In literature, a rhetorical device is when an author uses
language to create a literary effect without any regard for literal meaning. An author
uses such devices to get his meaning across or to emphasize his theme. These devices are
creative ways of expressing ideas and themes. Symbolism is one of these rhetorical
devices, so I am not certain I am clear on what you really need to know. Do you want to
know what other rhetorical devices Salinger uses to enforce his symbols or do you want
to know how Salinger uses rhetorical devices to help prove his point, as you say in the
second part of your question?
The main symbols in this
novel are Holden’s red hunting cap, which is a kind of security blanket for him. He
feels safe and protected and not so messed up when he wears it. The ducks in Central
Park are another symbol. They represent hope for Holden because when the pond freezes
over, they leave, but they always return. This cycle gives him comfort. The Robert Burns
poem from which the phrase “catcher in the rye” comes is also a symbol. It represents
Holden’s desire to “catch” children before they become adults and thus morph into
phonies.
If you need to know how these symbols are
presented with other rhetorical devices, look for places in the novel where the hunting
cap appears and see if there are any uses of other rhetorical devices such as irony,
metaphor, simile, etc. Do the same for the “catcher in the rye” phrase. In this case,
Holden really has mistaken the lyrics because they are really “if a body meet a body
comin’ through the rye” not “if a body catch a body” – so this is the rhetorical device
of antithesis. Other rhetorical devices are alliteration, allusion, assonance,
caricature, cliché, epiphany, foreshadowing, hyperbole (lots of these in this novel),
idiom, imagery, irony, metaphor, motif (i.e. loneliness and isolation in this novel),
oxymoron, paradox – I’m sure I’ve missed a bunch.
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