Pains Of Growing Into Maturity

The Catcher in the Rye is the only novel by J. D. Salinger. Since its publication in 1951, the novel has attracted continuous attention of critics and readers and enjoyed high popularity among young Americans particularly. It relates the story of an impressionable adolescent, Holden Caulfield, making his first movement into an adult world. Disgusted with the indifference, fraud and hypocrisy in his school, Holden goes to wander alone in New York, only to find that the world outside is even more vulgar, obscene and corrupt. He is in a constant conflict with the adult world due to his unwillingness to become part of it. Through the great pains of losing innocence and disillusionment with the adult world, Holden, drawing strength from his sister Phoebe's love, finally completes his maturation and accepts his responsibility as an adult.The Catcher in the Rye has been explored from various perspectives, but a systematic and close analysis of the novel with the approach of archetypal criticism is not so common. Archetypal criticism has been influential during the latter half of the 20th century, which focuses on connections between literature images and mythical archetypes. Considering the plentiful archetypes buried in this novel, this thesis, adopting archetypal theory, is dedicated to exploring the deeper meaning hidden in the lines by analyzing related elements of myths in the novel.Started with a brief review of archetypal criticism, the thesis studies the archetypal elements in The Catcher in the Rye from three layers: archetypal motifs, archetypal characters and imagery. The displacement of archetypal motifs, such as the quest myth, death and rebirth and the initiation, enhances the richness of cultural connotation of the novel. Holden's roaming in the world is the quest for self-identity. His suffering both in body and spirit is the cost of growing up and joining the society. In terms of archetypal characters, Holden corresponds with some personages in the Bible, like Adam and Jesus Christ. Phoebe is also an archetypal character of the Great Mother. Moreover, the novel is abundant in archetypal images. The rye field, an archetypal Edenic image, is the novel's central image. The reconstruction of the Garden of Eden is easily perceived in Salinger's work.Salinger's employment of archetypes adds a universal significance to Salinger's creation of his young hero Holden Caufield. The painstaking maturation experienced by Holden is no other than a miniature of the adolescent's untiring search and quest for self-identity, reflecting the confusion and agony of the youth with the loss of innocence on the road of growing up. The Catcher in the Rye is the modern myth about the growing pains of adolescents.