As a soldier in WWII, J.D. Salinger did not write about the war like his counterparts. He wrote about tragedy, but from a teenage perspective in the shape of Holden Caulfield. Through the psychological theory of trauma in J.D. Salinger’s The...

The most fundamental human beliefs are often expressed in unconventional ways, and Holden Caulfield is the embodiment of this aspect of human nature. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is an easy character to relate to...

In an interview with The Millions, Teju Cole was quick to state that Salinger’s American classic The Catcher in the Rye is “one of the not-often-noticed shadows” (Morton, 2014) of his debut novel, Open City. At face value this statement simply...

...books, books. Tall cases lined three walls of the room, filled to and beyond capacity. The overflow had been piled in stacks on the floor. There was little space left for walking, and none whatever for pacing.

-J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey

As...

In his novel Franny and Zooey, Salinger effectively portrays the troubled lifestyles of the Glass family, particularly those of Franny and Zooey, the two youngest Glass children. These two characters were raised with an education that promoted...

J.D. Salinger's novel Franny and Zooey features various members of the Glass Family, and, while the two stories were originally published independently, one cannot ignore their combined significance. Seven years after the suicide of their eldest...

By the 1950s, classical stylings in literature had been all but abandoned by American writers. Poets and novelists were bent on revolutionizing literature by rejecting traditional stylings and standards. After seemingly every arbitrary limit to...

In J.D. Salinger's Nine Stories, the author forces his readers to think and reflect, and to avoid simply taking any story at its face value. This is exemplified by the Zen koan he places at the very beginning of the book. Though we are never...

The core battle in the modern Feminist movement has been the battle against set gender roles. Women no longer feel that it is mandatory for them to be a mother and a housewife simply because they were born female, or that it is a man's role to be...

Time surges relentlessly, uncontrollably, and all too irrevocably for Buddy Glass in J.D. Salinger’s “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters” and “Seymour: An Introduction.” Ever since his older brother Seymour’s death, Buddy has struggled to piece...

Although sometimes minute details are as they appear, in the short stories “Seven People Dancing” by Langston Hughes and “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by J. D. Salinger the minute details paint a larger picture of social alienation. Through the...

By the 1950s, classical stylings in literature had been all but abandoned by American writers. Poets and novelists were bent on revolutionizing literature by rejecting traditional stylings and standards. After seemingly every arbitrary limit to...

Composers draw on their political and social milieu in the representations of people and politics which align with their contextual purpose and hence, such representations are inherently manipulated to serve a particular agenda. Such is...

The process of discovery is often catalyzed by a provocative environment which compels the individual’s opposition to existing values, engendering the realization of one’s own ideas, inherently encouraging the formation of renewed perceptions of...