1. The Catcher in the Rye

2. Background 1950’s

3. 1950’s Slang Back Seat Bingo Bad News Big Daddy Cranked
Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’
Fake Out
Get With It
Pooper
Razz My Berries
Making out in a car
Depressing person
Older person
Excited
Looking for trouble
Bad date
Understand
No fun at all
Excite or impress me

4. Background 1950’s Homogenous Society
“Nuclear family”
Father as dominant role
Mother as subservient
Conforming to what is socially acceptable
Unrealistic perception

5. Background 1950’s Post WWII America Economy in upswing after WWII
Start of Hollywood prominence
Full length films, news clips
Films were escape from reality

6. Background 1950’s: Television
I Love Lucy
Happy Days
Westerns
Leave it to Beaver
Encouraged father as head of household, breadwinner
Presents life free from problems

7. Background 1950’s: Fashion
Women
Poodle skirts
Saddle shoes
Pedal pushers
Cashmere sweaters
Men
Black leather jacket
Sweater vests
Rolled white t- shirts
“Peg legs”

8. 1950’s Clothing: Women

9. 1950’s Clothing: Men

10. 1950’s The Cost of Living 1958 House Income Gas Stamp New Ford car
$30,000
$4,650
$.24
$.04
$1967-$3629

11. 1950’s Music
Elvis
Buddy Holly
Perry Como
Frank Sinatra

12. 1950’s Culture 1950’s Home Economic Book
“Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking of him and are concerned about his needs.”
“Prepare yourself. Take fifteen minutes to rest so that you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day might need a lift.”

13. 1950’s Culture
“Some Dont’s: Don’t greet him with problems or complaints. Don’t complain if he is late for dinner. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest that he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft soothing pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.”
“Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other pleasant entertainment. Instead try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to unwind and relax.”

14. J.D. Salinger 1919- 2010 Dropped out of college
Dad sent him to Austria to learn sausage making
Left only 1 month before Hitler took over
Jewish
Served in the military- WWII
D-Day, concentration camps
3 brief marriages- 1 daughter and 1 son
grew up in a wealthy family- New York, Manhattan
attended many prep schools, graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy
Father was Jewish, mom changed name to pass as Jewish
Didn’t find out until after his Bar Mitzvah
In Military was present on D-Day and one of first soldiers to liberate concentration camps
Dated Oona O’Neill while in military – she married Charlie Chaplin
Married Sylvia and then Claire whom he had daughter Margaret with

15. J.D. Salinger Little known about him
Practiced Zen Buddhism & other obscure branches of Hinduism
Unwanted information published about him
Said to have suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome from the war
Lives as a recluse
Strictly adhered to Buddhism and Hinduism- obscure sects eventually Christian Science
Gave reading lists to dates
Sect that practiced celibacy and detachment from society
One practiced fasting and vomiting to remove impurities
Made 2nd Wife, Claire, drop out of school 4 months before she would graduate
she became frustrated with isolation and his constant changing beliefs
According to Margaret, her mother admitted to her years later that she went "over the edge" in the winter of 1957 and had made plans to murder her thirteen-month-old infant and then commit suicide. Claire had intended to do it during a trip to New York City with Salinger, but she instead acted on a sudden impulse to take Margaret from the hotel and run away.
had long-term relationship when 53 with 18 year old ended when she wanted kids and he thought he was too old

16. J.D. Salinger Published short story in the New Yorker
“Slight Rebellion of Madison”
Short story spawned Holden Caulfield and The Catcher in the Rye
Refusal to sign rights for film adaptation
“Nine Stories” 1953

17. J.D. Salinger
Published 1951
Immediately successful- 30 weeks best seller list
Somewhat autobiographical
Most frequently banned book from
language and content
parents and religious groups
Said to corrupt youth
237 "goddamn," 58 "bastards,” 31 "Chrissakes," and 6 "fuck”.
1970’s teacher fired for teaching it

18. The Catcher in the Rye Bildungsroman
Novel of education; moral, psychological or social development and growth of the main character, usually from childhood to maturity
Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

19. The Catcher in the Rye
Praised for capturing the voice of an adolescent prep school boy
Voice of depressed and isolated teen
Holden: idealist, moralist, romantic

20. Background 48 hours in life of Holden Fails out of Pency Prep -
leaves for NY city
His disgust with the social norms of society
How easily man accepts vulgar environment