The Catcher in the Rye

Why would the author have Holden recount those details to the reader? What does the author hope to accomplish?

Holden Caulfield focuses many times on rather minute details in life- some are important and others are of no importance.

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Yes, this is an interesting question. I suppose Holden's choice of what to tell us about is what draws readers to him all these years. The very beginning of the book Holden starts out by telling us that details about his "lousy" childhood and “all that David Copperfield kind of crap” would bore us. Instead he would rather tell us about his brother D.B in Hollywood who is "busy being a prostitute." Who wouldn't want to read further? Holden is a boy who cuts though the crap but, at the same time, is full of it as well. It is a wonderful paradox that is reflected in his choice of topics to elaborate on. Holden is all about the hypocrisy in life so when he goes on about his “phoney” roommate we understand that this is important to him. It is what makes Holden the anti-hero we like so much.