The Catcher in the Rye Essay: Use of Foreshadowing The use of foreshadowing in a novel can help the reader get an idea of ​​what will happen in the story without revealing the events themselves. It's a powerful tool that prevents events from going unexplained, leaving the reader to wonder about the effectiveness of an outcome. The eventual breakdown of Holden Caufield's character in J.D. Salinger's controversial 1945 novel "The Catcher in the Rye" was foreshadowed in the book's early chapters. The first clue is his negative approach to life. He begins by talking about his "lousy childhood" (p.1) and the first traces of vulgarity are seen scattered across the page in the form of "crap", "hell" and "curse". Holden's first sign of distrust comes when he talks to Ward Stradlater about his tryst with Jane Gallagher: "Listen. Give me my regards, will you?" “Okay,” Stradlater said, but I knew he probably wouldn't… “Ask her if she still keeps all her kings in the back row.” "Okay," Stradlater said, but I knew he wouldn't. (p.33-34) This is seen again when he does not trust Stradlater to stop his advances towards Jane in case she says no. Holden gives up trust in people to trust him when he boards a bus holding a snowball. The driver refuses to believe that Holden won't throw the snowball, so he draws the conclusion that "people never believe you." (page 37). Furthermore, he always puts labels on people as "fake", which gives the reader the idea that Holden thinks others are materialistic. Holden's attempts to protect innocence in the world are another early sign of his deteriorating state. When Holden goes to Pheobe's school to deliver his note, he sees some swearing against the wall which he says "almost drove me mad" (p.201). He erases words from the wall in an attempt to prevent the inevitable from occurring, leading the reader to believe that they may experience some mental instability in the future. He finally realizes that he can't erase all the profanity alone. Another example of Holden's attempt to protect innocence is the fact that he never calls Jane, perhaps out of fear that she will ruin his memories of her as an innocent child. The title of this novel presents this theme to the reader as Holden wants to be "the catcher in the rye" (p. ) so he can catch all the children waddling to the edge of a cliff in their game. Perhaps the most obvious example of foreshadowing in the novel occurs when his parents come close to having him "psychoanalyzed and all" (p.39) when he breaks all the windows in the garage. Throughout the novel he refers to himself as "a madman" (p.79), which gives the reader the idea that he considers himself to be suffering from some sort of mental problem. These two pieces of evidence alone present a pretty good idea of ​​what will happen to Holden towards the end of the story. The use of foreshadowing is evident in the novel "The Catcher in the Rye." It does its job well in that it predicts the outcome of Holden's many problems and gives the reason why. Holden's eventual breakdown does not surprise the reader due to the author's use of foreshadowing and is therefore effective..