Catcher In The Rye Essays (Examples)

Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. The writer discusses the isolation that is experienced by the protagonist Holden and how that isolation is illustrated in the book.

In today's world teenagers are said to have a harder time than those of yesteryear. Many experts disagree with this statement and point to J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye to illustrate that teens have historically had a hard time finding their way before bursting onto adulthood ready to live (Elkind pg 24). When teens become lost and isolated, both in fictional works, such as Catcher in the Rye and in real life it is often because they have not had limits or boundaries according to the experts. "Without such limits, values, and leadership, young people drifted into states that bordered on mental illness. Holden Caulfield, the hero of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, is an example of such a rudder-less modern adolescent. " Holden suffered from extreme isolation and as the book develops it is easy to see the path by which it happened. His isolation began because of neglect but by the time he was firmly in his teen years he was the driver of his own brand of…… [Read More]

Catcher in the Rye Perspectives

With such a vivid description of this densely populated, and optimistic city on the east coast during a time of growth and construction itself after the Great Depression of the 1930's, this element leaves a reader to focus in on the lead character here. Plus, elements such as his age and his "red hunting hat" demonstrate that he will direly hold on to that sense of self. However, his demand to defend and preserve that sense of self is hat excludes him from the world, prevents him from interacting, and therefore makes him feel both left out and victimized.

Readers can see that Holden Caulfield's alienation is the cause of most of his pain. He is his own restraint and self-absorbed sense is what blinds him. At times, he has an inflated sense of superiority, but more often than not he feels unwanted and unwelcome.

On the other hand, the title quote in this book demonstrates his compassion and that he is concerned for the well-being of others. He tells Phoebe, a girl that he has known for quite a while, that he would like to see himself as a "catcher in the rye" so he can catch the children…… [Read More]

Catcher in the Rye and Conformity

Antolini when he takes refuge on the man's sofa. He is rude to the girls to whom he is attracted, showing a discomfort and immaturity regarding his sexuality. The only person to whom Holden can relate is little sister Phoebe.

When imagining a future for himself, Holden can only envision becoming a 'catcher in the rye.' This imaginary occupation is someone who prevents children playing in rye fields from falling off a nearby cliff. The cliff symbolizes a 'fall' from innocence into the worldly corruption of adulthood. Holden does not want to grow up: he only feels happy when not moving forward, as symbolized by his enjoyment of watching Phoebe going in circles on a carousel in the park. He does not want to conform but he cannot imagine a way of growing up in a non-conformist, non-'phony' way.

Holden is alienated from society, but because he is still young, he can only rebel in ineffectual ways, like 'running away,' getting drunk or failing in school. His visions of the future are unrealistic, rather than offer constructive ways to rebel. He does not like the world but cannot change the world, and he does not fully understand why his school,…… [Read More]

Catcher in the Rye Truth and Innocence

Because Salinger allows him to stay in that world, we can cling to Holden as a pleasant memory.

The Catcher in the Rye is told from Holden's perspective and this aspect of the novel allows it to remain innocent and suspended in time, so to speak. Holden is like Peter Pan in that he does not wantr to grow up but he is facing the glorious future that includes his grownup self. Readers can read this novel and remember feeling this way themselves, reviving their bond with Holden. In reality, we must all grow up and shed some part of the innocent of youth. Holden remains young and forever clinging to that which must eventually fade away. He represents a certain sadness associated with growing up because the truth he must face is not easy. However, there is not much to be done for the innocence that dies with youth. The world survives because people mature and make grownup decisions to keep things running -- from households to entire countries. "The Catcher in the Rye" captures a moment, an essence of a boy, perhaps just moments before he surrenders to the ways of the world. Salinger created the perfect character…… [Read More]

Catcher in the Rye Novel by J D Salinger

An author is controlled by language just as much as he or she controls language when writing. The meanings imbued in a text do not belong to the author; they are universal human meanings. Authors are therefore not as omniscient as readers often imagine them to be. Coincidental with the "death of the author," then is the "birth of the reader." Readers are empowered by critical understandings of text that acknowledge an author's fallibility and bias. Authors are assumed to have authority.

Foucault suggested that the author as a powerful figure is a historical construction. The role and the idea of the author varies from situation to situation but also varies across different cultures and across time. Foucault also pointed out that ancient manuscripts were often circulated without authorial attributions. The author as a powerful entity matters most in societies in which the law protects intellectual property. In other words, authorship is bound up with historical and social as well as economic constructs. Readers may also feel comforted when reading a text that can be placed squarely within a certain context.

