摘 要

《麦田里的守望者》是J.D.塞林格唯一一篇短篇小说，该小说以主人公霍尔顿自叙的语气讲述了他被学校开除后在纽约城游荡将近两昼夜的经历和心灵感受。通过塞林格的笔端，我们看到的就是霍尔顿这样一个典型的垮掉的一代的形象。本文旨在从霍尔顿语言使用, 垮掉行为和心理反应等角度发掘其如何具体体现垮掉一代的形象，其背后所折射出的垮掉一代的特征及其对未来的美好愿景和建立社会新秩序的渴望。

关键词： 霍尔顿；垮掉的一代；《麦田守望者》

Contents

1. Introduction............................................................................................1

2. Demonstration........................................................................................2

2.1 Holden's use of language......................................................................2

2.1.1 Deliberate grammatical errors...........................................................2

2.1.2 Vulgarity and obscenity....................................................................3

2.1.3 Slangs................................................................................................4

2.2 Holden’s Beat behaviors......................................................................5

2.2.1 In school............................................................................................5

2.2.2 In the neighborhood..........................................................................6

2.3 Holden’s mental manifestation............................................................7

2.3.1 Escape from the real world...............................................................7

2.3.2 Quest for ideal life............................................................................9

1. Conclusion...........................................................................................11

Notes.........................................................................................................13

Works Cited..............................................................................................14

Bibliography.............................................................................................15

Holden in The Catcher in the Rye——

A Typical Image of the Beat Generation

1. Introduction

J. D. (Jerome David) Salinger (January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010), an outstanding American novelist and short story writer, is best known for his controversial novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951). Salinger is recognized by many critics and readers alike as one of the most popular and influential authors of American writers after World War II. His only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, has become one of the two “modern classics” in contemporary American literature circles. His depiction of adolescent alienation and loss s so-called the Beat Generation which had transformed American society. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Beat lifestyles were easily found in the cities’ bars, ghettos and poor neighborhood. Most of the members were teenagers who were totally opposed to phony adult world of work, money and responsibility. Rejecting their normal family values, the Beats began to experiment with everything that be classified as illegal: drugs, crime, gay sex, racial integration.¹

They use counter-cultural language which has deliberate grammatical errors, many vulgar and obscene words and slangs in their speech to express the Beat emotion and rebellion against the traditional culture. They are also addicted to behave notoriously and rebelliously so as to escape from the suffocating society which they cannot change. In order to reject the normal society, the Beats searched for ways of seeing the world which differ from the rest of the herd. Those rebellious behaviors all offered ways of finding a new vision of life and a new way of living. And by behaving like this, the Beat Generation began to create a new lifestyle that rejected mainstream American culture. Most of the Beats have spiritural problems so they are addicted to tobacco, alcohol even drugs to escape from the real world. Meantime, with the disappointment of the phony world, they are eager to establish a new society and live in an ideal life.

In The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger describes Holden’s behaviors meticulously to present the typical image of the Beat Generation who are cynical, rebellious and contradictory. As he was incompatible with the environment, he gave up his studies and wandered around the streets of New York City. He was the representative of the Beat Generation at that time.

In this paper, the first part is the introduction which covers the author and the writing background which links Holden to the Beat Generation; the second part is the demonstration which perceives into Holden’s rebellious behaviors and state of mind to see the detailed relationship between Holden and the Beat Generation and through the analysis in part two, the third part comes to the conclusion that Holden’s behaviors can reflect the characteristics of the Beat Generation and the whole trend of the time, the better vision for the future and the people’s desire of establishing a new social order.

2. Demonstration