Abstract:
 
The Catcher in the Rye is the only novel by J.D Salinger, an American famous writer. This paper mainly discusses about the characters of the protagonist, Holden. First of all, I talk about Holden’s negative characters. He is tired of anything and anyone around him; He fails 4 out of five courses; He is with a mouthful of dirty words and behaves like he does not care about anything; Secondly, I focus on describing Holden’s positive characters, his kindness, purity and modesty. Thirdly, I analyze the reasons that form Holden’s contradictory characters. Holden does not want to adapt to the adult’s world but at the same time he cannot escape from the reality. He has always insisted on his dream: becoming the catcher in the rye. Many teenagers relate their life to Holden’s experiences in the novel and the novel also makes adults have a better understanding of the youth.

Key words: teenager; Holden; character; contradiction

摘要：

《麦田里的守望者》是美国作家杰罗姆•大卫•塞林格唯一的一部长篇小说。该篇论文主要是讨论小说中主人公霍尔顿的性格。首先是描写了霍尔顿的消极性格，他对周围人和事的叛逆、学业上的失败以及放荡不羁的言行举止。其次描写了霍尔顿的积极性格，他的善良、纯真、谦虚等美好品质感染了周围的人。同时分析了霍尔顿矛盾性格形成的原因。他既不能与社会同流合污，又不能与社会隔绝。他始终内心有着美好的理想——成为麦田里的守望者。霍尔顿的人物让许多青少年引起了共鸣，也让更多的成人了解青少年的世界。

关键词: 青少年；霍尔顿；性格；矛盾

1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction to the Writer and His Works
As an American author, Jerome David Salinger was best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive lifestyle. Born in New York City on the first day of 1919, J.D. Salinger is the son of a Jewish father and a Christian mother. When he was in the secondary school, he began writing stories and published some of them in the 1940s before the world War Two. In 1948 he published the critically acclaimed story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" in The New Yorker magazine, which became home to much of his subsequent work. Salinger has published a total of thirty-five short stories in various publications, including many in The Saturday Evening Post, Story, and Colliers between 1940 and 1948, and in The New Yorker from 1948 to 1965.