I approached The Catcher in the Rye with all the trepidation and respect
befitting any great American classic. But its respect is well-deserved. The
author (J. D. Salinger) uses a first-person narration from the point-of-view of
a teen not only to capture the timeless rebellious mood of teens (even until
today) but to showcase the surroundings of New York City around that time.
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| First edition cover |
The novel is a retrospect for the
narrator, Holden Caulfield (who is sixteen during the story’s events) while he
is being treated at some sort of mental facility. He starts at his expulsion
from the prestigious Pencey Prep - one which the readers are told is now included
in a substantial list of schools he’s previously attended and subsequently
expelled from. After a fight with his roommate, Holden decides to leave the
school earlier than his due date (surmising he has sufficient funds to travel
to New York before he’s supposed to get back home and face his parents about
his expulsion). All his adventures happen in New York City which includes him
visiting his “kid sister”, meeting up with an old girlfriend, and hiring a prostitute,
among other things.
Holden likes to alienate himself. I
think his alienation is manifested from loneliness as well as a variety of
other emotions. Holden does not seem to have a great amount of friends (as is
evident when he is trying to “give someone a buzz” - phoning someone - but has
a very short list in his phonebook). In fact, the only people he is fond of are
his younger sister, Phoebe, and his deceased brother, Allie (whose death also seems
to unconsciously influence his difficult relationships with others). Holden
quickly tires of his conversations with others, thinking them “boring” or “phony”.
However, I believe these judgments stem from his confusion with typical human
interaction and his need for superiority in order to feel stable and reassured.
The red hunting hat (which is featured prominently) that Holden purchased is a
symbol of his alienation and necessity for partition from the outside world as
its flaps cover his face, separating him from other people.
The story exposes Holden’s reluctance
to mature. He refers to mostly all grown-ups as “phonies” (which sums up his
view of the adult world). Holden spends the novel telling others he is much
older than his sixteen years and indicating grey hairs on one side of his head as evidence. This, to me, shows that while adults are all “phony” to him, he believes
himself to be the only mature example (as shown by his yearning to be viewed as
mature) of the opposite. During a conversation with Phoebe, he tells her he
dreams of a “big field of rye” (which represents the innocence of childhood) in
which he is a catcher that stops the playing children from running over the
edge of the cliff into danger. Phoebe refuses to indulge in this daydream,
instead commenting that “Daddy’ll kill [Holden]” for being expelled again. Through
this, we can see that Holden fancies himself a hero, a keeper of childhood as
well. Phoebe (although younger in years) is much more realistic and mature than
Holden while Holden is actually juvenile for his age (the opposite of what he
likes to believe).
The author has chosen to write the novel
in first-person narration. This way, we are able to understand how Holden’s
mind works through his constant thoughts about himself, his past and current
situations and people surrounding him (“sometimes I act a lot older than I am -
I really do - but people never notice it. People never notice anything.”). So
if the book was in third-person, Holden Caulfield could merely be viewed as an
eccentric person instead of implying his outlandish personality through his
strange speech and unusual (he often attributes something he sees to a theory
or a past event) ways of thinking. Holden’s constant anecdotes also help the
readers understand the events that caused him to think and act as he does.
1950s New York City is different to what
we know today. Holden’s tales of the nightclubs he visits (in most of which he
is not allowed to buy a drink as bartenders doubt his age) display the night
scene during the time. Also, his conversations with strangers such as some taxi
drivers and girls at a club (“Taxi driver: ‘can’t do it, Mac, sorry’”) not only
show us Holden’s way of interacting, but also the lingo and attitude of typical
New Yorkers in the 50s. The portrayal of the city is more convincing to the
readers than a direct description as we have a visual image formulated by
encounters and opinions to feed our imaginations (“In the first place, [the Lavender
Room] was one of those places which are very terrible to be in unless you have
somebody good to dance with, or unless the waiter lets you buy real drinks
instead of just coke”). In this way, Holden’s view of the city indirectly
influences our own and the author is able to control our own views.
The
Catcher in the Rye tackles themes such as alienation, loneliness and
maturity among others. The author’s writing style not only paints a realistic
and vivid image of the 1950s, but presents a boy which really has a mind of his
own. I am convinced that Holden Caulfield really could exist, with his flawed personality
and skewed views. The relatablility of his imperfections make this book a
magnificent one. I definitely count this novel as one of my favourites of all time and I re-read it again and again with new feeling every time.
- Calista
"I never seem to have anything that if I lost it I’d care too much about." - Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye
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