The Writings of J.D. Salinger Essay example -- J.D. Salinger Essays

The Writings of J.D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger, known as J.D., is an American short story writer and novelist. He was born on January 1, 1919 and is still alive at the age of 81. J.D. Salinger was born and raised in Manhattan. He went to prep school at Valley Forge Military Academy from 1934-1936. He spent 5 months in Europe when he was 18 or 19 years old. Then, in 1937 and 1938 he studied at Ursinus College and New York University. From 1939 to 1942, he went to Columbia University where he decided to become a writer. Salinger published short story collections and one novel. His best known work, The Catcher in the Rye, was published in 1951. The short stories he wrote were "Nine Stories" in 1953, "Franny and Zooey" in 1961, "Raise High the Roofbeams, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction" in 1963, "Young Folk" in 1940 and "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" in 1948. Many critics have considered J.D. Salinger a very controversial writer because of the subject matters he wrote about. For example Salinger wrote ab out religion, intellectuals, emotional struggles of adolescents, loneliness and symbolism (Jones). Some critics feel his writing was inappropriate because of the topics he wrote about. The main characters were considered misfits of society. The characters generally did not fit in with traditional American culture. They could not adjust to the real world. However, Salinger's most successful stories are the ones about people who could not adjust. The super-intelligent humans who had to choose between the American culture at that time and the moral world, or choose between the "phony" real world and the morally "pure" world. Salinger creates these misfits, as heroes who do not fit into society. They struggle between t... ...up. He went against society to show how wrong he thought it was. He has made the reader see what was wrong during this time period in a very different and controversial way (Hamilton 32). Works Cited "Buddhism" Funk & Wagnall's New Encyclopedia (1986 ed.), 4, 432-433. Foskett, S. Bananafish - Characters - FAQ. Concentric Network. 6 February 2000. French, Warren. J.D. Salinger. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc, 1963. Green, Becky S. Biographical Sketch. Pennsylvania University. 7 February 2000. www.pen.eiu.edu/~covgi/biograph.htm Hamilton, Ian. In Search of J.D. Salinger. New York: Random House Inc, 1988. Jones, Bonsey. Biographical Notes: J.D. Salinger. FringeWare, Inc. 7 February 2000. www.fringware.com/subcolt/J_D_Salinger.html "Zen" Funk & Wagnall's New Encyclopedia (1986 ed.), 28, 146