J.D. Salinger (author of
The Catcher in the Rye) and Holden Caulfield (protagonist of
The Catcher in the Rye) have many unique similarities. Some examples of these similarities include: they both wanted to live reclusively, they were both unsure about their own religious beliefs, they had influential English teachers, and neither did well in school.
J.D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield both wanted to live reclusively. After the success, controversies, and general attention that involved his main novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger opted to abandon nearly everything and live reclusively. He managed to convince Claire Douglas, who later became his wife, to go along with him. Salinger did not participate in an interview for the last thirty years of his life. In Holden’s case, he wanted to live reclusively but he never achieved it entirely – he was not physically a recluse, but through his thoughts he was one. His desire to physically become a recluse was portrayed through the fantasies that he had. The first one involved taking Sally Hayes with him and living in a cabin next to a forest. The second one was a lot like the first one, with the exceptions that he does not take Sally with him, he pretends to be deaf-mute (in order to not interact with society), and if by any chance he gets married and has kids, he would hide the kids from society and teach them the simple things that they need to know – such as reading and writing – by himself.
The difficulty that J.D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield have of figuring out their religion is one of their similarities. Salinger’s wife, Claire Douglas, claims that he changed religion quite often. When young, Salinger was taught Judaism but later he found out his parents were not actually Jewish. When an adult, he proceeded to practice many different and rare religions and spiritual beliefs such as Kriya yoga, Christian Science, acupuncture, macrobiotics, and Dianetics. Claire Douglas hypothesized that he changed religions often because “it was to cover the fact that Jerry had just destroyed or junked or couldn't face the quality of, or couldn't face publishing, what he had created." Holden’s struggles to figure out his religion where introduced when he was talking to the nuns. He does not think he is a true Catholic because he never attends church and he hates all of the apostles. However, he has read the Bible, and he does believe in Jesus. Holden’s religious struggles continue even further when he talks about how, for Catholics, it is a mayor difficulty to become friends with someone who is not Catholic like they are.
Another similarity between J.D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield is that they both had very influential English teachers. For J.D. Salinger it was Whit Burnett. He was the instructor of his writing class at Columbia University. Whit Burnett published one of Salinger’s stories in Story magazine, a magazine that Burnett edited for a long time. Whit Burnett mentored J.D. Salinger for many years, but the connection was lost when Salinger was drafted into World War II. For Holden Caulfield, it was Mr. Antolini. Antolini was one of Holden’s teachers when he attended Elkton Hills. Despite leaving Elkton, he kept Mr. Antolini’s number in his address book. After being kicked out of Pencey, Holden calls Antolini and eventually visits him. He provides him with some sage advice on how he must try harder in school, and how he should begin to measure the size of his brain so that he knows what type of thoughts his brain is capable of processing. Although this appeared to be completely overlooked by Holden when he leaves Mr. Antolini’s apartment, Holden began to think about what Mr. Antolini had advised him when he has second thoughts about leaving the apartment thinking Antolini was a flit.
Lastly, J.D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield both struggled to do well in school. The vast majority of J.D. Salinger’s schools attended (eventually dropped out of) came when he was studying in universities, unlike Holden. Salinger was expelled from one school, attended another, and then graduated from high-school. However, when he was enrolled in university, he dropped out in the spring. He later attended four different universities. Holden has attended four different high-schools up to this point, his academic future in terms of if he will be kicked out of his most recent school, is still unknown. Holden was kicked out of Whooton School, Elkton Hills, and most recently, Pencey Prep. According to Mr. Antolini, one of Holden’s former teachers, Holden is a bright student that is capable of accomplishing good grades in school, but he struggles because he does not try hard enough due to the fact that he is surrounded by “phonies,” which can be traced back to the amount of expensive schools that he has attended because of his parents’ wealth.
J.D. Salinger and his infamous character, Holden Caulfield, have various similarities which include the fact that they both lived reclusively, they both struggled to find out their religion, they both had influential English teachers, and they both switched schools often because they didn’t get good grades. With so many similarities between the character of a novel and the author of the novel, it brings us to believe that Holden Caulfield is not such a fictional character after all....
