The Story Catcher in the Rye

THE STORY

A White Canvas is not Simple.

Mr. Salinger wrote The Catcher in the Rye to challenge its readers. To make them look harder, deeper and critically about what the story means. He wants us to challenge the text and our own selves, to connect in different layers to the story and Holden. Throughout the whole development of the story, we are introduced to Holden and who he is. However, do we actually get to know who he is? Holden is constantly lying, using foul language and muffing several thoughts into one thing. Holden admits to us readers several times that he is a liar, a pessimistic being and an idiot. However, he tends to act sometimes the opposite, which leaves us readers to decide if what he says is true, honest and real. If what happened is what actually happened.

Because of this, I decided to create "The Caulfield Gallery". A selection of photos carefully crafted and composed to show one of the stories most intriguing and critical themes. The theory of the looking deeper than the surface, that things are different from when they are viewed from contrasting looks and positions. The images selected are meant to display this relationship of how looking genuinely into a picture, an experience and and person change from far to up close.

Resembling the same theme, is a moment in the story. A moment when he, Salinger diverts the reader's eyes from the story but to Holden's past, Holden's family (which we know almost nothing about), Holden's love.

"So what I did, I wrote about my brother Allie's baseball mitt." [...] "He wrote them on it so that he'd have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat. He's dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You'd have liked him." [...]

Throughout a couple of pages Holden describes his relationship with his departed brother, Allie. Definitely this is a plot twist, at the beginning of the story (when this is said) Holden introduced us readers to his unfortunate life. He complaints and to a certain extent annoys the reader (my opinion). He is pushing the reader away from him, we start to get bored of a young teenage boy who is ungrateful and moans about every detail in his life. However, when Holden talks about his brother we (reader) reconnect. We feel sympathy and empathy towards Holden. When so, I question myself if he tricks us to think things that aren't true. Anyway, when he talks about the sad loss we filter the profanity, we filter the complaints. We start to understand and appreciate Holden more, he seems more human, he appeals more us. Some may even question that he is the victim?

Therefore, this proves the point in which I urge so much since Holden is not a simple white canvas. He is indeed a white canvas, however, as we come closer and close to it, we see texture, strokes, rough and smooth lines. We see calmness, we see aggressiveness, we see a complicated world in just a white canvas. The images selected show first hand my opinion. First of all, the images are all black and white, they are all white but not simple, they show shadow and they show texture. The black and white was purposely selected to illustrate the dull life Holden posses. He has no joy, he sees no positivity and no prosperity. He neglects happiness and accepts pessimism. He from far away, is a baseball glove within a white simple canvas. Yet, as you come in, you see the depth in the contrast, you see that he does not lie within a simple canvas, he lies within an agitated one. The pictures show how we see Holden. A boy a variety of phycological challenges, one that is looking for something, trying to be someone who he isn't and at the same time understand the real world.

In essence, my understanding and interpretation of the story is one of many that are relevant. The sympathy developed toward Holden is tricky, we create empathy towards him and we feel for him. These emotions are what turn the character so controversial, one hard to understand and one easy to be fooled by.