An Interpretation Of Holden's Sphinx Factors In The Catcher In The Rye

Human beings is a kind of existence of “Sphinx Factor”,which is made up of human factor and animal factor.The original purpose of literature is to advocate ethics and morality,but this is exactly what Sphinx Factor mainly expresses in literary works.In The Catcher in the Rye,Holden is composed of Sphinx Factor as well.A young middle school student,with natural instincts,has not mature ethical awareness because the lack of complete ethical choices.As a consequence,Holden reveals conflicts between rational and irrational wills,and different ethical choices in the novel.The various combinations and changes of Sphinx Factor fully display the value of human beings' choices in the social history and the development of personality,which vividly express ethical conflicts among free will,rational will and irrational will,and bring thinking and enlightenment to people.This thesis intends to employ Sphinx Factor to study the classic The Catcher in the Rye.To take protagonist Holden as the breakthrough point,it discusses his Sphinx Factor by red hunting hat with its symbolic meanings: a rebel,a recluse and a catcher,then probes the combinations and changes of human factor and animal factor through analyzing his features in Sphinx Factor.With an explanation of free will,rational will and irrational will,the paper will present a new perspective to readers.The body of the thesis consists of six chapters.Chapter One starts with a brief introduction to J.D.Salinger and his long novel The Catcher in the Rye.Chapter Two is literature review,which is made up of domestic studies and international studies.Chapter Three is theoretical framework.It introduces the theories used in essay.Chapter Four explains a rebel,a recluse and a catcher that Holden's red hunting symbolizes.Chapter Five states the conflicts of will and the ethical context in the novel which is formed by three causes.Chapter Six is the conclusion that summarizes the contents of the whole thesis.