Catcher In The Rye Essays (470 words) - Literary Realism

Catcher In The Rye Does the Voice Matter? How important is the voice that tells a story? It seems almost trivial to claim that the same story can change because of the voice telling it to you. Does the voice and point of view of the narrator play a large enough role in a novel to change the attitude of the reader about the novel? J.D.. Salinger uses the dominant character of Holden Caulfield to be the first person narrator of his novel The Catcher in the Rye. The key to Holden's narrative voice is the fact that it added life and a connection to the character. This voice transforms an otherwise lifeless story to a jump start and electric novel. In order to find out how important this narrator was to the story we will compare the novel The Catcher in the Rye to the piece "A Slight Rebellion of Madison"(the summary of the very same novel as told in third person omniscient). In looking at the importance of Holden's role we will first look at the summary of the novel. In "Slight Rebellion off Madison" the character of Holden Caulfield has been eliminated and an outside third person narrator replaces him. This version goes through the story explaining the basic outlining of The Catcher in the Rye. The outline is what the summary gives to the reader and that's all it gives. The basic plot is average, but with out the connection to the reader it keeps the reader on the outside through the whole thing. The plot tells the happenings of a young man named Holden Caulfield, but without really knowing to much about the character of Holden the plot line is lifeless and boring for the reader. We see the experiences that Holden goes through, but the reader doesn't get involved. It is hard for most readers to sympathize with Holden therefore Salinger relies on the connection Holden makes with the reader to get the reader involved in the life of Holden. What about Holden's narrative voice causes such a giant impact on the novel? I s it his loud personality or just that the reader is allowed to but put in the position as his best friend. Salinger starts the novel right away with Holden trying to relate to the reader. "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." Throughout the entire novel Holden uses slang and swear words to give the reader a more familiar feeling to him. Salinger makes it seem as though Holden is confiding everything to the reader. this is the key to the novel and why it is more than a simple story line.