Aristotle's Methodology and Literature

The main character in the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger represents a response to society as the novelist uses that character, Holden Caulfield, to comment on the falseness of the accepted and elevated segment of the society in which he lives. Holden Caulfield sees his social milieu as false and tarnished and runs away from it. As a result, he is alienated from society. The story of Holden Caulfield is told by Holden Caulfield, and the reader experiences everything through Holden's consciousness. The novel has a unity of form and purpose that makes it possible to analyze it in terms of the Aristotelian unities that prevailed in dramatic criticism through most of the history of Western drama. The precepts underlying this criticism were stated by Aristotle, primarily in his Poetics, and then were used as prescriptions by later writers. Aristotle found that the drama gained power from having a certain unity of time, place, character, and action, and while it is certainly not true that a work should be judged only on these issues, some writers--such as J.D. Salinger--have made use of these unities to help in the shaping of certain of their fiction. The story of Holden Caulfield shows some of these characteristics and uses them in an effective manner.

Aristotle approaches different subject matter with a similar methodology while also varying his method to the degree necessary to cope with the different subject matter. His basic method, however, is codificati

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nities and the representation of character are maintained much as Aristotle would have them. The story takes placein a relatively short period of time and is largely concerned with one day in New York City. The first few chapters are set at Princey Prep, the school in Pennsylvania where Holden is a student, while the rest takes place in Manhattan. The book is also unified by being told from Holden's point of view, and thus we are always in his presence and aware of his impressions and attitudes. Holden Caulfield wants to escape from a society he knows is false. Holden would like to run away and live in the woods, and escape is a metaphor for this day in his life as seen in the novel. Communication is another theme that runs through this day. Holden is unable to communicate with anyone. He is alienated from those around him, though he does try to communicate, and when he finally reaches the one person he believes will understand, his sister Phoebe, she does not understand at all. Holden is an active character. Indeed, the force of this novel derives from the interactions Holden has with a wide variety of people, an irony given his loneliness and his inability to find anyone with whom to communicate in a real sense. Holde

Category: Literature - A