This is a review of 'Kings in the Back Row: Meaning through Structure. A Reading of Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye"', an article by Carl F. Strauch, first published in Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature, Vol. 2, No. 1, Winter, 1961.
The article can be found here: www.jstor.org/stable/1207365
Carl F. Strauch's article is written at an advanced academic level. However, Strauch is quite readable and his highly quotable and intriguing analysis is so rich, that I believe all students who can read through just a few pages of the article will find helpful and useful insights into J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.
Strauch argues that there is a metaphoric and verbal structure to The Catcher in the Rye. Holden's colloquial (conversational, everyday) narration not only reflects the way young people would write and speak in 1950's USA, Strauch argues, but also reflects the development of Holden's character. With a verbal structure as a coda to the novel, Holden's colorful narration is studied alongside the motifs and metaphors that inhabit the pages of The Catcher in the Rye. (e.g. who is phony, when does Holden say that something kills him and why does he keep referring to himself as a madman?)
'Kings in the Back Row' is a clear, comprehensive and insightful reading of the novel. Carl F. Strauch only rarely refers to other articles. He quotes frequently from the novel itself, but unfortunately does not provide any reference to page or chapter numbers with his quotes. It is still one of the better criticisms I have read about The Catcher in the Rye.
