Practice Diction Analysis

                In this excerpt from Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger’s dull, casual language and sardonic colloquialisms permeate the narrator’s mind and portrays him as a flippant, displeased, and immature young person. The narrator mentions his “lousy childhood” in the first sarcastic sentence of the passage, which establishes him as an unsatisfied and uninterested person. He goes on to describe his own parents as “touchy as hell,” using uncouth language to emphasize his hostile feelings. The narrator also refers to money as “dough,” which is an unrefined, childish term. Overall, the cynical tone of the selection conveys the narrator’s unhappiness and immaturity.