On Salinger's Writing Techniques

Salinger uses a few different writing techniques to keep his audience captivated.  He uses symbolism, repetition, verbal irony, and metaphor.  Salinger uses symbolism quite heavily. I have already discussed the symbolism used so I will briefly recapitulate.  Holden's red hunting hat stands for the want of individuality, but also the want of security. The museum symbolizes a change in one's self, but not the surroundings. The ducks in Central Park show circular change, where something changes but only for a while before it changes back.  Salinger also uses repetition in Holden's speech and actions.  I believe Salinger does this to show Holden's immaturity.  Holden seems immature for repeating himself because it shows that he can't think of another way to express himself.  Repeated phrases in Holden's speech include: "(a description of how he feels) I really am/do", "I'm a madman, I swear", and "___ is phony".  Verbal irony is also utilized by Salinger.  The type of verbal irony used by Salinger is hypocrisy.  Holden is always calling things phony or just says how much he dislikes something, but he sometimes ends up doing what he says he dislikes.  For instance, he says that he always hates when people are phonies, but he ends up lying fairly frequently.  Lastly, Salinger employs metaphor.  The major metaphor in this book is actually the metaphor of the catcher in the rye itself.  In his dream Holden is catching children in a field of rye and preventing them from running off a cliff.  This is a metaphor for Holden wishing he could stop children from losing their innocence to adulthood.  This metaphor uses symbolism itself.  The cliff is adult hood, and the rye is innocence. This is a very thorough thought out metaphor, and it is a very beautiful scene in the book. I must say, I actually shed a tear myself reading it.  Salinger uses many techniques to capture his audience's attention. His techniques are: symbolism, repetition, verbal irony, and metaphor.

Salinger, J. D. Catcher in the Rye. New York, NY: Little, Brown, 1991. Print.