Catcher in the Rye
In The Catcher In the Rye, J.D. Salinger describes many of the events, which occurred in his life as a maturing adolescent in the 1950's. The main character, Holden Caufield, is an extremely complex character. His obsession with sex and money, demonstrates the mindset that existed during the 50's. The new consumer culture encouraged people to be materialistic. Although Holden is not a materialist, he does spend money without thinking. It does not seem important to him that he has designer clothes or the most expensive cars; however, he does make it seem necessary to disburse his earnings. During the 1950's, people were so caught up in the consumer culture that there was no importance in what they purchased, as long as they continued to do so. Holden is more than a cynical 1950's rich kid at an impersonal and pressure-filled boarding school. The flaws of life fester inside of him and therefore he tries to shield himself from them. By doing so, however, he ignores the positive qualities of his life. Holden is an innocent adolescent desperately searching for a way to connect with the world that will not cause him pain. Holden also represents the lives of teen-agers during the 1950's as unsupervised, different and distin
All in all, Holden is just a normal, screwed up kid. In my opinion, we all have our own problems, with which we deal with everyday, and Holden is no different. He is an intelligent and sensitive boy, yet has a cynical, jaded voice as he narrates his story to us. Because of his cynicism, it appears that Holden longs to live in a new, innocent world; free from the hypocrisy and ugliness his current world holds. The ugliness of his world is described using Spencer's sick room, Ackley's pimples and Stradlater's secret slovenliness. His search for an innocent world also carries a strong, moral conscience. This is evident when he invites Ackley to go to the movies with him and another classmate, Mal Brossard. Although my knowledge is of the decade of the 60's is extremely limited, I believe if The Catcher in the Rye had been written during that time period, it would be extremely different. The conformity of the 1950's provided Holden with something to rebel against. People were never themselves in fear of being different and mocked for their distinctiveness. The explosion of the 60's provided a free environment where people were no longer sheltered and could live their lives freely. Holden would no longer have to search for meaning in his life among the fire of the 60's. His world would not be ugly and hypocritical, but peaceful and happy. The security he searches for throughout the novel would be found at his fingertips. The "phony" people he intensely despises no longer exist. The age of adolescence was prolonged, and would therefore help Holden develop a strong sense of himself. Throughout the novel, he fears the crossroads between childhood and adulthood; the 60's would enable him to remain and adolescent until he felt he was ready to become an adult. The Catcher in the Rye is a chronicle of Holden Caufield's nervous breakdown, yet Holden never directly comments on it. At no point in the story does he even directly say that he is having a nervous breakdown; he simply describes his increasingly desperate behavior without much explanation. The author, J.D. Salinger cleverly manipulates Holden's narrative to signal to the reader that there is more to the story than what Holden admits or describes. Throughout the novel, Holden exhibits a number of b
Some common words found in the essay are:
Holden Caufield, Catcher Rye, Stradlater's LS, Phoebe Holden, Brossard Holden, JD Salinger, Jane Gallagher, Holden Caufield's, Stradlater's English, catcher rye, throughout novel, consumer culture, jd salinger, obsession sex, nervous breakdown, ugliness world, death allie, story holden, allie's death,
Approximate Word count = 1538
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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