The Catcher in the Rye The Nature of Societal and Individual Interdependency

A detailed Summary of The Catcher in the Rye The Nature of Societal and Individual Interdependency

In a perfect world, everyone would be happy with the way they are and everyone

would accept the differences of others. Unfortunately, the world we live in is not

perfect and not everyone accepts who they are . Is there a reason why people

cannot be content with their lives or with the differences of other people? The

answer is yes, and the reason for the discontent is society. With society telling

the masses what is, and is not acceptable, it is no wonder that people seem "lost",

and are desperately searching out their place in the sun. This search for identity

seems to be the case in JD Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Through

settings in the novel and symbolism, Salinger illustrates that while the main

character, Holden Caulfield, needs the support of the environment around him, the

environment also needs Holden as a person.

Holden Caulfield is out of place in any environment in which he is placed.

At Pencey, his school, Holden gets excluded from the activities of his classmates.

At the very beginning of the novel, Holden becomes expelled because his grades

are not up to Pencey's standards and also because he does not feel like he belongs

there. Holden separates himself from his classmate

present environment. Holden later comments on his hat when his little sister

belong to that society. He cannot go forward and he cannot go back; he is stuck in

environment that he lives in. He cannot fit in, because society is not a good

flunking four subjects and not applying myself at all. They gave me frequent

be the catcher in the rye and all." (Salinger 172-173)

makes the effort to fit in at Pencey because he knows that it is just a made up

because he does not belong there at the moment. This particular situation with the

and their environment, he is not very effective when portraying the dependency in

having a conversation with his little sister, Phoebe, about the song that he heard

but he cannot see the crowd. Holden says that he hears the yelling because

Approximate Word count = 1980
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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