Ten literary devices used in Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye:
- The syntax of sentence flow is used to imitate Holden's internal monologue as though the reader were present for all trains of thought within Holden's mind. Sentences range from long and rambling to broken, short, one-worded, or are set up as sentence fragments to illustrate the often lazy pattern with which most people think. "Just to stop lying. Once I get started, I can go on for hours if I feel like it. No kidding. Hours." (Salinger, 58)
- Italics are often used to show conversational emphasis both in and out of the internal monologue. The italics show where a person may place a sigh or an emphatic volume change or otherwise add weight to a word of dialogue. They can also show the reader points they should pay attention to. "'Well, anyway'" (65) "I don't want you to get the idea she was a [expletive] icicle or something" (79). "'In Hollywood! How marvelous! What is he doing?'" (86)
- The use of transition words provides clarity to mental tangents as Holden's monologue is not always clearly punctuated. Transition words can show that Holden was on the verge of contemplating something, but wandered elsewhere or that he is about to go off into a long rant. The quote provided is an example of the former. "She sort of wouldn't let me go to her mouth. Anyway, it was the closest we got to necking." (79)
- The use of hyperbole to show sarcastic emotion is sprinkled generously throughout the novel. Occasionally the hyperbole alludes to Holden's sense of well-being or his true feelings about a manner, but is more often associated with his distaste for anyone he deems "phony." "Imagine giving somebody a feel and telling them about a guy committing suicide at the same time! They killed me." (86)
- Humor is often used to show Holden's tenacity to being stuck in an awkward teenage phase. His obsession with sex is balanced with his general apathy towards people. An example of this would be when Holden is staying alone in a hotel and is offered a prostitute. He agrees to her and gets ready while he waits, but by the time she arrives he instead asks if they can talk for a while. The contrast between his readiness to ask for a prostitute is balanced with the idea that he finds almost everyone he meets to be a phony and not worth his time.
- The heavy use of expletives throughout the story highlights Holden's internal struggle between his need to feel accepted in the times and his growing adolecent need to assert himself. "My chest hurt like [expletive] from his dirty knees. 'You're a dirty stupid [expletive] of a [expletive],' I told him." (44).
- Parallelism appears throughout the book with the phrase "__ killed me" to show where Holden is overtaken by an emotion. These emotions range from sorrow to boredom and are safely sheltered and brushed away as having figuratively killed him so that he doesn't have to deal with the realities of his grief or situation. They often appear when he's confronted by something cute, familial, or commonplace/phony. The examples are respective to the latter. "That's the kind of stuff she likes, though. She doesn't like her own room because it's too little, she says. She says she likes to spread out. That kills me. What's old Phoebe got to spread out? Nothing." (159) "It was about this little kid that wouldn't let anybody look at his goldfish because he'd bought it with his own money. It killed me." (2) "Angel. For [expletive]. Angels. That killed me." (127).
- Along with the parallelism from "__ killed me" specific punctuation further singles out the sentence. This sentence is always found on it's own and is never interjected into a sentence. The sentence is always three words long and ends in a period. It usually follows a long sentence or dialogue explaining what it is that Holden is about to find ridiculous to create a rhythmic pattern for the reader. The exceptions to this are when it follows a long sentence or dialogue, but a word is singled out as it's own sentence to provide emphasis to the point Holden is making. "'Well. He's a very sensitive boy. He's really never been a terribly good mixer with other boys. Perhaps he takes things a little more seriously than he should at his age.' Sensitive. That killed me." (55).
- Holden's use of colloquialisms shows that he is a teenager who commonly uses shortened words, expletives, and buzz words from his time period and helps to flesh out his character. "'Swell. Listen. How are ya, anyway? I mean how's school?'" (106). "All you had to do was mention somebody - anybody - and old Luce'd tell you if he was a flit or not." (143).
- The use of repetition over several paragraphs shows Holden's tendency to get stuck on a train of thought and reiterate it to himself rather than move on from it when it becomes toxic or other splendid coping strategies. "Boy, did I feel rotten. I felt so [expletive] lonesome." (48) "I kept laying there in the dark anyway, though, trying not to think about old Jane and Stradlater... But it was impossible. ... While I was laying there trying not to think" (49). "I got to feeling so lonesome and rotten" (50).