Abstract：J. D. Salinger (1919-2010) is regarded as “the American most read writer”. Salinger has many famous works that readers are enthusiastic for many years, among which The Catcher in the Rye gets the greatest success and comments all around the world and establishes Salinger’s fame and position in American literature. Salinger was born in a middle-class family, so he mainly writes for these people, especially for young generation’s spiritual confusion in phony society. The Catcher in the Rye is such a kind of novel, which describes a teenager Holden’s three days’ experience in New York. The novel reveals the real condition of American society during 1950s and 190s and teenagers’ struggle in such a society.

The thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter stars from the analysis of the significance of the author and The Catcher in the Rye, providing background information for the subsequent parts. The absurdity and nihilism in American society during 1950s and 1960s is discussed in the second chapter and it reveals the actual situation of the phony society and the reason why education goes against growth. The third chapter deals with the analysis on collapse of values in American social environment, it lays many emphases on the relationship between man and society, man and man and children and parents. Chapter four discusses the American dream and the reasons why free will is an illusion as well as Holden’s dream and its failure. The last chapter through the analysis of the value of the American society and the American dream of The Catcher in the Rye, reaches the conclusion that the novel reflects the collapse of American dream and reveals the detachment of the spiritual world of human being from the 1950s and 1960s’ American society.

Key Words: J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, American value, American dream

摘要：美国当代著名作家杰罗姆•大卫•塞林格（1919-2010）被称为美国“被阅读的最多的作家”，其作品深受读者喜爱。在格林赛众多的杰出作品中，《麦田里的守望者》最为盛名，这部作品奠定了格林赛在美国文学界的地位和名气。格林赛出身于美国中产阶级家庭，因此，他十分关注和熟悉这一阶层的人民的生活，尤其关注的是社会异化的巨大影响下，青少年一代的精神上的困惑。《麦田里的守望者》正是这样的一部作品。小说以出身于美国中产阶级的青少年霍尔顿为视角，通过描写他从学校开除后，流浪于纽约街头上的三天的经历，进而反映出上世纪五六十年代美国社会的真实状况，以及战后青少年在这种社会环境中的精神挣扎。

论文总共包括五个章节。第一章介绍了作者以及他的作品《麦田里的守望者》的重要性，为之后的分析提供了必要的背景信息。第二章分析了美国社会上世纪五六十年代的荒谬虚无的人生，揭示了美国五六十年代虚伪的社会并讲述了教育与经济之间关系。第三章从霍尔顿的角度出发，分析了美国社会价值观的崩溃，尤其对人与社会，人与人，孩子与父母之间的关系进行了阐释。第四章深入分析了《麦田里的守望者》中美国梦的破灭以及其原因，霍尔顿的梦想跟美国梦的关系。最后一章总结了全文的内容，揭示了二十世纪五六十年代美国梦的破灭及人的精神世界与社会现实的疏离。

关键词：塞林格，《麦田里的守望者》，社会价值观，美国梦

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments..i

Abstract...ii

摘要iii

1 Introduction1

1.1 The Significance of J. D. Salinger.1

1.2 The Significance of Catcher in the Rye.2

2 The Absurdity and Nihilism in the 1950s and 1960s4

2.1 Education Going against Growth...4

2.2 Phony Society. ...6

3 Collapse of Values in the Social Relationships...8

3.1 The Alienated Relationship between Man and Society...8

3.2 The Isolation between Man and Man .9