The Catcher in the Rye: Frame Story 1 key example

This introduction sets the “frame” for the story, indicating that all the past events that follow are a flashback. While it’s never explicitly stated that the protagonist is in a mental healthcare facility, Holden narrates as if speaking to a psychiatrist from a "rest home." Throughout the novel, Holden tries to justify his current situation and explain himself to his audience.

The novel begins and ends with him in the present, while the main story occurs in the recent past. This is part of the novel's work with psychological realism, a genre in which authors explore the multitude of reasons behind people’s actions, small and large. Holden is grieving and traumatized, but he also feels isolated and disillusioned by the world around him. The narration of this novel is his attempt to understand why things happened to him the way they did and why other people behave in ways he finds hard to comprehend. The fact that the story begins and ends with Holden’s retelling (ending with Holden refusing to say more) complicates its central narrative of development. The reader sees Holden's progress but has to reconcile it with the fact that he begins and ends in the same place.