Contemporary literary theory and analysis draw from diverse fields like psychoanalysis, linguistics, ethnology, and feminism. Each of these disciplines…… [Read More]

Individual vs Society in Catcher in the Rye and Anthem

'How else can men be when they live for their brothers?'" (Rand 151) Not only is there no separation between self and others but also living for others without thinking for one's self or tolerating disagreement, living in a kind of frozen state of agreement, is considered normal. Instead, Equality 7-2521 finally "discovers my will, my freedom. And the greatest of these is freedom. I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask none to live for me, nor do I live for anyone." (Rand 237)

Equality 7-2521 must break every rule and constraint of his society to realize his basic humanity. To lose one's individuality is not a stage of development in Rand's future, it is the norm -- but a perverted norm that Equality 7-2521 must defy. What strikes Holden as perverse, however, often has more to do with Holden's anger at himself than the realities of the world. Holden doubts his intelligence, refuses to turn in assignments, and gets kicked out of school -- and blames the school. Holden fears growing up and being rejected by his parents, so he dreams of remaining a child. Although Holden is emotionally sympathetic as…… [Read More]

Work of Literature The Catcher in the Rye

Catcher in the Rye, a novel by J.D. Salinger, is the story of Holden Caulfield, a cynical sixteen-year-old with prematurely gray hair that appears older than his age. Holden is caught at the awkward age between adolescence and adulthood. Set in the 1940s, the story begins with Holden recovering from a breakdown stemming from his expulsion from Pencey Prep School. Holden has already flunked out of three other schools. This man/child is torn between his desire to take on the trappings of adulthood and his desire to preserve the innocence of childhood. The title is a reference to the way Holden sees the world and his desire to protect its purity.

Salinger's book concerns the isolation of adolescences and the personal struggle that one goes through during the quest to establish one's identity. I believe this novel's universal appeal lies in the fact that it addresses feelings that are common among young adults of all cultures. Holden's has a sensitivity that keeps him from finding his place in the world. This makes the character readily identifiable to many, teenagers as well as those who have memories of those days.

Holden's perspective on life keeps him from readily making friends. He…… [Read More]

Salinger's Edgy Book Catcher in the Rye

Catcher in the Rye

Troubled Teen Kicked out of Pency Prep, Rejects Adult World, Seeks Meaning in NY

Gordon's Books in Manhattan

212-555-READSixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who lost his fencing team's equipment on a New York City subway -- and caused the match to be cancelled -- has been dismissed from Pency Prep and is seeking emotional and psychological shelter in New York. Caulfield, still grieving over the death of his ten-year-old brother Allie -- who died of complications resulting from a struggle with leukemia -- has now failed to meet the requirements of three prep schools. Asked about the nature of his discomfort regarding attending these schools, the teen says that "Everybody sticks together in these dirty little cliques…even the guys that belong to the goddamn Book-of-the-Month Club stick together…" (131)

A reporter asked Caulfield what he has done in New York City now that he has been unsuccessful in prep school and is visiting the "Big Apple." He said he is both distressed and depressed and he feels like the whole world is a phony place. He reports that he danced with several women in his hotel lounge on his first night in New York, hoping to strike up…… [Read More]

Catcher in the Rye Questions

1. "I can't see anything religious or pretty, for God's sake, about a bunch of actors carrying crucifixes all over the stage" (137). ironic in his rejection of martyrs.

2. "we looked at the stuff the Indians had made in ancient times" (118). This simplicity makes Holden happy

3. "They gave me Out of Africa" (18). Allusion to a more mysterious and exotic place, but escape is still desired (implied in the title)

4)

"the trouble with girls is, if they like a boy, no matter how big a bastard he is, they'll say he has an inferiority complex" (136). Ironic because Holden does, and desperately wants to be liked by a girl.

5)

Both the rain and snow quotes above exemplify this, as does the rain at the end

6)

Loneliness is destructive, but company isn't always much better.

7)

The book is told from Holden's point-of-view, looking back.

8)

Holden's handkerchief, page 56 (and others). A symbol for genteelly masking the truth.

9)

"nose is bleeding" (56). Foreshadows being beaten by Maurice.

