Author’s Note

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jim Steele.” —The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, 1951

YOU’RE ABOUT TO READ THE MOST BRILLIANT ESSAY on The Catcher in the Rye ever written. I wrote it back in 2005. It was my Loxley University Graduate Thesis. It has been considered by many to be the most comprehensive analysis on the themes, symbols, and philosophical implications of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye ever written. This is not a brag. Many have said this. I am merely stating the facts.