The Catcher in the Rye: Allusions 5 key examples

The situational irony here lies in the fact that Holden is saying one thing and then immediately doing another. Despite stating that he doesn't want to talk about himself, Holden proceeds to tell a book-length story that goes deeply into his private experiences and thoughts. This contradiction points to his teenage lack of self-awareness, as he fails to recognize that he is indeed "going into it" by narrating his story. The reader, however, quickly understands what’s happening, especially as Holden’s reluctance to speak quickly dissolves.

Holden's allusion to David Copperfield by Charles Dickens adds to the passage’s irony, as Holden expands on what he’s “not” going to do and then does exactly that. David Copperfield is a novel that tells the story of the protagonist David Copperfield’s development and personal growth, much like Holden’s own story. By dismissing the idea of telling his life story as being "David Copperfield kind of crap," Holden states his disdain for the genre while participating in it himself. This reference is also notably meta: it’s almost as though Holden is aware that he’s a character in a book.

By invoking The Return of the Native, a novel centered around the personal growth and development of an intelligent young person, Salinger is subtly connecting Holden’s journey to Hardy's story of fatalistic self-discovery in an unfeeling world. Just as Eustacia Vye, Hardy’s protagonist, is torn between good and bad choices, Holden struggles with his morality and identity. The setting of The Return of the Native is also just as important as New York is to The Catcher In The Rye. Both Holden and Eustacia feel a painful and irresistible connection to the extraordinary, storied places where they grew up. Both characters also feel like these settings are stifling them.

Holden also uses hyperbole here when he talks about Ring Lardner’s plays, saying that a story about a girl getting killed because she’s always speeding "just about killed" him. This exaggeration refers to the impact the story had on him, making him laugh uproariously even though a character was literally “killed” in the scene. Similarly, when Holden says books "knock him out," he’s using hyperbole to stress the profound effect the right book can have on him.

In the above quotation, Holden makes a reference to Maugham’s autobiographical novel Of Human Bondage. Salinger was very fond of meta-references, and this is one of many moments in this book where Holden links himself to other stories of growth and development. Philip Carey, the protagonist of Of Human Bondage, is very similar to Holden in several important ways. Both are isolated young men who feel misunderstood by those around them, and both are on a mission to carve out their true identity in worlds that want to draw those boundaries for them.

When Holden references Romeo and Juliet here, he describes feeling slightly boxed into a corner. The nun he’s speaking to loves Shakespeare, and so he becomes uncomfortable as they talk about a play that “gets pretty sexy in some parts.” Although Holden does have opinions to share about the play, he feels uncomfortable talking about a love story that includes physical elements with her, as she is “a nun and all.” He tries to move away from talking about the love story at the center of Romeo and Juliet to discussing the fate of Mercutio, Romeo's best friend. He feels briefly relieved when he can move off the "annoying" subject of sexual love and onto something else. However, Mercutio's death is violent and frightening, and Holden quickly regrets bringing up Shakespeare at all. 

In this passage, Holden references Shakespeare's play Hamlet and the real 20th-century actor and director Laurence Olivier. Although Olivier’s Hamlet was very well-renowned and his brother D.B. liked it a lot, Holden still finds a lot to dislike in Olivier's portrayal of the Danish prince. He acknowledges that Olivier's got physical appeal and stage presence, but he criticizes his interpretation of Hamlet as “too much like a goddam General.” Holden thinks that Hamlet is supposed to be a "sad, screwed-up type guy" and not a grandiose—and hammy—star like Olivier. This allusion points to Holden's general disdain for "phonies" in the arts. Even though it’s a play, not real life, and the actors are supposed to be “phony,”  Holden finds Olivier insincere and overstated.