Matthew McGill November, 5, 2014 Mr. Vaccaro English Honors
Catcher in the Rye: Shift & Diction Dictions played a key part in the Novel Catcher in the rye. Through it Holden tone and attitude is revealed. Holden constantly shifts in tone depending on who’s he with. His shifts are symbolic to who he is as a character.
The Catcher in the Rye is written by J.D. Salinger; the diction in this story would have to be informal diction as the main character does not use any descriptive or detailed words but instead uses slang words such as in the beginning when the main character says "all that David Copperfield kind of crap". Due to the informal diction and the attitude the main character has throughout the story I would describe this book as disdainful and somber. Throughout the entire story you can tell that the main character has a bitter and unhappy attitude by using the words "crap and damn" shows he has an angry attitude As well he shows gloomy such as in the beginning of the book when he describes "what a lousy childhood I had" showing he’s sad and felt like he was abandoned as a child. The tone and diction shows the reader that this story is based on him dealing with the past because he describes his lonely childhood plus he uses all these slang words showing he grew up in a tough environment. As well the informal tone shows he had to take care of most things by himself as he uses words such as "lousy, crap, and damn". Showing this all tells you that he grew up in a tough community, doing most things alone, and fending for himself as his point of view shows tough times. "I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff I mean if they're running and don't look where they're going I have to come out of somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all." (Salinger Chapter. 22) In this quote said by Holden, a major portion of the passage is a whole incomplete and run - on sentence. His lack of grammar, use of slang and lack of big word choice are all elements that are found in this passage. Holden is trying to get across that he wants to protect the innocence of children from a corrupt society. The characteristics switch in
