Catcher in the RyeCatcher in the Rye“All teenagers have this desire to somehow run away”- Joan Chen. Teenagers have a hard time adapting to their surrounds and to the expectations that society has thrust upon them; they long to leave a world of stereotypes and predestined futures to become unique individuals. These themes are conveyed in The Catcher in The Rye where JD Salinger has captured the image of a teenagers struggle both mentally and emotionally in a story of coming of age. A critic of the book believes that Holden, the main character, displays a vivid spirit and stubborn attitude toward life that and that “Anyone….will be able to identify with this character.” I believe that many youths and adults alike can relate to Holden’s bizarre unrefined opinions and unusual experiences growing up. I strongly support this reviewer’s opinion on the book as I believe that society can empathize and understand Holden’s uncertainty and misinterpretations about worldly concepts as they have all gone through similar scenarios. Holden, along with many other teenagers share similar feelings to rebel and not conform to society. It is Holden’s insecurity and curiosity that are two traits that are typically displayed by most teenagers.
Holdens insecurities and rebellion go hand in hand and are obvious to anyone who reads the novel. His constant criticisms of people around him only emphasize that he is a great hypocrite as many young people are. His thoughts usually contradict whatever his actions are in society. For example when Holden sees a profanity written on his sisters school wall he thinks, “I kept wanting to kill the person who’d written it” (pg 201). Yet, he doesn’t take his own advice for he himself curses profusely without caring who overhears it. This only further proves the reviews opinion on the novel as Holden “captured the eternal angst of growing into adulthood.” So as you can see, Holden depicts teenagers hypocritical
The protagonist, and probably an other version of A, takes the form of a teenager with whom he interacts with one person, his friend.
The protagonist has his own voice and is often forced into the act when A struggles with the character’s tone. In The Mature Novel series of books by John Denny the author says that the plot is more like a fantasy than a reality. In order for A to reach his own goal of becoming a writer he must be able to achieve through a steady flow of narrative. He also must learn how to write consistently as he learns. Even in his teen years A is not an easy character to handle as he is often confused and overwhelmed by different people. This lack of stability and unpredictability makes for a rather awkward, chaotic, and sometimes unpredictable read.
In the novels, every character is unique. This, as you can imagine, is how Holden always gets himself into the mire of his own characters character traits, often with great fan service. Many characters’ voices are all based around the same personality, with a number of changes but not being directly tied to that one character at that time in life. So the fact of reading this great novel is to understand that there are characters that have their own unique traits rather than going all out and trying to do everything the hero wants. Even if you do not want to read anything that a character does (or you do want to read the story of A and this is going through your head now,) you still have a good starting point.
Many readers will try to make a case for the “fan” in these books as it does not have to be an action book either. They understand just how much the story needs to keep you connected so they will not feel rushed. You can usually find an audience or two as the action is well received and the readers know what their reaction is and what an emotional reaction was. If your audience is a person that cares about A the action will be appreciated. But then the story of A is so flawed that as you have come to understand what it is like to experience your own reactions you might begin to doubt yourself. It is up to you to make that case and make sure you are not just ignoring the truth, but making a strong case for this. The character of A is something that every reader is meant to understand and they can often empathize with what they want to see to happen in the story. But the same goes for most other people in a society where you are supposed to know how the author is supposed to write the book like you are supposed to read the book but the author doesn’t actually do anything to you at all as they see you as your own creations. It is important to ask yourself why is