Individualism In Catcher In The Rye

.As teenagers wage war on how adults and institutions expect them to behave, they oftentimes look to rebellion as a means to express their own individualism. In the wake of World War II, 1950s America enjoyed a booming economy in comparison to the Great Depression a few decades prior, but American teenagers felt lost and lacking in confidence. Within his novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger mimics this conflict and critiques the disparity between the generations during this era through the eyes of protagonist Holden Caulfield, a teenager who resents the phony nature of adulthood. Instead of following societal norms with a strong school performance and a clear sense of direction, Holden fumbles his way through New York City where each adult he encounters merely lets him down. At the onset of the novel, the setting reveals an unhappy teenager surrounded by unhappy circumstances: he lets down the fencing team; he flunks out of school; he feuds with other boys in the dormitory. All of this stems from an unhealthy relationship with education. More specifically, Holden’s
In his book Growing Up Absurd, Paul Goodman remarked, “I assume that the young really need a more worthwhile world in order to grow up at all,” and J.D. Salinger portrays this sentiment in The Catcher in the Rye (Jezer 243). In a world containing phony institutions, disreputable hotels, and unlettered adults, adolescents have no choice but to question their surroundings and make tough decisions for themselves. They break free from societal norms in an attempt to avoid falling into the same phony behavior they witness every day. Unfortunately, as the protagonist Holden Caulfield realizes as his young sister reaches for the carousel’s gold ring, kids need to experience their own risks, and if they fall, they fall, without the help from