The Catcher in the Rye By J. D, Salinger; The Mysteries That Lye Beneath

The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, is my fiction novel of choice for this week’s topic to ponder and discuss. Along with the other blog topics, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, this book is also an autobiographical work. The setting of this work is located in New York between the late 1940’s and the early 1950’s. The point of view is captured in first person relaying a unique journalistic style to the reader, which I personally am mesmerized by. Yet another interestingly fun fact is that the book is narrated through the length of only about one long and eventful weekend. I learned in class last week that this work is known to be in the genre of a bildungsroman; a German word meaning, the coming of age or a book following the protagonists’ journey into maturity and growth.
This Journey is led by the infamous Holden Caulfield; the protagonist and narrator. Holden’s entire attitude portrays a cynical, pessimistic and jaded young sixteen year old boy, who has just failed out of 4 swanky private schools. Holden has two brothers and a sister that he seems to be quite close to. Allie was his favorite sibling and Holden’s younger brother who died at the age of nine of leukemia. D. B is his oldest sibling that helps to keep Holden in line. Phoebe is Holden’s younger and adorable little sister who seems to prove, at least to me, that she is quite mature for her age.

There are a few mysterious fun facts revolving around issues of importance outside of the realm of the book. This issue involves the crisis of the John Lennon murder. To clue any and all viewers in, Mark David Chapman, the man pictured to the bottom right is the man who assassinated John Lennon. The interesting part though is the uncanny fact that Mark David Chapman just so happened to be oddly infatuated with this particular novel, and more astonishingly believed truly that the book was written for him and he was the character, Holden Caulfield. Note as well that after an entire night of reading and re-reading Catcher in the Rye the night previous to his ultimate plan of destruction, Mark left in the morning to execute his disastrous plan and ended up forgetting the book back in the hotel, so he stopped in this little shop and bought another copy of The Catcher in the Rye and read it once more after the deed was done and Lennon was dead. Keep in mind that Mark Chapman was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, so knowing this bit of information it is clear what Chapman’s motives were and where his mind was at before, during, and after killing John Lennon.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath is one of the most unique and profound intellectual literature writers of her era; she was born in the year 1932 and passed away in the year of 1963. The bell Jar was published under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas and was published the same year she committed suicide. The ironic part of The Bell Jar’s publishing date is the fact that The Bell Jar is prominently known to be a depiction of Sylvia’s own life; an autobiography in which unravels the trials and tribulations of Plath’s journey into self discovery. I would also like to add a fun fact, supposedly I have heard through word of mouth that approximately in the year 2011 Julia Stiles has been asked to play the role of Sylvia Plath in a movie, which I cannot wait for!

Let me begin by describing what a bell jar is and symbolism and significance behind this clever title. Have you ever seen Beauty and the Beast? Well in that movie the bell jar is the glass container holding the only sign of life in the beasts’ mansion, a rose. If you cannot pinpoint this example, a bell jar is an air sealed glass container and here is a picture to the right. Esther, the main character in the book, was in hospitals because she was severally depressed. The bell jar is a symbol for that depression that was holding her back from breathing and being free. It was as if she were trapped inside of the jar like the rose, not being able to relate and communicate to the outside world yet able to sit back watching life flourish around her.

I feel as if Sylvia’s depression was a downward spiral ever since her father had passed away at the young, naïve, and impressionable age of nine. Plath has always blamed her father for leaving her too early, and he also committed suicide. With this type of influence I think that Sylvia was bound for trouble and it was no surprise that in the book she describes her multiple attempts at suicide. This novel is an American classic and I suggest that you all at least read a poem of Sylvia Plath’s just to sample Plath’s intricate style of literature and who knows you may be inspired.

Girl Interrupted

Have any of you seen the movie, Girl Interrupted, or better yet have you read the book? If not I highly recommend this classic the next time you are bored on a rainy day. There are several scenes and or scenarios that left me feeling flabbergasted, astounded, and or enthralled with the books chaotic style and themes. The driving force in which motivated me in my decision to choose Girl Interrupted for this week’s blog topic is the fact that the books distinct chaotic aura arouses interesting debates and discussions. After I sat back and reflected I realized a few situations in the book that proved to fuel these fiery debacles, such as whether or not a stream of conscience was used, multiple controversial topics, and the articulately defined and developed characters.

Stream of conscience is a term derived from William James in 1890 (tnellen.com). To put this type of literary tool in laymen’s terms, stream of consciousness is a unique tool for narrating used to "capture the full spectrum and the continuous flow of a character's mental process (tnellen.com)". In the book this is more relevant to the fact that in certain scenes one is left pondering whether or not the scene was taking place in reality or if the scene was a mere figment of the main characters', Susanna Kaysen's, imagination. Here is an impeccable example, Jim Watson’s visit which oddly enough was her only visitor for her entire two year stay and was only mentioned in the book once. Another odd fact about this scene is the significance of Jim Watson; he is known worldwide for his discovery of the double helix in DNA and won the noble prize. This fun fact strikes me as out of the ordinary because it does not seem like these two characters would likely cross paths in their daily lives, since he is famous and Susanna is sick and in medical care for borderline personality disorder; weird yet interesting.

More and more weird yet Controversial subjects are overflowing like a clogged toilet in Girl Interrupted. It is definitely difficult for me to narrow the subjects down to discuss because of this abundance of important issues presented, and I feel that all of these issues are all revolving around the era the book depicts, which is the 1960’s. In my opinion when Susanna agrees to marry while she is still in the hospital, McLean, she is getting married because she feels that it will help her get out of the hospital and magically vanish all of her mental instability. As we all know getting married on these ground rules is a recipe for disaster.

As I mentioned above, Susanna is in a medical ward called Mclean Hospital which is the basic setting of this tale. Most of the main characters are patients at McLean and interact on a daily routine type of schedule. Every character narrated in the book is intricately defined and conjured. The author paints a perfectly detailed masterpiece while introducing these characters and their quirky personalities. By the time I had finished the book I felt as if I personally knew each and every character as if they were a part of my family or even famous. These personalities are what creates the allure and passion for Girl Interrupted and at the end I could not turn the pages fast enough to see what resulted in the chaotic life of Susanna Kaysen.

Yet again I would like to spread the word that this book is now one of my top five favorite books of all time. If I have not sparked a light in any one’s heart I promise that these characters will rekindle that flame. Between the insane characters, the flashbacks, and the common controversies of the sixties, this book and even the movie should leave you wondering what actually defines a person as insane or possibly sane?