The Catcher in the Rye

Author : J.D. Salinger


This book's main character is Holden Caulfield. He is rebelious and out of ordinary 16 year-old teenager. The story starts with Holden, narrating what happened to him the year before from a mental hospital. He gets kicked out of his private school a couple of weeks before Christmas and there begins a series of aventures.
Later, in the story, Holden goes to his teacher's house. During the night, Mr. Antolini, the teacher, starts touching Holden, in a way that that makes him uncomfortable. This part is confusing because, in the book, it's not explicitally said that the teacher was molesting him. It also confuses Holden because before the incendent, he really respected his teacher. He doesn't know what to think of him because he is not sure that what he thinks happened really did. Therefore, it is up to us, the readers, to decide whether or not, the teacher was out of line.

One of my favorite parts is when Holden explains that he sees himself as a «Catcher in the rye». He imagines that he's garding a rye field on a cliff. He watches out for all the kids playing in the field so they don't fall off the cliff. If the kids when to get too close to trhe edge, he would catch them. Holden wants to protect the kids from becoming adults. He wants to preserve their innocence. Before that, he says: "I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would’ve, too, if I’d been sure somebody’d cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn’t want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory." Here aswell, Holden wishes to preserve the innocence of others. He wouldn't want anyone to have to witness his dead body. He want sto protect them from this sight.

I think that every teenager and young adult can relate to Holden in some way. He has friends and a family yet, he feels so lonely. He doesn't seem to be able to connect to people in real way because he thinks most people are phoney. He is constantly changing his personnality, depending on who he's talking to. He is closed off but that's not entirely his fault, given that he has a mental illness. The only person he genuinly loves is his little sister, Phoebe. Holden is, by no means, an role model. He drinks, swears, and does drugs throughout the story. At one point, he even hires a prostitute. Thats why, when «The Catcher in the rye» was first published, it was one of the most banned books in America. Schools didn't want their students to behave the way Holden does. By doing all this, I believe he is trying to fill a void. Being under the influence of drugs and alchool takes him away from reality. It helps him forget how alone he thinks he is.