The book, “The Catcher in the Rye,”
written by JD Salinger is about a teenage boy dealing with teen angst and
maturity. The teen, Holden Caulfield, throughout the book deals with many
academic and societal obstructions. Holden is expelled from his former
prestigious school, and wanders around New York City, experiencing life as an
adult. Holden has to consider what he should do for the rest of his life. A
long the way, love, friends and family are interfered with.
Holden struggles with past lovers
and recent admirers. Holden also reflects the memories of past friends,
respectable and disreputable. He doesn't want to return home, in case his
parents discover his academic dismiss. His parents are one of the characters
that are often thought about throughout the book, but almost never introduced.
The reason why Salinger does not
include his parents’ perspective is because the book is about how mature and
independent Holden’s choices are. It is not about how Holden is controlled by
his parents. Holden has an endless supply of freedom. An example is when after
Holden is expelled, even though his parents aren’t informed yet, he can roam
around freely through NYC. Holden also has the idea of living in a secluded
area with his lover Sally Hayes, which in turn she declines. But Holden had the
freedom of actually having the opportunity to do so at only seventeen years of
age.
Even if these seem like mature
choices, Holden only thinks about them because he wants to be a rebel. Holden
wants to escape society, although he says he wants to fit in. He is a hypocrite,
and the ironic thing is, he despises hypocrites. Holden’s choices put him in a
awkward position as a teen. He doesn’t try when it comes to academics. Love is
his priority at seventeen. He could easily devote his life to both.
This goes back to the perspective
missing. His parents don’t censor him at all. Through dialogue between Holden
and his younger sister, I can infer that his parents are strict enough to be
able to look after him. But since there isn't any real proof, Salinger leaves
the reader unable to concur if his parents are even able to take care of him.
Hey Pier, this was a great post. I felt that there were multiple interesting ideas especially pertaining to societal ideas in your blog post.First, when you say that Holden doesn't try in academics but rather loses focus and it steers him off the better track. I made a connection to ourselves as teens, sometimes we see many people our age, like you said, trying to be rebels, and in the end finding themselves steering away from academics and a better future. Sometimes teens don't really think about what's ultimately better for them and find themselves making mistakes. Also, I really like when you used strategies that we often use for a critical analysis, like figuring out the authors point of view and craft moves they use to support it. For example, you said, "But since there isn't any real proof, Salinger leaves the reader unable to concur if his parents are even able to take care of him." It really supports the reasoning behind why Salinger would keep certain points of views out of the story. It keeps the reader thinking and like you said, the story is not about how Holden's parents control him, it's about his actual "rebellion". But, how does Holden's endless supply of freedom allow you to connect his maturity and independence to why Salinger doesn't want to add the perspective of his parents? Does his endless freedom show you or lead to the conclusion that his parents may not even be able to take care of him? Overall, your post was awesome and very analyzing and your vocabulary was over the top good.
ReplyDelete