"I can drink all night and not even show it" (90). Foreshadows him showing it in a big way.

10)

Blue is a…… [Read More]

Catcher in the Rye Questions

Sets up the fact that no one can really be trusted.

f. "They were always showing Columbus discovering America" (120). Shows Holden's disillusionment with the world and discovery.

g. "told her I was going to South America with my grandmother" (58). Illustrates his conception of exoticism; depth/scope of imagination

5)

Antolini's (possible) sexual advance -- ironic because it is what Holden was seeking from girls through much of the book, found unsought and unwanted with this man

6)

The rain in the final scene matches the mood and acts as a purifier for Holden.

7)

"I let it drop. It was over her head anyway" (72). One of the major themes is Holden's arrogance and perception of his own wisdom compared to everyone else's.

8)

The point-of-view is first person, but looking back on the events after they have passed -- not long after, either, given the tone of the book.

9)

Being a Catholic. Occurs many times, but especially page 112. Relates to fitting in, having a group and a place, etc.

10)

Holden's wanting his sister to cry and hating her foreshadows the rain and happiness that come together a few pages later. The decision to leave school…… [Read More]

Bird in the House and The Catcher in the Rye

Bird in the House and the Catcher in the Rye

Both J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye and Margaret Laurence's collection of interrelated stories A Bird in the House highlight the struggles of the main characters as they come of age in unforgiving times with largely unsympathetic families, but the ways in which either character deals with these issues differ greatly, and comparing the two will help to reveal the particular statements each narrative makes about growing up and coming of age.

Holden Caulfield, the central character of The Catcher in the Rye, does not deal with his journey into adulthood well, not least of all because more than anything he desires to keep others from having to leave their childhood behind, and wants to become the titular catcher in the rye, catching children before they fall off a cliff that is adulthood. Of course, even Holden's desire to be a "catcher in the rye" belies the fact that he has not really even entered adulthood, but is rather still a child mostly playing at being an adult; Holden mishears a poem and believes it is about one person "catching" another in a field rye, rather than two…… [Read More]

Catcher in the Rye

Catcher in the Rye, a novel by J.D. Salinger, is the story of Holden Caulfield, a cynical sixteen-year-old with prematurely gray hair that appears older than his age. Holden is caught at the awkward age between adolescence and adulthood. Set in the 1950s, the story begins with Holden recovering from a breakdown stemming from his expulsion from Pencey Prep School. Holden has already flunked out of three other schools. This man/child is torn between his desire to take on the trappings of adulthood and his desire to preserves the innocence of childhood. The title is a reference to the way Holden sees the world and his desire to preserve its purity.

The scene in which the author reveals the source of the book's title takes place in Chapter 22. Holden has left school and snuck back into his parents Manhattan apartment. He is speaking with his ten-year-old sister Phoebe in his older brother's bedroom. Phoebe is six years Holden's junior, yet in many aspects has a superior understanding of him and the ways of the world. She is distraught that Holden has been expelled from another school, "Daddy's going to kill you. He's going to kill you" (p. 224).

As…… [Read More]

Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye was first published in 1951. The novel deals with the issues of identity, belonging, connection and alienation. This paper will review five articles written on the novel.

"Holden's Irony in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye"

This article by Lisa Privitera was published in Explicator in 2008. The article postulates that the irony of Holden Cauldfield is that the harder he tries to keep his family and friends at arm's length, the closer he comes to making unexpected discoveries about them and even himself.

This article points out that Holden has a sensitivity that keeps him from finding his place in the world. This makes the character readily identifiable to many teenagers. The character's perspective on life keeps him from readily making friends. He also wants nothing to do with the "phonies" who inhabit the adult world. And though Holden claims he wants to be left alone, more than anything he wants to make a connection with someone. He attempts to connect with Jane, Sally, and finally a prostitute, each encounter ending in failure.

He has no real friends at Percey. Other than his sister, Phoebe, he has…… [Read More]

Salinger Is an American Literary Treasure Best

Salinger is an American literary treasure, best known for his novella Catcher in the Rye. However, Catcher in the Rye is but one of many in the canon of Salinger works. Salinger's short stories have recently garnered renewed attention because several unpublished Salinger stories were leaked online in November of 2013, three years after the author's death (Runcie, 2013). Salinger died a recluse, and a man of mystery who was as much an American antihero as Holden Caulfield of Catcher in the Rye. There have been numerous cultural allusions of Salinger's iconic novel and its quintessentially postmodern protagonist. Although no film has ever been made directly from the story of Catcher in the Rye, Morgan (2010) points out that there have been allusions to Salinger stories in films like The Collector (1965) and Six Degrees of Separation (1993). Additionally, a 2013 documentary film about J.D. Salinger promises to reveal the multiple personas of one of America's most loved writers. Themes like alienation and the futility of Western material culture recur in Salinger's short stories.

