Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, the first person .
narration is critical in helping the reader to know and understand .
the main character, Holden Caulfield. Holden, in his narration, .
relates a flashback of a significant period of his life, three days .
and nights on his own in New York City. Through his narration, .
Holden discloses to the reader his innermost thoughts and feelings. .
He thus provides the reader not only with information of what .
occurred, but also how he felt about what happened.
Holden's thoughts and ideas reveal many of his character .
traits. One late Saturday night, four days before the beginning of .
school vacation, Holden is alone, bored and restless, wondering .
what to do. He decides to leave Pencey, his school, at once and .
travels to New York by train. He decides that, once in New York, .
he will stay in a cheap motel until Wednesday, when he is to return .
home. His plan shows the reader how very impetuous he is and how .
he acts on a whim. He is unrealistic, thinking that he has a .
foolproof plan, even though the extent of his plans are to "take a .
room in a hotel., and just take it easy till Wednesday." .
Holden's excessive thoughts on death are not typical of most .
adolescents. His near obsession with death might come from having .
experienced two deaths in his early life. He constantly dwells on .
Allie, his brother's, death. From Holden's thoughts, it is obvious .
that he loves and misses Allie. In order to hold on to his brother .
and to minimize the pain of his loss, Holden brings Allie's .
baseball mitt along with him where ever he goes. The mitt has .
additional meaning and significance for Holden because Allie had .
written poetry, which Holden reads, on the baseball mitt. Holden's .
preoccupation with death can be seen in his contemplation of a dead .
classmate, James Castle. It tells the reader something about .
Holden that he lends his turtleneck sweater to this classmate, with .