《麥田里的守望者》簡介

江西南康中學 廖寶翔

《麥田里的守望者》的作者是杰羅姆·大衛·塞林格，他1919年生于美國紐約城，小說出版于1951年。本書以主人公霍爾頓自敘的語氣講述他被學校開除后在紐約城游蕩將近兩晝夜的經歷和感受。 它不僅生動、細致地描繪了一個不安于現狀的中產階級子弟的苦悶、彷徨、孤獨、憤世的精神世界，一個青春期少年矛盾百出的心理特征，也批判了成人社會的虛偽和做作。 經過60多年時間的考驗，它不愧為美國當代文學中的“現代經典小說”之一。

這部長篇小說雖然只有十幾萬字，卻對美國社會和文學界產生了很大的影響。 1951年，這部小說一問世，立即引起轟動。 主人公的經歷和思想引起青少年的強烈共鳴，深受讀者喜愛。

本文為小說《麥田里的守望者》的故事梗概。 請思考：小說有哪些主要人物？ 他們與主人公的關系是什么？ 小說的主要情節有哪些？ 都發生在哪些地方？ 小說的主人公和主要人物有哪些性格特點？ 小說中在麥田中奔跑的孩子隨時可能不慎跌落懸崖象征著什么？ 主人公為什么愿意成為一名麥田里的守望者？

Writing from a rest home where he's recovering from some illness or breakdown, Holden Caulfield says he'll tell the story of what happened to him just before the previous Christmas.

Holden's story begins at Pencey Prep on the day of the big football game. Instead of going to the game, Holden, who has just been expelled for failing four of his five classes, visits Mr Spencer,his history teacher.Mr Spencer lectures Holden about playing by the rules and thinking about his future. Holden pretends to agree with what he hears, but actually thinks Mr Spencer is vain. Back in his dorm room, Robert Ackley,Holden's irritating neighbor, interrupts Holden as he tries to read, and Ward Stradlater, Holden's proud and good-looking roommate heads out for a date with Jane Gallagher, a girl Holden knows and likes. Before he leaves, Stradlater asks Holden to write an English composition for him while he's away. Holden writes about his dead brother Allie's baseball mitt. When Stradlater returns,he says that the essay isn't on topic,and refuses to reveal the details of his date. Holden attacks and insults him. Stradlater punches Holden in the nose.

Holden decides to leave Pencey early. He takes a train to New York and rents a room at the Edmont Hotel. He soon feels lonely and depressed and starts acting strangely. He wears a red hunting cap everywhere he goes, asks cab drivers what happens to the ducks in the central park lagoon during the winter, and wanders around from the Hotel lounge to another bar trying to pick up women whom he claims to hate. Back at his hotel,the elevator man, Maurice, offers him a prostitute for $5. Holden agrees, but is so uncomfortable when she arrives that he says he recently has received a surgery. She demands $10. When he refuses, she returns with Maurice. Maurice punches Holden in the stomach while she takes another five dollars.

The next morning, Holden makes a date with a girl he knows named Sally Hayes. He then wanders around the town, and hears a boy singing a song while coming out of church: “If a body catches a body coming through the rye.” Hoping to find his younger sister, Phoebe, Holden walks all the way to the Museum of Natural History, which he loves for its unchanging exhibits. But he decides not to enter the museum, and takes a cab to meet Sally Hayes instead.

The date does not go well. The play they see annoys Holden, as does the fact that Sally talks to a boy who Holden thinks is vain. After going ice skating, Holden begins to talk about everything he hates, and asks Sally to run away with him to a cabin in New England. She refuses and asks him to stop shouting. He insults her, makes her cry, and leaves. Later that night, Holden walks to Central Park to look at the ducks in the lagoon. There are no ducks; it's freezing, and he imagines he might die, which he knows would make Phoebe miserable. He decides to go home to see her.

Holden secretly goes into his family's apartment, wakes Phoebe, and tells her he's leaving to go live on a ranch in Colorado. Phoebe realizes Holden has been expelled, and asks him what he wants to be in his life. Holden says he'd like to be a catcher in the rye, who rescues children by catching them before they fall off a steep cliff at the edge of a giant rye field. Holden then goes to visit Mr Antolini, his favorite former teacher. Mr Antolini warns Holden that he's headed for a “terrible fall” and tries to convince him to be less rigid and judgmental. Holden listens, but is too tired and falls asleep. He wakes when he feels Mr Antolini's hand stroking his head. He thinks Mr Antolini is doing something unusual and leaves.

Holden decides to say goodbye to Phoebe before heading west. He meets her at the Museum of Art, where she begs him to take her with him. He refuses, and then promises that he won't go either.He takes her to the zoo, where he watches her ride the carousel. Phoebe gives Holden back his red hunting hat, which protects him from the rain that has just started to fall.

Holden's story shifts back to the rest home,where he now wishes he hadn't told so many people his story, because it only makes him miss the people he tells about.

Word Bank

1. mitt /m?t/ n. （尤指）棒球手套

2. lagoon /l??ɡu?n/ n. 瀕海湖；環礁湖

3. lounge /la?nd?/ n. （旅館、俱樂部等的）休息室；（機場等的）等候室

4. prostitute /?pr?st?tju?t/ n. 失足女

5. carousel /?k?r??sel/ n. 旋轉木馬

Critical Reading

Have a discussion with your classmates and try to find out why Holden Caulfield would like to be a catcher in the rye and explore the theme of the novel.

