Flashback

flashback: returning to an earlier time in a narrative for the purpose of making something in the present clearer

J.d. Salinger's  The Catcher in the Rye is in actuality a giant flashback. The narrator is recounting the events that lead up to his commitment to a mental institution. Salinger uses this to keep the reader from knowing that they are actually receiving advice and a story from a mentally unstable teenage boy. This lets the reader agree with the narrator and in the end shows how "crazy" the normal person really is. Salinger, through the use of the flashback, is able to hint at the mental instability of the narrator while still allowing the reader to empathize and find common ground with Holden. The reader, when the flashback ends, is shown a glimpse into their own minds and how close they really could be to mental breakdown.