Theme Of The Catcher In The Rye

Adolescence is a turbulent time, in which teenagers are caught between the innocent, frivolous world of children and the enigma of adulthood. Holden Caulfield, center of the bildungsroman Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, experiences many conflicts, both internal and external, that give way to issues hindering him from leading a normal life. Three primary problems impeding him are unresolved grief from his brother Allie’s death, the inability to live up to expectations of his wealthy family, and his failure to accept that life is complex. Holden’s younger brother, Allie, died of leukemia about four years ago, and yet the grief haunts him still. Holden missed his brother’s funeral because he “had to go to the hospital and all after [he]
A wealthier family typically expects that a child attend prep school and perform rather well. Abiding by tradition, Holden’s parents have cycled through, not one, but three prep schools before Pencey. He does not enjoy society’s view of who he should become. Likewise, Holden clearly rejects his social status as he intentionally fails out of each of these schools and as he pities others less fortunate. When Holden meets the two nuns, he says that he hates “it if [he’s] eating bacon and eggs or something and somebody else is only eating toast and coffee,” an ode to his guilt about being better off (Salinger 110). To be able to live with himself and his class, Holden should try volunteering because he made it clear that he wanted to change someone’s life by being the ‘catcher in the rye’. In general, Holden dislikes the fact that he is better off than most, but this can be resolved through Holden’s desire to help and to incite change for the
The three women he meets at the Lavender Room, for example, are what he perceives to be phony. He gave them a “cool glance,” but they giggle anyway (Salinger 70). Instead of being phony, they see what Holden does not: a scrawny teenager, to whom the waiter would not serve alcohol, trying too hard to socialize with them. He later implies the women to be phony, since they are so involved with actors, who “never act like people,” thus making them phonies. Holden applies his black-and-white view to these women, which prevents him from seeing both their personalities and the truth. After Allie’s death, Holden elevated Allie to something of a saint, and these traits became what defined Holden’s black-and-white view of the world. To correct Holden’s cynical, judgmental manner, he has to understand that not everyone can act like the glorified Allie. Overall, trauma in Holden’s life leads him to compare everyone he meets with his dead brother, but he can let go of this mindset by first letting go of the grief that holds him