Buildungsroman+-+Catcher+in+the+Rye

= = The Bildungsroman

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"Bildungsroman" is a German term and it can be translated to “education novel”. It denotes an autobiographical kind of fiction. The term was found by Johann Carl Simon Morgenstern in the late 18th century. ======

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A Bildungsroman is the general growth and development of the protagonist who’s the main character. He/she is usually a child. The development is mostly from child to teenager to adult. You can say that the main character goes through a metaphorical journey from youth to maturity. Some themes might be psychological conflicts and questions of identity. ======

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The main character/the protaginst in “The Catcher in the Rye” is called Holden, and he is already at the teenager stage, when we meet him the first time. Anyway, Holden develops during the novel. He is an unhappy teenager who questions how to live in a world that is often difficult to live in. In addition, he is not satisfied at all when he is in school, and he keeps thinking about leaving it and therefore also leaving his fellow students, who he is annoying constantly. This shows clearly the gradual development in his mind and his distance to his social connections, which is just getting bigger and is a result of the process of maturity. ======

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The normal characteristics of a bildungsroman are easy to find in “The Catcher in the Rye”, but the novel has also some that don’t fit in to the bildungsroman term. One of the characteristics that the novel does have is when Holden feels isolated from the other students in school. In the end he decides to attend another school, which shows us that he has developed throughout the story. He also receives some insight as he realizes that children need to grow up and take risks even if they get hurt. ======

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Because the novel has some characteristics that don’t come along with the bildungsroman term, there have been and there are people who are questioning whether or not it is a bildungsroman. When we meet Holden the first time, he is a teenager, and the novel begins with him saying that he doesn’t want to talk about his parents and his past, so we don’t know anything about his early life. The only thing we know is a little from before he attended Pency. ======

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There are also people who think it is a bilgunsroman. Perhaps because the main character does develop even though it is not from child to teenager to adult in the novel. The novel is also confessional in tone, Holden feels alienated and the novel is written in 1st person. All this fit in to the bildungsroman term. ======