Salinger's short stories might not be as famous as Catcher in the Rye, but they say just as much about the author's cultural and historical context.…… [Read More]

How Characters Interact with Society

J.D. Salinger: How the Characters in His Books Interact With Society of the Time in Which They Were Written

The objective of this study is to examine the writings of J.D. Salinger. In addition, this study will examine how the characters of Salinger in his books interacted with society of the time in which they were written. J.D. Salinger's characters interacted with the society of that time through drawing the society into the stories and becoming a part of the daily lives of those who read Salinger's books.

One of the most popular works of J.D. Salinger is a 1951 novel entitled "The Catcher in the Rye." This book was an adult publication originally, that has since become a favorite of teenaged and adolescent readers. Salinger's characters became almost a well-known friend to readers of his books. For example, when the book entitled "Hapworth" was published by Salinger in 1924, Malcolm (2013) reports that this "very long and very strange story…was greeted with unhappy even embarrassed silence." (p.1)

Salinger did not miss a punch in his works whether he was making the readers love him, resent him, or even as was in the case of some of his works reported…… [Read More]

Ambiguity in American Literature

Sylvia Plath explores ambiguity from the perspective of a woman living in a man's world in The Bell Jar. Esther receives different messages about who she is and who she wants to be. Society tells her to be the good wife and mother but she never adapts well to this notion. She feels ambivalence toward most of the women she meets and ultimately feels pulled in different directions when it comes to expectations and desires. The conflict Esther experiences results from what society expects from "good girls." The article Mrs. Greenwood sends her exposes the hypocrisy she cannot ignore. The article explains how a "man's world was different than a woman's world and a man's emotions are different than a woman's emotions" (Plath 65). The notion of women being pure as the wind-driven snow and submitting to the will of their husbands becomes more of a burden than anything else to Esther. Esther knew omen could be talented and independent but they were also expected to live for their families and the lines between those two worlds was at best ambiguous for Esther.

In Richard Heller's novel, Catch 22, Heller observes ambiguity through radically different characters experiencing the same war.…… [Read More]

Salinger Tracing Expressions of Post-War

" Both of these statements are quite arguably true, yet both also smack of the immature self-assuredness that belies the innocence of the speaker, and it is this aspect of the girl -- her very pretensions to adulthood that, in effect, render her a more honest adult than most real adults -- that the narrator of the story seems to find the most interesting and appealing. As the girl is only beginning to glimpse the lack of innocence that accompanies growing up, and appears to be enjoying it, the narrator is able to travel the reverse course and rediscover an innocence thought lost.

This rediscovery happens in a far more direct way at the end of the story, when the narration has switched primarily to a third person, until Sergeant X -- who is obviously embittered, somewhat shattered, and generally disconnected from his life -- receives a letter form Esme. The note rekindles a sense of connection with the protagonist, breaking through the isolation that is building throughout the latter half of the story and reestablishing some hope in humanity for this main character. His sudden falling asleep after reading the letter is indicative of the amount of relief and…… [Read More]

Elaborative Rehearsal Journal 3 Elaborative

The English literature course was one that I thought would be difficult. I had spent most of my schooling learning to memorize things, and the books and poems I studied in that class were too complex to memorize. Elaborative rehearsal allowed me to understand by relating characters to people I know; by relating the messages in the stories to popular phrases or axioms; and through other similar means. I found that these simple, easy-to-remember things, when accessed, then allowed me to recall all of the rest of the information I had stored about each work. I found I could remember an entire novel simply by remembering a nickname I could give a single character. Hockenbury and Hockenbury claim that elaborative rehearsal is more powerful for storing complex ideas into long-term memory. I did well on that exam, and continued to use those techniques for other exams, each of which I did well on. I seldom use maintenance rehearsal any more because it simply is not as effective.

Works… [Read More]

Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit in 1953

In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.

