The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye

The novel The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is a story centralized around a teenager named Holden Caulfield and his few days stay in New York. Even though the novel takes place during the course of a couple days, the reader is exposed to a large number of flashbacks and stories. As a result of this and the fact that the book is narrated by Holden himself, the reader is confronted with many aspects of Holden’s unique character. Many of his characteristics make Holden seem a strange character. In fact, throughout the novel, the reader is led to believe that there is something wrong with Holden through his actions and the reactions of others. These abnormalities can be traced back to the death of his young brother Allie, which greatly affected Holden. As a result, Holden seems to view “his” world very negatively, being full of “phonies” and other bad people. Even though the world may have its problems, it is not as bad as Holden makes it out to be. There is something wrong with Holden and his world, but, Holden makes out the world to be worse then it actually is.

As stated above, Holden is correct in that there are some things wrong with the world. For instance, he finds the schools he has attended to be unpleasant and full of bad people. One person in particular that can make the world a bad place is a student name Stradlater who he rooms with at Pencey. Stradlater is a character that is vain, self-centered and arrogant. An example of some of his characteristics can be seen when he can not even remember the name of his date. To him, the name is not even that important considering that he will move on to another girl anyway, just as he has done before. Not only does Stradlater add to the negativity of the world, but so does Mr. Haas. Mr. Hass is the headmaster of Elkton Hills and is a snobby character that Holden considers a phony. This is seen when he, according to Holden, would ignore "funny-looking" parents of Elkton students in favor of more elite parents. These actions of Mr. Haas prove to some extent the assumption Holden has that the world is full of phonies. Another person that supports Holden’s view of a bad world is Maurice. Maurice is a pimp who beats up Holden when he refuses to pay the pimp money because he lied about his prices. Obviously, this Maurice character is not a pleasant character considering that he is a pimp and that he lies about his prices. It even further supports Holden’s view of a troubled world when he gets beaten up because he refuses to pay a new price the pimp implements. Along with others, these characters are the cause of an immoral world.

Even though the world may have problems as a result of some troubled people, it is not nearly as bad as Holden makes it out to be. Sally in particular is an example of someone Holden makes out worse to be then she actually is. For example, the reader gets the impression, through Holden, that Sally Hayes is somewhat of an unintelligent