While J.D. Salinger remains a popular literary icon, his official narrative is a case of “fill in the blanks.” Recently, a documentary was made which tried to fill in these blanks. While the documentary and its official book did indeed put greater than ever emphasis on Salinger’s role in World War II, it ended on a coy note that while Salinger’s disappearance from the writing scene after The Catcher in the Rye was unusual, he was still secretly working on more stories. The following is an attempt at decrypting J.D. Salinger based on a new interpretation of The Catcher in the Rye and new facts brought to light by the documentary (though not necessarily in agreement with it). Salinger’s role as a “counterintelligence officer” was shadowy, and that he probably never ceased his intelligence related activities after World War II. In fact this may account for his mysterious disappearance from the writing scene. Rereading The Catcher in the Rye reveals that its most memorable line is a very subtle but sharply accurate analogy of the sociopathic-kleptomaniac mindset of the Criminal Elite, who have an inexplicable tendency to “catch/protect/save/detain/control us……..for our own protection.