What can present-day people do to prevent technology from doing more harm than good? Bradbury feels that if people read books, they will learn about the history of the world and things they do not understand. Books will instruct people in new ways that do not rely on the use of technology.

Bradbury insists that the purpose of Fahrenheit 451 was not to forecast a world of doom and gloom. "I wasn't trying to predict the future," he says. "I was trying to prevent it." In one immediate sense, he failed. In 1979, he discovered that "some cubby-hole editors" had bowdlerized his book in 98 places to make it more acceptable.. One line -- "Feel like I've a hangover. God, I'm hungry" -- became "Feel like I've a headache. I'm hungry."

The changes first appeared in a 1967 edition for high-school students, but it was not until Bradbury learned of the problem a dozen years later and complained, that his publisher saw the irony of censoring a powerful anticensorship novel. "I will not go gently onto a shelf, degutted, to become a non-book," Bradbury wrote…… [Read More]

Unifies and Permeates an Entire

Short story -- A brief story where the plot drives the narrative, substantially shorter than a novel. Example: "Hills like White Elephants," by Ernest Hemingway.

Allusion -- A casual reference in one literary work to a person, place, event, or another piece of literature, often without explicit identification. It is used to establish a tone, create an indirect association, create contrast, make an unusual juxtaposition, or bring the reader into a world of references outside the limitations of the story itself. Example: "The Wasteland" by T.S. Eliot alludes to "Paradise Lost" by John Milton.

Repetition -- The repeating of a word or phrase or rhythm within a piece of literature to add emphasis. Example: The story of Agamemnon in The Odyssey by Homer.

Blank verse -- Unrhymed lines of ten syllables each with the even-numbered syllables bearing the accents, most closing resembling the natural rhythms of English speech. Example: "The Princess" by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Irony -- It can be when a character makes a statement wherein the actual meaning differs greatly from the meaning the words superficially express. Example: Hester's fall down the social ladder in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Diary -- An informal documentation of a…… [Read More]

Class Struggle

portrayed in 'Lady Chatterley's Lover'. The book is quite old and the period of happening in the book is that of the First World War. The book was written by David Herbert Lawrence, an author who did not have a very high reputation as a classic writer in English. His intention was only to make money by way using his writing skills. Considering the period in which this book was written, he had probably gone a little too far from the limits which were prevalent in those days and the book was banned from sale in many countries as it was being considered to be obscene. In some countries, the ban even progressed to exist till the period of the 1960s. The reason was due to the prevalence of obscenity in the book and that was the primary reason to make the book extremely famous.

People were not permitted to see or read the book, and this was especially restricted for young persons who were greatly attracted to the book. This gave them a lot of encouragement for breaking the discipline and going against the ban and somehow getting a chance to read and understand as to what is so…… [Read More]

Depression and Censoring the American

The very crux of the argument comes to the central point of censorship -- who must be protected and why must they be protected? Ideas, political, social, or otherwise, may be the most dangerous form of literature ever. For instance, in 19th century autocratic regimes, the ideas of Karl Marx, even Voltaire, Locke, and Jefferson were seen to be subversive because they challenged the order of things, the idea that the monarchy should rule by divine right, and that certain people had, by manifest destiny, the right to be more equal than others. So, too, do images and verbiage change over time regarding public acceptance. At the turn of the century bathing suits covered almost 90% of the human body, and a day at the beach would've been far different had some of today's skimpy G-strings or bikinis shown up. Similarly, sexual activity was hinted at from the early days of film, usually with a door closing, a fade to darkness, or a blur; audiences of the 1940s would be shocked to see nudity and depiction of sex on television.

In World War II, the media had less technology to instantly beam images into the homes of most Americans. While…… [Read More]

Advancements in the Humanities

Vietnam and the Two-Sided American Dream

The Vietnam era began under a cloud. Kennedy had inherited a government neck-deep in covert operations and rather than check the rate at which the U.S. exercised military might in foreign countries, he accelerated it. The American Empire had been doing so for nearly two decades since the end of WW2. With the Cold War in full force, the Bay of Pigs fiasco behind him, and the Cuban Missile Crisis causing panic worldwide, the last thing Americans wanted was more war. With the assassination of Kennedy in 1963 and the installation of pro-ground forces Lyndon Johnson, Americans were stripped of the carefree innocence of the 1950s. Camelot was ended. The 1960s and the 1970s became decades of radicalism in which American youth would rebel against the authoritarian tone of American foreign and domestic policy. They would rebel in their dress, in their speech, in their music, in their art, and in their ideals. The hippie movement was agrarian, earthy, and anti-imperialistic. Yet, by the 1980s, the youth of these rebellious decades had grown up -- and the 1980s became known as the decade of materialistic gluttony. Had the rebellious youth finally sold out? This…… [Read More]

