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1、Holden Caulfield: A Rebellious Hero against the Mainstream Culture in the Catcher in the RyeAbstractMore than 30 years after its publication, J. D .Salingers novel The Catcher in the Rye has been considered as one of the two modern classics in contemporary American literature. The novel profoundly r
2、eveals the senses of alienation and loneliness through Holden Caulfields roaming in New York after his expulsion from Pencey Prep school. This thesis tries to analyze the anti-hero Holden Caulfield in a cultural macro-structure. The body of this thesis consists of three parts. The first chapter deal
3、s with the main values in the American Dream and the reflection of the mainstream culture in the language which makes preparation for the analysis of the protagonist. Chapter two concentrates on the rebellion of Holden. He rejects the clique spirit to form personal interest clique and discriminates
4、against dissenters which the Pencey Prep school stands for. He denies the distorted American Dream and exposes its deceptiveness and corruption. His language bears the same characteristics of the counter-culture movement. Chapter three introduces Holdens search for identity, communication, love and
5、innocence which are the best parts of human nature.Like Holden, many young people are now faced with the problems of growing mature and fitting into the society. Holdens rebellion and quest may give us enlightenment and revelation. We should believe in the existence of all virtues like true love, pu
6、rity and the spirit of sacrifice. We must cherish our love for nature and face the difficulties and challenges with courage and confidence.Key words: Holden; mainstream culture; rebellion; quest摘 要J. D. 塞林格的长篇小说麦田里的守望者在出版了30多年后，已被美国文学界公认为当代美国文学中两部“现代经典”之一。小说通过霍尔顿考尔菲德(Holden Caulfield)离开潘西中学后在纽约的游荡经历
7、，深刻地揭示了现代社会中的疏离感和孤独感。本文阐释了主流文化及其核心表现形式美国梦，试图从文化的宏观角度来分析霍尔顿这一反英雄人物形象。本文主体大致分为三部分。第一章分析了美国梦中的主流价值观和主流文化在语言中的体现，为后文对主人公进行分析做了铺垫。第二章中具体分析了主人公对主流文化的反抗。他抵制潘西中学所体现的拉帮结派、排斥异己的团体精神，坚决反对已被异化的美国梦、彻底揭露美国梦的欺骗性和腐败性，同时主人公的语言同时也体现出二战后美国反文化运动语言的特点。第三章写了主人公对自我、交流、爱和天真的追寻。这是人性中最美好的部分。与霍尔顿一样，许多青少年甚至成年人，都面临着走向成熟和适应社会的问题
8、。霍尔顿的反叛和追寻可以启示我们，我们必须相信一切美德，如真爱、纯洁和奉献精神，我们必须珍视对自然和人类的爱，以坚定的信念迎接一切困难和挑战。关键词: 霍尔顿; 主流文化; 反叛; 追寻CONTENTSIntroduction1Chapter One The Mainstream Culture in the 1950s America3I. Values in American Mainstream Culture 3II. Mainstream Culture as Embodied in the Language 4Chapter Two Holden: A Rebel against
9、the Mainstream Culture6I. Origin and Development of Rebellious Heros6II. Rebellion against the Clique Spirit of Pencey Prep 7III. Rebellion against the American Dream 91. American Dream 92. Holdens Rebellion 11IV. Rebellion in Language 131. Loose Danglings 152. Grammatical Errors173. Vulgarity and O
10、bscenity 184. Use of Slangs19Chapter Three Holden: A Quester in Life 21I . Search for Self-identity21II. Search for Meaningful Communication 23III. Search for Love 25IV. Search for Innocence 26Conclusion28Notes29Bibliography31Acknowledgements 33IntroductionJerome David Salinger( 1919-2010)，an outsta
11、nding American novelist and short story writer, is best known for his controversial novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951). Salinger is recognized by many critics and readers alike as one of the most popular and influential authors of American writers after World War . His only novel, The Catcher in th
12、e Rye, has become one of the two modern classics1 in contemporary American literature.J. D. Salingers masterpiece The Catcher in the Rye, was first published in mid-July in 1951 by Little, Brown and Company. By the end of July, Little, Brown and Company was reprinting the novel for the fifth time, a
13、nd by late August the novel had reached fourth place on the New York Times best-seller list. Signet Books brought out the fast paperback edition in 1953, selling over three million copies in the next ten years. Grosset and Dunlap brought out an edition of their own in 1952, Modern Library in 1958, a
14、nd Franklin Wats Publishers in 1967. In January, 1960, The Catcher in the Rye reappeared on the New York Times best-seller list, this time placing fifth among paperback books. All the while, Little, Brown and Company continued reprinting their original edition-completing thirty-five printings by 198
15、1.Since then it has continued to be one of the most popular novels ever written as well as one of the most frequently banned books in the United States, and the most controversial novel in American contemporary letters. The Catcher in the Rye was received enthusiastically by the reading public. Ten
16、years after its first publication, over a million and a half copies had been sold in the United States. It was translated into many languages and put on the reading lists of high schools in America and in several European countries. To this day, the worldwide sales of The Catcher in the Rye still to
17、tal close to a quarter million a year.This thesis, chiefly made up of three chapters, aims to analyze Salingers novel and the protagonist Holden Caulfield through the social and cultural perspective. Chapter One is an overview of the mainstream culture in the 1950s, with reference to the political,
18、economical and cultural situations; Chapter Two explores Holdens rebellion against the mainstream culture as is shown in his rebellion against the clique spirit of Pencey Prep, rebellion against the American Dream and rebellion in language; Chapter Three focuses on the theme of quest and Holden is i
19、dentified as an unswerving quester for innocence self-identity, meaningful communication, love and innocence.Chapter OneThe Mainstream Culture in the 1950s AmericaI .Values in American Mainstream CultureThe main content of American culture is the emphasis on individuals value, the pursuit of democra
20、cy and freedom, the promotion of competition and the need of realistic and practicality. Its core is individualism: self first, personal need first, pursue of individual benefit and enjoyment, emphasize on achieving individual value by self-strive and self-design. This type of intentionally build up
21、 of personality and pursue customized individualism has its pros and cons, it gives incentives to people and make them exert on their potential and wisdom and as a result accelerate the development of the entire race and nation; on the other hand it is difficult to keep good relationship among peopl
22、e if everyone is egocentric thus make the entire society lack of unity. American citizens emphasize on achievements and respect heroes. They have great sense in their hearts to praise success and heroes. Personal achievements are one of those with the highest value in Americans mind. Americans have
23、very strong senses of success. Success is the pursuit of most Americans, it is their attractive future and the incentives for moving forward. They believe that ones personal value is equivalent to his achievements in his career. Some high achievers in their career such as entrepreneurs, scientists,
24、artists and all kinds of super starts became modern heroes. The process and result of how they strived have become the frame of reference of social culture value and the real life text book for parents to educate their children. II. Mainstream Culture as Embodied in the LanguageAs is known, there ar
25、e several hundred languages in the world. Language is an effective way in communication and the most perfect mirror of all mental operations. Language has a close relationship with culture. Sapir regards language as a symbolic guide to culture. Language reflects peoples attitude toward the world, th
26、eir belief, their outlook on life and values, and has some cultural characteristics. On one hand, human beings can know the world and communicate with each other by language; on the other hand, the history of culture goes hand in hand with the development of language. Whats more, language is the car
27、rier of the culture. In any country, the mainstream culture needs a type of decent and civilized language which is regarded as a standard language. Every citizen is asked to use it when he speaks or writes.In the 1960s America had come to a stage of prosperous and affluent industrial society. Americ
28、an people were not concerned about the social problems any more What they wanted to do was to make fortunes and become a member of the middle class. For most intellectuals at that time, they were employed by all kinds of postwar bureaucratic agencies. They became the new middle class and the toll se
29、rving for the bureaucratic agencies. As a result, they lost their independence and moral convictions. In their writings, they used a formal and elegant language to describe America as a paradise. At the same time, several prominent writers such as Mark Twain and Hemingway used the colloquial languag
30、e in their literary writings. However, this kind of language was rarely found in most writings. It was in evitable for most writers to be influenced by the mass media. So their writing was greatly commercialized. They wrote with a language that conformed to the language standard of the mainstream so
31、ciety. Whats more, there was a strict censorship system in America. The writings full of obscene and rude words were not allowed to publish and banned from schools and libraries. Any writer at that time knew what risk he had taken if he wrote a work full of rude and obscene words. However, J. D. Sal
