Catcher In The Rye Reflection

In his novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger incorporates distressing scenes to reveal the silver lining in Holden’s quest through the harsh realm of the real world.

While the final chapter in Salinger’s novel did not pose much action, the final resolution of the scene seeks to answer long-asked questions through Holden’s trademarked cynicism, which is both childish and thought-provoking. The final scene begins with Holden questioning the future: “I mean, how do you know what you’re going to do till you do it?” (213). Once again, Holden is adopting a childish pattern of thinking by wanting to live in the moment instead of planning for what will come ahead. This skepticism of the future may leave one perplexed, seeing as though the final scene should be one in which all initial conflicts are resolved. Confusion may arise from this statement, due to the expectation that all internal conflicts in Holden should be resolved. Furthermore, Salinger uses diction in underlining doubt for Holden’s internal change when he writes, “That’s such a stupid question, in my opinion” (213). Here, the usage of a word like “stupid” (213) suggests signs of immaturity in Holden. With this, Salinger is making a point through his distinct writing style to show readers how not every conflict is completely fixed. However, there is a light that shines on this scene when Salinger writes, “A lot of people, especially this one psychoanalyst guy they have here, keeps asking me if I’m going to apply myself when I go back to school next September” (213). The statement that Holden is at a psychoanalyst shows that he finally realizes his inner struggles and has come to terms with it by simply talking to a psychoanalyst. In this scene, Holden also admits that...

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...ay they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone” (122). His adamancy in remaining unchanging may be disturbing to some readers, especially considering that he wants to stick every single memory inside a glass case, leaving it untouched, which is contrary to what one would like to see in Holden’s quest for adulthood. However, it is shown that Holden finally faces his flaws when he states, “I know that’s impossible, but it’s too bad anyway” (122). By accepting his flaw of thinking that life is unchanging, Holden begins to show progress in accepting that change is inevitable, even though the scene was one in which everything was frozen. While Holden has not yet completely found his way out of his frozen lifestyle, he has taken the first and most important step towards finding his way: The step of acceptance.