J.D. Salinger and Catcher

Salinger's life does contain many elements of Holden's life, and may relate enough to the story line of Catcher In the Rye for a substantial amount of critics to be convinced that maybe the story is autobiographical of Salinger's life. The fact that Salinger changed many schools, and that his once wife Oona O'Neil left him for Charlie Chaplin, reflects some of the angst that J.D. Salinger portrays from Holden's perspective. But when confronted with these similarities one has to ask if it was Salinger's intent to reflect elements of his life through a literary character, and maybe the answer to this question is evident if one studies Salinger's life along with Holden's.

As previously mentioned, Salinger had been transferred from colleges and when he was finished with high school, he attended the Valley Forge Military Academy to escape his strict mother. This has parallels to Holden because Holden left his school, not for a military academy, but to rome New York City before it was his time to come home:"All of a sudden, I decided what I'd really do, I'd get the hell out of Pencey-right that same night and all. I mean not wait till Wednesday or anything...So what I decided to do, I decided I'd take a room in a hotel in New York-some very inexpensive hotel and all-and just take it easy till wednesday" (51). Unlike Salinger, though, Holden had not only changed schools but had been kicked out of these schools. Salinger himself was never really kicked out of school, but transferred from colleges such as Ursinus College and Columbia University because of Austria being annexed by Nazi Germany. Also Similar to Holden was Salinger's parents, of whom his father did not even want him to pursue an art that he loved: acting and theatre.