The Catcher in the Rye //Psychoanalytic Criticism

What does the work suggest about the psychological being of its author?

The Catcher in the Rye author, JD Salinger, was born on January 1, 1919 in New York City. Both of his parents were of different ethnic backgrounds; his mother being of German, Irish, and Scottish descent and his father being of Lithuanian descent. Salinger was enrolled in a private school and had trouble fitting in at this school. He was eventually enrolled into a Military Academy where he graduated. Upon graduating he went to NYU, Ursinus College (where he dropped out), and finally to Columbia University. Although it is little information and background of JD Salinger, I was able to read more about this author. As I read more of Catcher in the Rye and the biography of Salinger I was able to see similarities of the author's life to the ones in the book. An example would be Salinger going to several different schools where he dropped out or didn't feel like he fit in compared much with Holden Caulfield's life in the book. Salinger's work suggests possibly that he wanted to explain his life through text, but not by writing an autobiography, but a story. Salinger's work suggests that he didn't have a Christian upbringing or respected upbringing due to the excessive use of coarse language and swearing. Holden Caulfield is a very independent, depressed, and cynical character. Page 51-52 not only explains Holden's emotions, but makes you feel depressed and sad with him as well. At the beginning of the last paragraph on page 51 is where Holden explains his packing. He talks about the brand new skates his mother had bought him and how it depressed him. He goes on to say, "It made me feel pretty sad. She bought me the wrong kind of skates - I wanted racing skates and she bought hockey - but it made me sad anyway. Almost  every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad." This part of the book stuck out to me and made me think about Salinger's work altogether. Throughout the book Salinger's work suggests that his psychological being was associated with being an introvert, depressed, and cynical. Due to the similarities between Salinger and Caufield suggests that Salinger felt alienation and that he didn't fit in just as Caulfield doesn't in the story.