32、inger in his masterpiece The Catcher in the Rye in 1951 created his hero Holden who opposed to the mainstream culture and spoke an inelegant, obscene and profane language.Chapter TwoHolden: A Rebel against the Mainstream CultureI . Origin and Development of Rebellious HeroesThe image of rebellious h
33、eroes goes back to ancient times and seems to exist in every culture. A rebellious hero refers to one person who is discontented with his respective unpleasant reality and strives for living in a world that he presumes to be paradise. In primitive society, people had not enough food and they were th
34、reatened by natural disasters, wars and famines. With the hope of searching for food and lodging, they had to fight against natural disasters and some uncontrollable power, but they did not surrender or give up. Hope was deeply engrafted in their hearts. We may find such stories in the Bible. Under
35、the yoke of unspeakable and multiplied oppression, the Israelites, led by Moses, fought against the Egyptian. They yearned for ending their miserable fates as slaves and leading a happy life in Carman, the land of prosperity and promise. Obviously, the Israelites motive was simple-they rose up to ge
36、t rid rebellion of persecution and find a land of their own for their existence. The Israelites is one such example in the western literature and culture. The hero Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye also falls into such a category.Salinger first created his literary Holden Caulfield in Colle
37、rs magazine in Im crazy, which appeared on Dec.22, 1945. Then for the second time he characterized the hero Holden Caulfield in Slight Rebellion off Madison, the Dec.21 issue the New Yorker in 1946. The two publications at first published in were delayed by the entry of the United States into World
38、War II, but the two works contain materials that are actually used in The Catcher in the Rye. The story Im crazy reveals the psychological state of Holden Caulfield, indicating the result of a young adolescent suppressed by society and the repression of his inner experience. The story Im crazy begin
39、s to show Holdens rebellion for the first time. In Slight Rebellion of Madison, Madison refers to Madison Avenue, a famous avenue beside the Park Avenue in East Manhattan. It is the place where the upper-class white people live and it represents the property, identity and social status. It could be
40、regarded as the miniature of the 1950s society. In American literature, the Main Avenue or street is a very important image. In 1920, Sinclair Lewis published his famous novel Main Street. In this novel, the main street represents the political, economic and cultural centre of the small town. Throug
41、h the description of the Main Street, Lewis presents the small town fellows spiritless state, narrow-mindedness, conservativeness and snobbery. It symbolizes the dominant trend in America life.Madison Avenue in The Catcher in the Rye is such a symbolic street. What Holden rebels against is the mains
42、tream culture Madison Avenue represents. From Holdens description culture lays the heavy in the story, we can see that the dull and stifling mainstream burden on him. Though Holden is a young man, he sensitively sees the snobbery and phoniness of the world surrounding him. Being an innocent adolesce
43、nt, he cannot fit into the phony and decadent world. As a result, he rebels against the society and the mainstream culture.II. Rebellion against the Clique Spirit of Pencey PrepThe clique spirit is characteristic of Pencey Prep school in which Holden studies. The clique spirit of Pencey Prep is one
44、of the important parts of the mainstream cultural code. The so-called clique spirit makes students in several cliques and trains them to cling to common interests and hobbies of the clique. Finally they can form a kind of so-called fraternity or brotherhood. When they grow up and enter into the soci
45、ety, they continue to belong to those fixed cliques and strive for the profit of the organization. In the post-industrial society, the clique spirit is very important to the young men.In this novel, Holdens parents fail to choose a proper prep school for him. They only send their son to one private
46、prep school after one another. Pencey Prep in Agerstown, Pennsylvania is the third expensive private prep school. It claims to mold boys in to splendid clear-thinking young men, the strictly for the birds.2 In fact, Pencey Prep strangles the individuality of the youth. In Holdens eyes, the school is boring, trivial and full of phonies. The atmosphere of Pencey Prep suffocated him. He cannot obey the rules and regulations which govern the boarding school. At Pence
