How does The Catcher in the Rye reflect the history, behavior and of the time period and setting?

The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger takes place during the 1950's in New York City. The reader is able to decipher this information because this novel accurately depicts the history and behavior of its time period.


Through history I was able to determine the time setting of The Catcher in the Rye. For example, Holden mentions that his brother D.B. had joined the army when Holden was just a kid (Salinger 181). He mentions that his brother was in the army for four years and had been a part of the D-Day invasion of Normandy (Salinger 181). This meant that when the events in the book took place were a couple years after World War II. Since World War II ended in 1945 and Holden's story takes place years after the war, this means that the events probably occurred sometime within in the 1950's.

Besides using the history mentioned in The Catcher in the Rye, readers are also able to determine the time period that the story takes place in due to the behavior of the characters. For example, many characters in the novel are seen smoking. In the 1950's, the harmful effects of smoking were not really known and many people smoked. In the novel when Holden takes out a cigarette while he is talking to the older woman on the train, she does not seem bothered that a sixteen year old boy is smoking (Salinger 72). This means that the book would have had to taken place in a time where smoking was more popular and people under eighteen could buy cigarettes and other products with nicotine. Another behavior that tips the reader off to the time period of the novel is the old time phrases that Holden and the other characters say. For example when Holden is lying to the woman on the train he calls the lies, "shooting the old crap around."(Salinger 71). Holden also uses outdated phrases such as "chewing the fat" and he also will put the world "old" in front of people's names often (Salinger 223). For instance, Holden will often refer to his sister as "old Phoebe" (Salinger 223).


Bibliography:Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1991. Print.