The Catcher in the Rye //Literary Terms

Tone

Tone is the way the author has chosen to communicate with words for his readers and is essential because of the way it designates mood and the effect of the author's work. The tone is an attitude and can range from playful, somber, serious, casual, formal, or ironic. In "The Catcher in the Rye", JD Salinger sets the tone of the book in the first sentence. Holden Caulfield (main character) states at the very beginning of the book, "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, an what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." Salinger is setting the tone by his word choice ("lousy", "occupied", and "crap") His reference to David Copperfield also may set the tone to some readers if they know who Copperfield is. The overall tone in "The Catcher in the Rye" would have to be pessimistic and somber. In all, Holden is the one creating and setting the tone for the story by his use of words and how he acts and reacts to people and situations in the book. Several examples of Holden's pessimism and cynical attitude would be, ""I'm the one that's flunking out of the -- place, and you're asking me to write you a -- composition," I said.", "People always think something's all true. I don't give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am--I really do--but people never notice it. People never notice anything.", and "So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff. I told him how I would've done exactly the same thing if I'd been in his place, and how most people didn't appreciate how tough it is being a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull."