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Example research essay topic: Catcher In The Rye Main Character - 1,155 words

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The Catcher in the Rye By Christine Cameron Hypothesis: How does the writer create a believable main character in Holden? The Catcher in the Rye by J. D Salinger was first published in America and Britain in 1951 but the British version had some minor changes. For example, certain swear words and slang words were removed. It was also banned from schools. This made the book more appealing to me because I wanted to see what all the controversy was about.

On reading the book, I found it interesting how the writer managed to create a believable main character in Holden. This is done in a number of different ways using different techniques, all of which fascinated me. From the start of the novel, Holden is portrayed by Salinger as an individual, which makes him more believable as a character. This is done by giving him an individual voice using the first person narrative. The character is the narrator for the whole of the book, slanting the novel entirely from Holden's point of view.

This gives us a better insight into his character and the feelings and views demonstrated by him make him seem more realistic in the eyes of the reader. At the beginning of the novel, Holden's informal language speaks directly to readers by addressing them as you and by the end of the novel, the readers feel as if they know Holden personally, hence contributing towards a believable character. Characters often seem more realistic to the reader if they are shown to have habits. In his speech, Holden has a number of phrases that are repeated time and time again throughout the novel.

For example he often says that kills me to show that something amuses him. These are traits unique to Holden an individual and make him believable as a character. Another technique that is often used to create Holden as a realistic and believable character is to make him do things that a normal person would do. For example, he often changes the subject whilst having a conversation or jumps from one topic to the next. Holden has a habit of digressing when conversing with people, as normal people do. I feel this is an attempt by the writer to add to the sense of realism.

Another aspect that Salinger uses to make Holden's character more believable is through patterns in his behaviour. Characters can seem more individual and believable, if they behave the way we expect them to. Salinger shows a pattern of behaviour through Holden's frequent use of slang, for example tossed his cookies, blue as hell. His use of unthinkable language for the time, such as witty bastard, shocks the reader. This helps to make the character seem more realistic and more like a real teenager. The use of dialogue makes the reader more inclined to believe in a character because they often have a better idea of how that character is feeling etc.

Salinger makes extensive use of dialogue in this novel and this is one of the main ways in which the reader gets an impression of Holden as a character. In this book, characters are generally not described in any detail but we do we get a feel for the characters through their language. This gives the impression that we are meeting the characters with Holden and as though we are there with him. For example when Holden meets Maurice the door man, we realise he is a rather sordid character by what he says, not by how he is actually described.

The readers feel that they are experiencing the situation with Holden which helps to make the character and the situation more believable. Showing Holden to be in some sort of emotional difficulty gives the reader a better insight into his character and makes it more likely that he will be believable and understood. Salinger portrays Holden as a young person who often has trouble expressing his feelings, as many teenagers do, particularly when it comes to talking about them. This is a clever technique that reinforces Holden's immaturity and makes him appears as a normal teenager. For example, he finds it difficult to tell his room mate, Stradlater, how he feels when he tells him that he is going out on a date with Jane Gallagher, who was an old friend of Holden's for whom he secretly had feelings. Instead of explaining that he wouldnt want anything to happen to her, he ends up saying nothing and fighting with Stradlater because of it.

When the character is placed in situations which the reader can sympathise with, it often makes the character more believable because it shows that the character is having difficulty just like people do in real life. For example, when Holden visits Mr Antolini, one of his old teachers, he treats him well, tries to help him and shows that he genuinely concerned for Holden. We feel that someone really cares for Holden at this point. Holden then falls asleep and wakes as Mr Antolini ruffles his hair. Holden interprets this wrongly, as he thinks that Mr Antolini has just made a pass at him, which confuses and upsets him and puts the last character that Holden looks up to under suspicion. Another example of a situation which can make a character more believable is where the character shows feeling.

For example if there is a death of someone close to them and it is shown to have an effect on the characters actions etc. For example we are also told that Holden's younger brother died. This happened when Holden was 13. The fact that this is shown to affect Holden makes him seem more like a real person with feeling and emotions in the eyes of the reader. For example the root of Holden's problem seems to stem from his brothers death because throughout the novel he is only shown to be happy on two occasions and one of which is before his brother died. Holden is shown to have his own set of ideas and beliefs on society and this adds to the realism of the character because it shows him to certain reactions to the values of the society in which he lives.

He is deluded by his world and rebels against it. The society in which he lives seems to be small-minded and only concerned with material things. Money is the most important thing and Holden feels this is wrong. In conclusion the writer uses a wide range of techniques to create a believable character.

The technique I feel has met with the most success is giving Holden an individual voice for the whole of the novel and also showing Holden to have patterns in his behaviour this all adds to the sense that Holden is believable as a character in the novel. (this is only a draft conclusion cause its not very good at all)


Free research essays on topics related to: catcher in the rye, believable, main character, holden's, holden

Research essay sample on Catcher In The Rye Main Character

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