye was written in the late 1940s or early 1950s in New York, which is also the exact setting of the book. Written by J.D. Sallinger.

During the late 1940's and early 1950's some very important events occured. In the 1940's the first nuclear bomb was created which drastically changed relationships to all the countries in the world and who had power based on who had the nuclear bomb. Also World War II was coming to a close in the 1940's and the cold war was just begenning. In real life of this time period there was a lot of hostility in the world. I suppose some people are hostil to Holden in the book because he will not grow up. That is pretty much the only thing that I can relate to the history and social issues going on during the time period in which the Catcher in the Rye was written.

There is some important thematic significance int the book however. The book's theme is all about growing up. It is all about the difficulty of growing up and how HOlden just is torn and does not know what to do because there is pros and cons for both growing up and staying immature. He wants to do adult things such as drink. They serve him so many drinks that he gets absolutely drunk (Salinger 149). The theme that develops is the maturing process. Holden is just stuck between a child and an adult. He really does want to move foward and become mature, but he does not want to lose some of the things you have as a child, such as innocence.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1991. Print.