The novel starts out with Holden telling the reader the flashback of three days he spent alone in New York City last winter. He was kicked out of Pencey Prep, the latest in a long string of exclusive boarding schools, and wanted to leave the school before his parents found out. Before Holden leaves, he is warned by his teacher that he is heading down a bad path, foreshadowing his later troubles. As Holden leaves his dorm, he shouts “Sleep tight, ya morons! “, and cries, although he doesn’t know why (Page 52). Throughout the book Holden often has reactions like this, hating people but still wanting to be close to hem.
He takes the train into New York City, and heads for a hotel after being too scared of talking to his parents to call his little sister Phoebe. Throughout the book, Holden constantly tries to find someone to talk to, but his own insecurity and poor social skills prevent him from finding anybody. When people turn him down, he gripes and calls them phonies. Holden hates phonies more than anything else and considers nearly everyone a phony, which is likely the author’s subtle jab at the hypocrisy in the fifties.
Unsurprisingly, a sixteen year old alone in the big city ets into trouble, with one notable incident of being beaten up and having money stolen by a prostitute and her pimp. Holden has more misadventures after that, culminating in him drunkenly wandering around the city in the middle of the night. Holden is freezing cold, and decides to head to Central Park where he sits on a bench and imagines his death from pneumonia. Sitting on the park bench, Holden reaches his breaking point. Being alone in New York City wasn’t the fun adventure he thought it would be, and he feels lonely and depressed. He heads home to see his sister.
His depression has become physical, with Holden experiencing headaches, sweating, memory problems, nausea, and finally passing out in the Museum of Natural History. The novel concludes with Holden in a hospital, telling the reader that there isn’t any more to the story. He’s going to a new school next fall, and his brother has visited, but the ending is ambiguous. Holden admits he misses everyone in the story, even the characters who were cruel to him. Holden shares many similarities with his creator, J. D. Salinger, and can be viewed as the author’s own self, facing problems the uthor faced.
They both have trauma from the war years (Salinger from serving in Europe), come rich New York families, and have been kicked out of private school. This, coupled with Holden’s ignorance of his overwhelming privilege make the book difficult to relate to at times. Holden has everything. He is a rich white boy living in the richest city in the richest country in the world in one of its most prosperous periods. His parents’ status has guaranteed him a comfortable future. Yet, Holden consistently displays a lack of concern for others that makes it ifficult to like him, even taking his mental issues into account.
He starts off praising people, but when they offend him, he calls them phony. He is disgusted by the people and society around him. He doesn’t like movies, he doesn’t like Broadway, he doesn’t like music. Holden does like to read, but only a few books. He rejects the future planned for him-becoming a lawyer, living in New York, marrying a high-class girl, and attending society parties. This guaranteed success is largely what turned me away from the novel- Holden’s parents will be there with the heckbook to bail him out, so why get invested in his issues? Holden’s privilege even affects his relatability as a character.
While many teenagers suffer from loneliness and depression, the majority of them do not have the spare change to spend three days in fancy hotels in New York instead of facing their problems. I believe teenagers can handle social criticism in novels, but such criticism might be more powerful if the commentator actually experienced the true negative effects of soceity, which Holden is usually unaware of. The language of the book is simple, reflecting the perspective of the teenage arrator as well as allowing the themes of the book to make an impact unencumbered by flowery prose.
However, sometimes this simplicity, coupled with Holden’s repetitive observations and emotions, make the book difficult to get swept up in. As a counterpoint to the main character’s causal entitlement and often drab prose of The Catcher in the Rye, I would suggest those who enjoyed the novel read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. The novel has similar themes, but the main character is much more relatable and offers a more nuanced critique of society. Unlike Holden, the main character is actually a victim ho faces real and terrible consequences due to her status in society.
The Catcher in the Rye is not just a story of a boy alone in New York, but a reflection of the culture and attitude of the early fifties. The author, J. D. Salinger was a member of the Beat Generation, a group of artists who challenged the conformity and repression of society. While the fifties had great material prosperity, there was a culture of conformity and materialism. He used this novel as a social commentary, a way of expressing the inequality of fifties culture as it affects one teenage boy. The eath of Holden’s brother Allie can been seen as a representation of World War Two and it’s lingering trauma.
Everyone expects Holden to move on and forget about Allie, but his death still haunts him like memories of the war haunted society. When Phoebe asks him what he wants to be when he grows up he explains- he wants to be “The Catcher in the Rye”, someone who protects young children playing in a field of rye. This desire likely stems from Holden’s trauma over his brother Allie’s death from leukemia, and a latent guilt over not being able to protect him. Holden’s grief over Allie’s death is the main oot of his depression and he constantly thinks about Allie.
Holden’s red hunting cap is very important to him, as it is a symbol of his connection to Allie, who had red hair. Holden is at the crossroads between childhood and adulthood, and he would he rather stay in the innocence of childhood. Holden is the only real main character, as the other characters only appear for a short time in the book. A large part of the book’s popularity is Holden’s appeal as character. For all his flaws, he has a unique perception of the world. However, he is also one of the most frustrating characters.
Throughout the book, people try to encourage Holden to fit in with society, but Holden rejects them as phony. While he hates phonies- he acts like one when he tries to impress people. He buys goes to see a show he knows he will hate, just to impress a girl he’s with. Holden considers everyone, except for maybe his sister Phoebe and friend Jane Gallagher, a phony. Holden is the only real relatable character, however another possible one might be Jane Gallagher, Holden’s friend from previous summers. She is never directly in the novel, but Holden thinks of her often and onsiders her a good character.
The fact that we never directly see her might be what makes her relatable-if Holden met her he would probably stop idealizing her and find a reason to dislike her. Other characters serve as the pressure of society, expecting Holden to live up to the standards they set for him. Holden’s depression is very real, at one point with him thinking “Anyway, I’m sort of glad they’ve got the atomic bomb invented. If there’s ever another war, I’m going to sit right the hell on top of it. I’ll volunteer for it, I swear to God I will” (Page 141).
