The Catcher in the Rye Question 7

            I finished reading The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger a couple of days ago.  I only have two more blogs to write, which are questions seven and eight.  The last two questions I find hard to answer.  Question seven is all about the intriguing techniques that the author uses to pull the reader into the novel.  I did not particularly like The Catcher in the Rye; therefore I did not find many techniques that engaged me. 

            In the novel, there really were no common techniques like mystery or suspense.  I found intrigued at the fighting scene.  The fight was Holden Caulfield against Stadlater in their dorm room.  The reason for the tussle was Stradlater told Holden to write a composition about anything as long as it was very descriptive.  Holden ended up writing about his younger brother’s baseball glove, which Stradlater was not pleased with.  “He came over to my bed and started leaning over me and taking these playful as hell socks to my shoulder” (Salinger 42).  That was the start to the battle and it increasingly got worse.  Holden tried to punch Stradlater in the mouth because he was brushing his teeth but missed and lightly punched the side of his head.  “The next part I don’t remember so hot” (Salinger 43).  Holden ended up on the floor with Stradlater, who “weighed about a ton,” sitting on top of his chest.  “My nose was bleeding all over the place” (Salinger 43).  Even though the fight only lasted about two pages, I enjoyed it very much. 

            Other than that, I did not find anything else.  I felt that J.D. Salinger repeated himself very often, which made the story boring and predictable.  I wish he would have put some suspense or mystery into the story line because I think that would have made more people find the novel enjoyable.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.