One of the most basic literary devices is plot. We all tend to take plot for granted because it is one of the first devices we learn. Writers pay very close attention to how they organize their stories—they do not simply pour the words out on paper and hope for the best.
J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye’s plot is built around a special plot device called the flashback. In fact, almost all of the novel consists of one long flashback. We do not find out until the end of the novel that Holden has had a breakdown and is currently in some sort of hospital:
That’s all I’m going to tell about. I could probably tell you what I did after I went home, and how I got sick and all, and what school I’m supposed to go to next fall, after I get out of here, but I don’t feel like it.
Holden doesn’t tell us exactly where “here” is, but in the next paragraph he lets us know that it is some sort of clinic for people having psychological problems:
A lot of people, especially this one psychoanalyst guy they have here, keeps asking me if I’m going to apply myself when I go back to school next September.
So the reader does not find out until the end of the story that Holden has had some sort of breakdown. That requires the reader to re-think everything they’ve just read to take into account Holden’s questionable mental stability.
Salinger also uses extensive repetition in the novel. As we listen to Holden narrate, both in his speech and his thoughts, we hear several key words used over and over again. Possibly the most important such word is “phony.” Holden’s narration tells us that he is very bothered by people who put on a fake appearance, not just physically, but in their attitudes and actions. Considering that we find out later that he is in the process of breaking down psychologically, we can infer, because of the use of repetition, that the idea of “phoniness” is a significant part of the problem he is trying to deal with.
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