Salinger and picaresque

[Dedalus]

_The Catcher in the Rye_ is definitely picaresque in structure.  Since
it spans only a couple of days and follows Holden through a series of
unrelated adventures, it qualifies as picareque on that count.  Remember
also that picaresque fiction (in its purest form) generally portrays a
picaro who existson the fringes of that society which he, ironically, is
trying to "enter" at some level (cf. _Lazarillo de Tormes_).  Likewise,
Holden rails against
"phonies" and such, yet emerges as one of the many phonies in the book
because of his continued attempts at entering an adulthood he seemingly
rejects (eg. he tries to get served liquor, he solicits a prostitute,
etc.).

Picaresque fiction also portrays a picaro who undergoes some sort of
"initiation" into that society he seeks to enter, and Holden certainly
has a series of experiences that could qualify as "initiators" (the
moment he leaves Pencey?  His fight with Maurice?  His abrupt exit from
Mr. Antolini?  Seeing Phoebe at the carrousal?)  Finally, picaresque
fiction presents social commentary on the picaro's society (often, but
not necessarily, satirical), and _Catcher_ is replete with that,
especially in Holden's conversations with Sally Hayes (p. 132), Mr.
Antolini (pp. 189+), and, of course, Phoebe (p. 173).

One thing, however, makes the book decidedly un-picaresque.  The rogue
is traditionally part of the lower-class, yet Holden is from an affluent
New York family.

A bildungsroman, in its purest form, follows a character over several
years (usually  childhood to adulthood) and, through its depiction of
the experiences, demonstrates how the main character or narrator has
grown and changed over the course of his/her lifetime.  Hence, books
like _Jane Eyre_ and _Of Human Bondage_ are often regarded as true
examples of the genre, because we get to see the character over a span
of years. _Catcher_ doesn't elapse over enough time to be regarded as a
true bildungsroman, and his sense of "learning" something by the end,
when he watches Phoebe on the carrousel and realizes that "the thing
with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let
them do it" (211), is a bit too reactionary and fleeting (in the
following chapter, we cannot be entirely certain Holden has truly
"learned" enough to get his life in order).  True awareness and
learning, like what Philip Carey experiences in the Maugham novel, is
more typical of the genre.

Of course, as you can undoubtedly tell from the genre discussion on the
list this past week, genre is a slippery thing.  Salinger employs
aspects of both to suit his needs as a writer.  Personally, I find
_Catcher_ much more picaresque than bildungsroman.

Dedalus

julian nasti wrote:

> hey there,
>
> Is _The Catcher in the Rye_ classifiable as a picaresque novel? To me,
it
> seems more of a combination of the *bildungsroman* and the picaresque
than
> exclusively the latter. Certainly, Salinger's characterisation of
Holden has
> much in common with that of the traditional picaro.
>
> julian
>
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