Encapsulating the 1950s Teenager in The Catcher in the Rye
Critically acclaimed film director Tim Burton states: “One person’s craziness is another person’s reality.” Our lives are ruled by social hierarchy with the rich at the top and the poor at the bottom. To a rich person who has lived a comfortable life, their idea of craziness would be living on the streets, begging for food and money to stay alive. Yet this idea of craziness is indeed people’s realities although in the fifties, thanks to it being prosperous times, people’s lives were a bit better than living on the streets. In entertainment, however, family’s lives were portrayed as perfect. They had enough money to live a good life, they did not fight with each other, nor did they ever suffer from anything harmful. These images were so convincing that people aspired to live this kind of life by trying to become someone else in an attempt to ignore the bad in life. Holden, critiques these false images of perfection due to the fact that there is no sense of reality to back them up. When he is kicked out of Pencey Prep, he decides to spend his time in New York for three days before going home. During this period of time, one can see how Holden Caulfield, anti-hero of The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, encapsulates the typical teenager of the 1950s who critiques the way people lived their lives during his time.
In the 1950s, society viewed teenagers as different and rebellious because of differences like expression of emotion that separated them from their parents’ generation. The older generation noticed that "In contrast to a more respectable emotional repression, white teenagers increasingly valued the expression of passion and desire" (16). Expression of passi...
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...mon in the 1950s were the most prominent behaviors in Holden that captured and held the reader’s attention. Historically, he would have been just another teenager living with a family whose parents cared more about their social status, drank, and smoked. In conclusion, by analyzing Holden, you can analyze an entire era of history.
Works Cited
Hale, Grace Elizabeth. A Nation of Outsiders: How the White Middle Class Fell in Love with Rebellion in Postwar America. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Questia School. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
Rollin, Lucy. Twentieth-Century Teen Culture by the Decades: A Reference Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1999. Questia School. Web. 6 Apr. 2014.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye, Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.
Young, William H., and Nancy K. Young. The 1950s. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004. Questia School. Web. 6 Apr. 2014.
Part of the irony in Holden’s story is that physically, he looks mature, but mentally, he is still very much a child: “I act quite young for my age, sometimes. I was sixteen then, and I’m seventeen now … I’m six foot two and a half and I have gray hair ” (9). There is no middle ground, adolescence, for Holden. He can only be an adult, physically, or a child, mentally. Holden’s history teacher, Mr. Spencer, tries to appeal to him by using a metaphor: “Life is a game, boy.
Catcher in the Rye is one of the most famous books in American literature. Written by J. D. Salinger, it captures the epitome of adolescence through Salinger’s infamous anti-hero, Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield learns about himself and his negative tendencies, and realizes that if he does not do something to change his perspective, he may end up like his acquaintance James Castle whom he met at Elkton Hills. Holden tries to find help to mend his outlook on life through Mr. Antolini so he does not end up like James, who did not want to face the problems he created for himself. This is proven by the similarities between James Castle and Holden, Mr. Antolini’s willingness to try and help Holden, and Holden’s future being forecasted by James.
The institutions, cultural forms, and economic powers were lifted as the term “teenager” itself was created to differentiate young men and women from adults (University of Toronto 145). The clothing trends, hairstyles, dances and even the language was different from that of adults (Armstrong et al, 134). Young men and women enjoyed dressing themselves with blue jeans, leather jackets,and pony tails for women, which stood as an identity for teenagers as it differentiated them from adults (Armstrong et al,135). This idea was amazing to acknowledge because a new type of people are emerging, and this added to Canadian multiculturalism and acceptance of the different types of people.The adults response to the wild nature of teenagers was that they were left shocked at first, yet later they acknowledged this act as just a phase during one’s life, they got used to this unique behaviour as time progressed (OC University 10). With the brutality of World War 2, the youth at the time were simply left neglected (OC University 10). Many believe that teens during the 1950’s were greatly influenced by being raised during a war generation (OC University 10). The youth distinguished themselves through shocking, yet enjoyable behaviour such as dance moves and their overall mindset on life. In addition, advertisers convinced teens to purchase certain products which
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily link him to the typical teenager living today. The fact that the book was written many years ago clearly exemplifies the timeless nature of this work. Holden's actions are those that any teenager can clearly relate with. The desire for independence, the sexually related encounters, and the questioning of ones religion are issues that almost all teens have had or will have to deal with in their adolescent years. The novel and its main character's experiences can easily be related to and will forever link Holden with every member of society, because everyone in the world was or will be a teen sometime in their life.
The baby boom was a big contributor to the new word “Teenager” as in “The 10 years from 1946 to 1956, the population increased by 20 percent, in Canada. Those new kids demanded new furniture, new clothes and more food be produced, along with new houses, and new cars and lots of other services like schools and playgrounds, and swimming pools and hockey rinks. Lots of ne...
