Practice Diction Analysis

J.D. Salinger’s vulgar, slang-riddled diction in Catcher in the Rye conveys Holden’s scrambled and, frankly, immature mindset and ironically implies that he is not the brightest of minds. A pessimist to boot, Holden begins his life-story by describing his childhood as “lousy” and his parents as “nice and all…but touchy as hell.” He favors phrases such as, “kind of crap,” “goddam,” and an occasional “as hell” at the end of a particularly vehement statement. At this point in Catcher in the Rye, the denotative word choice serves to conjure disregard for Holden’s mental capacity. However, this later becomes ironic in that Holden actually has a good head on his shoulders; he’s just had some trouble staying on track in life.