Literature Critical Analysis of Russel Banks Rule of the Bone

Rule of the Bone

About the author

The author Russell Banks writes in the manner that infused his stories with a sadistic honesty and moral goodness that his characters strive to live up to. He writes in striking and most often sad tones about the drama of daily life (Anderson, eye net).

Furthermore, his themes of failure, of weakness, of the complexity of living an honest life were often desolating, but all his stories does contain a positive wisdom to them along with a sense of optimism found in the details that he carefully draws out of his characters' routine and everyday realities (Anderson, eye net). Hence, in my opinion no modern author writes more delicately about common man's uncertain search for the American grail of material ease and self-esteem than Russell Banks.

About the book

In writing Rule of the Bone the author Russell Banks took almost a year off to write the beautiful story of a working-class teenage boy who tried to cope up and keep his honesty and truthfulness undamaged even in the lack of any admirable role models (Salon.com).

Banks used his much-praised novel Rule of the Bone to plunge into the disjointed, rarely violent world…… [Read More]

Proposition Statement Even if the Media Might

Proposition Statement: Even if the media might be racist or sexist in its content, there should not be censorship of the media because of the first amendment.

Freedom of speech means freedom to disagree

Attention getting statement:

Fire!

Everyone knows that shouting fire in a crowded theater is not only morally wrong, it's also against the law. It's the classic argument against full freedom of speech. According to Chief Justice Holmes, as discussed in the history of the Supreme Court, The Brethren, the justice said that freedom of speech cannot be absolute, because for instance you can't shout fire in a crowded theater and call that free speech. But although most people might agree with him about that, still that doesn't mean that you can make that analogy with every restriction of free speech.

Preview

The problem:

Why restrict freedom of speech at all? The problem today, some might say, is that increasingly, we are seeing exploitative media that contains violence, vulgar images and language against women and members of minority groups.

The cause:

The cause of this is complex. Many people wish to simply blame modern, popular culture. But the sources of this problem trace back as far as…… [Read More]

How Taxi Driver Affirms the Male Gaze

Bazin, Mulvey, the "Male Gaze," and Taxi Driver

The claim that Taxi Driver refutes Bazin's photographic/realist notion of cinema and affirms Mulvey's idea of the "male gaze" is valid when one considers the film in light of the "lens" of director Scorsese and his journey for the hero Travis Bickle. On the surface, it is a film about the "real" streets of New York City and the "real life" of an individual teetering on the brink of insanity while he drives strangers in his cab through the streets of Manhattan. But below the surface is a film that is pure fantasy and that projects the male gaze on to the viewer and obliges the audience to witness the world through the eyes of the male protagonist and to interpret the world from his isolated point-of-view. At the same time, Bazin's notion of cinema cannot be wholly discounted because what makes Taxi Driver so convincing in spite of its affirmation of the "male gaze" is precisely that it sets about depicting in realistic fashion, that is, in the genre of cinema verite, the real life of an individual like Travis Bickle. Yet, while Scorsese aims to transcend genre and produce a…… [Read More]

Parenting in Henry James's Novels

Henry James's work is not only a book about bad parenting, as it is not a book about relationships. It is about a fragmented and decadent society where normal values, such as caring for your child and offering her a loving home, become relative. This relativism of values leaves the character without a norm and without intrinsic knowledge about doing what is right.

Maisie's parents are not necessarily bad people in a complex meaning of the concept of "bad," just as Mrs. Wix, no matter how much the reader gets attached to her because of the way she adores Maisie, is not a sublimely good person. At least, despite developing interesting characters, James's objective is not to define good and bad and categorize his characters accordingly. I believe his goal is to see what the characters are doing and how they are behaving in a particular societal context, namely that of the end of the Victorian era.

Before developing this thesis and analyzing how Henry James develops character decadence in relation with the societal ambient through the use of blending the character's speech with the narration itself (Sethi, 2010), it is useful to look at how this technique is used…… [Read More]