Kallen, Stuart A. Through the Decades: The 1950’s. A Cultural History of the United States. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc, 1999.
Currie, Elliot. 2005. The Road to Whatever: Middle-Class Culture and the Crisis of Adolescence. New York: Metropolitan Books.
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caufield believes that innocence is corrupted by society. He exposes his self-inflicted emotional struggles as he is reminiscing the past. For Holden, teenage adolescence is a complicated time for him, his teenage mentality in allows him to transition from the teenage era to the reality of an adult in the real world. As he is struggling to find his own meaning of life, he cares less about others and worries about how he can be a hero not only to himself but also to the innocent youth. As Holden is grasping the idea of growing up, he sets his priorities of where he belongs and how to establish it. As he talks about how ‘phony’ the outside world is, he has specific recollections that signify importance to his life and he uses these time and time again because these memories are ones that he wont ever let go of. The death of his younger brother Allie has had a major impact on him emotionally and mentally. The freedom of the ducks in Central Park symbolize his ‘get away’ from reality into his own world. His ideology of letting kids grow up and breaking the chain loose to discover for themselves portrays the carrousel and the gold ring. These are three major moments that will be explored to understand the life of Holden Caufield and his significant personal encounters as he transitions from adolescence into manhood.
Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he expresses this attitude through his dialogue, tone, and diction.
The Young Reader's Companion to American History. Ed. John A. Garraty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. 384+. Print.
Holden is not just abnormal, he has problems that other teenagers, including the students at Pencey, experience going through adolescence. An example of this is Holden's jealousy towards Stradlater when he finds out he is going on a date with Jane Gallagher, “Boy,was I getting nervous” (42). Every teenager has bouts of jealously especially about the opposite sex, and Holden is no different. Holden's rebellious nature, to an extent, is typical for a teenage boy. His rebellious nature of smoking when it is not allowed, “You weren't allowed to smoke in the dorm...I went right on smoking like a madman.” (41-42). Holden is also anxious about change, which again to an extent is normal, “Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks...”(60), and he has the right to be; change,especially during adolescence, is a terrifying but exciting ride into the unknown, and similar to other adolescents Holden is afraid but intrigued about the unknown.
Upon introduction, Holden Caulfield gives the impression of being a textbook teenage boy. He argues that Pencey Prep, the all-boys academy at which he studied, is no greater than any other school and is “full of crooks.”(Salinger, 7) His harsh language only further argues that he is situated in an all-male environment and has no apparent filter for when swearing is inappropriate. Despite all of the indications that Holden is typical, it soon becomes evident that Holden’s personality does not conform to the teenage stereotype. Although he appears to have some friends, namely, his roommate, Stradlater, and ‘Ackley kid’, it is clear that he does not integrate well with his peer group. Holden’s inability to read social cues leaves him in the dust when all of his “friends” have matured enough to recognize his need for improvement. He is constantly making jokes out of everything without any thought as to how h...
Holden attacks various weaknesses in the 50's society. He criticizes nearly everything that he observes, and refuses to pull punches. Often Holden uses his brilliant talent of observation to discover the true motives behind the people he calls "phony." Through his observations the reader can interpret Salinger's view of the 1950's culture. Holden's perceptions of paranoia, conformity, and the consumer culture convey Salinger's views.
Holden and the Complexity of Adult Life What was wrong with Holden, the main character in The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D.Salinger, was his moral revulsion against anything that was ugly, evil, cruel, or what he called "phoney" and his acute responsiveness to beauty and innocence, especially the innocence of the very young, in whom he saw reflected his own lost childhood. There is something wrong or lacking in the novels of despair and frustration of many writers. The sour note of bitterness and the recurring theme of sadism have become almost a convention, never thoroughly explained by the author's dependence on a psychoanalytical interpretation of a major character. The boys who are spoiled or turned into budding homosexuals by their mothers and a loveless home life are as familiar to us today as stalwart and dependable young heroes such as John Wayne were to an earlier generation. We have accepted this interpretation of the restlessness and bewilderment of our young men and boys because no one has anything better to offer.
The perception of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye has two extremes; many find him likable, others find him irritable. Given Holden’s age and experiences, readers often relate to his thoughts and views of the world around him. On the opposite side of the spectrum, readers also find him to be repetitive and hypocritical of the world around him. This interpretation of Holden is derived from the lack of a climax in the book, but in reality, life is often anti-climatic. The majority of the story is not told by Holden’s actions, rather by Holden’s thoughts. Human minds are complex in nature; in order to understand the human mind, it is important to not only consider one’s actions, but their possible thoughts as well. Holden’s mindset of a teenager born into a privileged life that, due to his traumatic experiences, lead him to act and think a certain way that may not seem realistic; when most teenagers minds are constantly conflicted. Holden Caulfield exemplifies qualities of an ideal teenage rebel given his extreme cynicism and unrealistic perception of the world.