Holden often leaves his sentences hanging with words like “and everything” and “or anything”. She often uses that phrase to extend some unspeakable emotion or action like “…how my parents were busy and all before they had me” or “…they’re nice and all”. But a lot of times expressions like “…I was in the Revolutionary War and all,” “It was December and all,” and “…no gloves or anything.” (Salingers 5-7)

Holden has many expressions that appear constantly throughout the novel. In some places the expressions just serve to make Holden more realistic, in other places Holden is trying to reinforce his values. Holden repeatedly comments on his hatred of fakers. That’s something Holden hates more than almost anything. That could be the reason why he frequently confirms a statement with “I really think so”, “I really think so” or “if you want to know the truth”. He also confirms the comments by repeating them twice like “He likes me a lot. I mean he’s very fond of me.” (Salinger 141) or “He was a very nervous guy, I mean a very nervous guy.” (Salinger 165) He uses different phrases and styles to give more factual backing to his comments, thus avoiding him appearing like a fraud.

Holden’s speech tends to steer clear of the vulgar and the obscene. Every time he says words like “ass,” he’s merely adolescent vernacular for a part of the human anatomy. He doesn’t say it to offend. “Ass” is just another word Holden uses to better convey ideas. He may mean cold by “freezing my ass”, or “halfway” incompetence, or even “I play, my ass” disbelief. His vocabulary contains many words that are religious but are not used in that way. Holden says “hell” means “very much” when he describes something: “We had a great time”, “old as hell”, “playful as hell”. He uses words that belong to the divine like “for God’s sake”, “god” and “damn”, however, he never says it in a blasphemous way. They are just parts of his speech. He uses those words casually when he refers to his “damn hunting hat” or says that someone is a “fucking asshole”. For more emotional circumstances, Holden reserves “Chrissake” or “Jesus Christ.” Although Holden is not overly religious, he never uses “Chrissake” unless he is depressed or angry. To extreme anger, Holden keeps “son of a bitch” ready. After his fight with Stradlater, Holden continually refers to him as a “jerk son of a bitch”. His anger is also reflected in the sudden increase in the “damn it” appearance. While the words Holden uses may not be appropriate, he isn’t trying to be sacrilegious. Salinger is simply using the language to make Holden seem like a normal teenager and also to reflect Holden’s state of mind.

Although there were some critics who thought The Catcher in the Rye should be banned, it became the best post-World War II novel. JD Salinger’s brilliant use of language throughout the novel made Holden Caulfield human. Due to the accurate portrayal of a teenager, the reader is able to become familiar with Holden’s idiosyncrasies, making him appear more realistic. By bringing Holden to life, Salinger was able to create one of the most memorable characters in all of literature. End of Part 1 of 2.

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