Is Holden Caulfield Relevant Today

Teenagers lives their life differently. However, when the time of being a adolescent arrives, they all have the same confusion and mindsets. J. D. Salinger’s novel, “The Catcher in the Rye”, is about a seventeen year old boy named Holden Caulfield, who lives his life with complexes and problems of his owns. Holden lives his life according to his favor and commit unreasonable actions. Holden has a difficult time trying to understand what being a teenager is. Holden Caulfield is a typical teenager because he expresses the problems of being a teenager.

“In our media-intensive culture it is not difficult to find differing opinions… The difficulty lies in deciding which opinion to agree with and which ‘experts’ seem the most credible” (Espejo 11). The perceptions of one age group in society of another age group are built upon assumptions that are made through what is visible. However, rarely is anyone willing to understand the reason behind someone’s actions. Sibling rivalry, the death of a loved one, moving to a new school, competition among peers, and the reputation adolescents have today often end up giving a misperception of society to teens and of teens to society, thus damaging the relationships between society, as illustrated by J.D. Salinger in The Catcher in the Rye.

The reader often searches for a glimpse of himself in the characters he is reading about, and this is especially true with the adolescent readers of The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. The author paints a picture of a conflicted youth by emphasizing his idiosyncrasies, and although Caulfield’s traits may seem exaggerated and alien at times, he is a character who is relatable to American youth today. Holden Caulfield has a strong sense of civic duty that is overshadowed only by his suicidal tendencies, is exceedingly sensitive to the evil in the world and prone to angst, yet empathetic to the emotional upheaval other children will experience when entering adulthood.

Despite his longing for acceptance, “His efforts to connect with any stereotypical kid his age result in abject failure“(Privitera 204). Salinger thoroughly emphasizes this through Holden’s relationships with Stradlater and Ackley, with both of whom he has a strenuous and artificial relationship, demonstrated by his internal, flippant commentaries on his peers as he discusses them in the book (Salinger 31-40). Holden’s peers ostracize him due to his more introspective and introverted nature, as seen in Stradlater’s angry response to Holden’s reflective response to this writing assignment, saying that he doesn’t “do one damn thing the way [he’s] supposed to”(Salinger 47). These difficulties stem not from deficiencies of his peers, but rather a problem of Holden’s refusal to accept anything different from what he expects, making excuses about his reasons throughout the book to cover his actions. His rationalization of his internal wants and desires impedes any proper connection he could possibly make with his peers. He, “Subconsciously longs to be accepted yet feels he cannot make the connection”(Privitera 205).

Through Holden Caulfield’s characterisation, the use of language choice and symbolism, Salinger helped create the image we expect of teens today. Though he could not capture the adolescent voice and way of thinking perfectly. Instead, he founded the construction of the teenage stereotype, which at the time, had yet to be properly established. We all experience growing up differently, not everyone has such a pessimistic view of the world as Holden does, nor are they so unstable and antisocial. However, the novel remains relevant and studied as it relays the typical adversities of coming of age.

In The Catcher in The Rye by J.D Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield is shown to be someone who is against society. Throughout the book he wants to isolate himself from the world and calls everything and everyone that he sees with words such as “phony”, “moron” or “too good”. Some could say that Holden just wishes the world would change to the way he wants it to be. However, there is evidence that Holden is a misfit and that he is the problem, not society. The evidence that supports this are his experience at school, his thoughts of the graffiti with vulgar words, and his red hunting hat.

“ The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.”

A popular read for teenagers, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, follows Holden Caulfield during his time alone in New York City. During this time he faces many challenges and makes difficult choices that help him mature. Although The Catcher in the Rye was written in the 1940s, the novel still continues to be relevant to today’s adolescents.

Imagine going under treatment in a mental hospital or any medical center and telling a story of when you were sixteen years old. Well in the novel, Catcher In The Rye, the protagonist Holden Caulfield tells a story of when he was sixteen years old from a mental hospital. J.D Salinger gives his outlook of the world through the main character of the book; Holden Caulfield. The book was first released to be a book for adults, but over the years has become common throughout young adults and teens. The main character and narrator is Holden Caulfield. Holden is a sixteen year old who is expelled from his four schools, due to failure in each of his classes. He frequently refers to people he does not like as phonies. Although Holden Caulfield is very negative throughout the book, he is also very hypocritical towards many things. Holden is very hypocritical towards many things because he calls almost everyone in the book a phony, and he whines and complains about people and their flaws. Even though he tries to hide the fact that he can also be a phony or any other person that he complains about.

The book, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, discusses many different aspects of the life of a young adult. The main character, Holden Caulfield, appears to be a typical self-absorbent teenager. Yet the majority of the time Holden makes valid points on what goes on in today’s society. Even though the book was set back in time, the issues discussed in the novel are still relevant today. Holden is often seen as an arrogant individual when in reality he wants a better world to live in.

In Holden Caulfield’s mind, he lives in a world that can be split into two halves: the world of the innocent and the world of the corrupted. These worlds are equated with children and adults, respectively. He despises “the adult world and its cruelty and artificiality” (Chen) otherwise known as “phoniness”. With The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger explores an adolescent’s journey as he navigates through the gray area of an otherwise black and white world. Throughout the book, Holden frequently tries to blend in with either side of the spectrum, only to be pushed back into limbo. Despite Holden’s glorification of the purity of a child and detestation of the impurity of an adult, he doesn’t

In J.D. Salinger’s novel titled, “The Catcher in the Rye” the main character named Holden Caulfield tells us about his life adventures after he got expelled from his previous high school, Pencey. Caulfield learns many things from his adventures and learns important life lessons. You see, Holden is a complex character who exhibits many traits. For one, Holden is a hypocrite; he believes one thing when he really does not. For example, he preaches that people should be themselves and not be “phony” but yet he fakes his name most of the time and tries to be someone he is not. Although Holden is a hypocrite, he stands up for his morals, and he is very empathetic. Holden cares for others, even though it might seem as if he does not. Holden is quite remarkable because he is willing to do anything if it means that he gets to stand up for what he believes in. He is also a remarkable person due to the fact that he learns from his past and tries not to make the same mistakes again. You see,

In J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is the seventeen-year-old narrator and protagonist of the story. He is a very troubled teenager; he cannot seem to cope with his younger brother Allie’s death, has been kicked out of four schools, and is constantly criticizing and judging other people, which he does in a hypocritical manner. Holden is often nostalgic about his childhood, seeming to be in the happiest state when he thinks about being a child, and resents growing up and entering adulthood; yet, he also seeks attention and connections from adults because he knows that it is time for him to change. Holden’s conflicting interests in the world he lives in causes him to be stuck between childhood and adulthood, and

People tend to seek out literature with which they can connect to. Perhaps that is why J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in The Rye is still relevant to many readers, especially teens, today, because the experiences and feelings that Holden has resemble that of teens today.

Throughout the novel, Holden attempts to act mature, while Phoebe is living out a childhood that Holden was never able to experience. When Holden was only thirteen, his beloved younger brother, Allie passed away from leukemia. This tragedy was very damaging to Holden’s mental state and resulted in him breaking all the windows in the garage with his fist. The reader can see that Phoebe was able to recover from Allie’s death, as opposed to Holden, who carried his death with him. He spends the majority of his time ridiculing people for being “phony” (Salinger 3). He uses this term to describe people who are too typical and ordinary. Holden criticises and accuses adults for being phony because he believes they are fakes who try to act sophisticated. For example, he loathes the movies because he is convinced all actors are phony. He states that most actors are lousy because they do not act like people, and the actors who are actually good, are conceited. On numerous occasions