What Does Holden Caulfield Teach

Worth Reading and Teaching

Ever since its publication in 1951, the quality of J. D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, has been a controversy. The story has been praised for its enlightening views on society, but criticized for its use of slang and sexual content. Nevertheless, the story is worth both reading and teaching, for the story still relates to the lives of today’s teenagers, introduces a unique writing style to its readers, and teaches its readers an important lesson about phoniness. Throughout the novel, the main character, Holden Caulfield, attempts to catch innocent children before they fall off the cliff and die or before they lose their innocence and become a corrupt and phony adult. While doing so, he suffers isolation
Throughout the story, Holden isolates himself from everyone else. One way he isolates himself is by wearing a red hunting hat, which he bought all by himself in New York. A red hunting hat alone is an odd and unique hat for a teenager to wear, but Holden even wears it in a weird fashion. Today’s teenagers strive to be different from each other, and one way they express themselves is through their clothes. Another reason for Holden’s isolation is his impulsiveness throughout the whole story. In the beginning of the novel, Holden thinks that his roommate Stradlater took advantage of Jane and gets into a fight with him. After getting a hard hit in the face, Holden tells Stradlater “to go wash his own moron face – which was a pretty childish thing to say, but [he] was mad as hell” (45). Today’s teenagers often get into fights and become impulsive because of the anger built up from their fights. After Sally refuses Holden’s request to run away with him, he becomes annoyed and calls her a “royal pain in the ass” (133). He quickly regrets it, but he is unable to take back what he said. Holden’s inconsiderate words show the trouble he has communicating with others, and give a reason to why he is isolated and friendless. Even today’s teenagers have situations when they say careless things and lose a possible friend. On the night that his little brother, Allie, died, he slept in the garage and “broke all the goddam windows with [his] fist, just for the hell of it” (39). The loss of a loved family member is something everyone can relate to at least once in their lifetimes, and surely it will be a painful experience that will drive one to do impulsive things. Everyone will, is, or has been a teenager in their lives so they are able to relate to