情節簡介

《麥田里的守望者》簡介

霍爾頓·考爾菲德在一家療養院療養，他正從一些疾病或精神分裂中恢復過來。 他正在療養院里寫信，他說他會講述就在剛剛過去的圣誕節前發生在他身上的故事。

霍爾頓的故事始于潘西中學當天舉行的足球比賽。 霍爾頓由于5門學科中的4科考試沒合格而被學校開除，他沒有去參加比賽而是去拜訪了他的歷史老師斯賓塞先生。 斯賓塞先生告訴霍爾頓要按照一定的規則來做事情并且要考慮自己的未來。 霍爾頓假裝同意斯賓塞先生給他灌輸的那些信息，但是實際上霍爾頓內心認為斯賓塞先生太虛偽了。 回到宿舍后，讓霍爾頓感到討厭的舍友羅伯特·阿克利在霍爾頓想要看書的時候打斷了他。 霍爾頓的另外一位非常自負、容貌也不錯的舍友華德·斯特拉迪雷特出去與簡·加拉格爾約會，而霍爾頓也認識簡·加拉格爾，也很喜歡她。 斯特拉迪雷特離開之前要求霍爾頓幫他寫一篇英文作文。霍爾頓寫了一篇關于他去世的弟弟艾利的棒球手套的文章。斯特拉迪雷特回到宿舍后，他說霍爾頓寫的文章沒有切題，并拒絕向霍爾頓透露他約會的詳細情況。 因此霍爾頓揍了斯特拉迪雷特一頓并羞辱了他一番，而斯特拉迪雷特狠狠地一拳打在了霍爾頓的鼻子上。

霍爾頓決定盡早離開潘西中學。他乘火車來到了紐約并在埃德蒙特賓館租了間屋子住了下來。很快他就感覺孤獨和沮喪，而他的行為也開始變得怪異。 他去任何地方都戴著一頂紅色的獵帽，并問出租車司機在冬季的時候中央公園湖里的鴨子發生了什么事情。 他還在酒店的大堂和另一個酒吧之間徘徊，試圖去結交那些他宣稱討厭的女孩。 當他回到賓館，賓館的電梯工人莫里斯說幫他找一個5美元的失足女。 霍爾頓同意了，但是當那個失足女過來后，他感到很不舒服，于是說他最近做過手術。 她向霍爾頓收取10美元，霍爾頓拒絕了她的要求，她于是找到莫里斯并一起返回找到霍爾頓，莫里斯狠狠地揍霍爾頓的腹部直到他將另外5美元給了那個失足女。

第二天早晨，霍爾頓約了一個他認識的叫莎莉·海耶斯的女孩。 然后他在城里游蕩，當他從一個教堂出來的時候聽到了一個男孩在唱歌：“當我行過麥田，如果一個身體抓住了另外一個身體。”霍爾頓一路走著去自然歷史博物館，希望能找到他的妹妹菲比，他喜歡那個博物館里面不變的展品。 但是他決定不進入博物館，而是乘坐一輛出租車去見莎莉·海耶斯。

這個約會并不美好。 他們一起去看的演出惹惱了霍爾頓，因為莎莉和一個霍爾頓認為非常虛偽的男孩談話。 滑冰后，霍爾頓開始談論他所討厭的一切，并要求莎莉和他一起私奔去新英格蘭的一個小屋。 莎莉拒絕了他的要求并讓他停止大喊大叫。 霍爾頓羞辱了莎莉一番，讓莎莉傷心落淚，然后離開了。 那天晚上很晚的時候，霍爾頓走到中央公園去看湖里的鴨子。 但是那里沒有鴨子，湖面結冰了，然后他就想象自己會死去，但他知道這會讓妹妹菲比非常痛苦。 因此他決定回家找她。

霍爾頓偷偷溜進了他父母的公寓，他叫醒了菲比，告訴她自己將去科羅拉多的大牧場上生活。 菲比這時候才知道霍爾頓被學校開除了，然后問他想要什么樣的生活。 霍爾頓說自己要當一名“麥田里的守望者”，在那個巨大麥田邊緣的懸崖邊守望，只要有小孩跑去懸崖邊，他就把小孩抓回來。 而后霍爾頓去拜訪了他以前最喜歡的老師安托里尼先生。 安托里尼警告霍爾頓說他正在朝著某個“可怕的、將導致其跌落”的方向走去，并試圖說服霍爾頓不要那么死板和挑剔。霍爾頓聽著感覺太累了就睡著了。當他醒來的時候，感覺安托里尼的手在撫摸著他的頭。 他覺得安托里尼有些反常然后就匆忙離開了。

霍爾頓決定臨走之前和菲比告別。 他和菲比在藝術博物館碰面，菲比請求霍爾頓帶上她一起去。霍爾頓拒絕了，然后霍爾頓答應菲比自己也不去了。 他帶著菲比去動物園游玩，在那霍爾頓看著菲比玩旋轉木馬。 這時候天空開始下起了雨，菲比把那頂幫他擋雨的紅色的獵帽交還給霍爾頓。

霍爾頓的故事又回到了療養院，他希望他沒有將自己的故事告訴給很多人，因為那樣只會讓他思念他故事曾經提及過的人。