One student wrote to us with the following note: This essay
on Holden caulfield is incorrect. I am not sure where you got that his younger brother
died. His older Brother Allie died.
The Catcher In The Rye
Holden Caulfield is teen angst bull-crap with a pickax. He's sarcastic, nasty, and
completely unlikeable. He also doesn't give a crap. He is every teenager caught between
the crapy little games of high school ("you're supposed to kill yourself if the
football team loses or something") and the fear of adulthood ("going to get an
office job and make a lot of money like the rest of the phonies").
The greatness in Holden Caulfield is that what he has to say is better than a million
Celestine Prophecies or anything said by Jonathan Livingston Seagull (save for the squawks
after you shoot him) or Jesus (save for the apocryphal "hey Peter I can see your
house from here"). Holden Caulfield says that life sucks, everyone is a phony, and
you'll be inevitably disappointed by everyone that you hold in awe. If you think that this
sounds awful, ask yourself one question. When was the last time you found any joy in
watching Barney or the Care Bears?
It isn't just what he says but the way he says it. He goes through life making dead-on
observations that completely shoot the kneecaps out from under the terminally
self-righteous. When a successful mortician tells the school to follow his example and
pray when things go bad, it is Holden Caulfield who points out that the guy is praying for
more people to die. He's depressed by nuns and annoyed by shallow girlfriends, while in
love with his platonic friend.
Even more interesting is the fact that Caulfield's general pissed off attitude and his
hormones are inextricably linked. He practically wants to kill his roommate, Stradlatter,
because Stradlatter might have screwed a girl he desires. He guiltily admits to making out
with phonies, and in a major confession he confesses to being a virgin. He gets the crap
beat out of him by a disgruntled pimp after deciding that he doesn't want a to have sex
with a prostitute for the silliest of reasons.(he just found it disconcerting to see her
take her clothes off without fanfare.)The fact that his little brother has just died and
that he's being kicked out of yet another school takes second place to the whole sex
question. In other words, Holden Caulfield is a guy; stereotype away.
What is also interesting is how closely Caulfield captures the attitude and culture of
adolescence. There is the caste system in which Caulfield hates and wishes to be his
roommate Stradlatter. Meanwhile zit-encrusted Ackley, whom he maybe should feel sympathy
for, is an annoying guy that Holden can't wait to get out of his room. He's sympathetic to
the principle's daughter, saying that it's not her fault what kind of a bastard her old
man is, and without missing a beat remarks on the fact that she pads her bra. Cruelty and
frustration are mixed, but the comedy level allows you to laugh at your own painful
memories.
Granted, like many of his fans, Holden Caulfield turns out to be nuts or at least
residing in an insane asylum. (Sorry, if you think that those stupid surprise endings are
the best reason to read Salinger.) Yet, in Caulfield's insanity, there is a transcendent
theme. By being the pissed off, nasty, cynical insane bastard; Holden Caulfield suggests
that it is ok to be a crap. Your criticisms of the world are not invalid and nothing you
say or think is so bad that you need to repress it. Ironically, this is not only something
that is essential to survival (especially if you are a teenager and desperately trying to
maintain your lily-white self image) but is also the key to ultimately becoming a decent
caring human being. Keep your prophets, preachers and shamans. I'll take Holden Caulfield
over them any day.
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