Catcher in the Rye

2 Pages 592 Words

Catcher In The Rye


Holden Caulfield is teen angst bull-crap with a pickax. He's sarcastic,
nasty, and completely unlikeable. He also doesn't give a crap. He is every
teenager caught between the crapy little games of high school ("you're
supposed to kill yourself if the football team loses or something") and
the fear of adulthood ("going to get an office job and make a lot of money
like the rest of the phonies").

The greatness in Holden Caulfield is that what he has to say is better
than a million Celestine Prophecies or anything said by Jonathan
Livingston Seagull (save for the squawks after you shoot him) or Jesus
(save for the apocryphal "hey Peter I can see your house from here").
Holden Caulfield says that life sucks, everyone is a phony, and you'll be
inevitably disappointed by everyone that you hold in awe. If you think
that this sounds awful, ask yourself one question. When was the last time
you found any joy in watching Barney or the Care Bears?

It isn't just what he says but the way he says it. He goes through life
making dead-on observations that completely shoot the kneecaps out from
under the terminally self-righteous. When a successful mortician tells the
school to follow his example and pray when things go bad, it is Holden
Caulfield who points out that the guy is praying for more people to die.
He's depressed by nuns and annoyed by shallow girlfriends, while in love
with his platonic friend.

Even more interesting is the fact that Caulfield's general pissed off
attitude and his hormones are inextricably linked. He practically wants to
kill his roommate, Stradlatter, because Stradlatter might have screwed a
girl he desires. He guiltily admits to making out with phonies, and in a
major confession he confesses to being a virgin. He gets the crap beat out
of him by a disgruntled pimp after deciding that he doesn't want a to have
sex with a prostitute for the silliest of reasons.(he ju...