So this week I finished reading The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. This was my first time reading the book. It was an interesting perspective since I am much older than the average high school student, which I would assume its typical audience.
I have to say at first I hated Holden. He seemed like a little spoiled punk to me and I was just pissed that I was going to have to read two hundred pages about him. I mean all he does is complain about all the boys in his dorm which is annoying and he refuses to take responsibility for himself. He fails almost every class and he ruined the entire fencing meet and he doesn't even seem to care.
Slowly though, we begin to get a bigger picture of Holden. The first glimpse comes when we learn about the death of his younger brother Allie. Holden still loves Allie and only has good things to say about Allie. In fact, throughout the entire novel the only characters that Holden seems to genuinely like are all children younger than himself. He speaks very highly of his younger sister, and he also enjoys helping a little girl at the park and two boys at the museum.
Holden slowly becomes a very complex character. The reader slowly begins to realize that there was at least one, perhaps two traumatic experiences in Holden's childhood which have left him unable to develop emotionally and socially at the same rate as his peers. The obvious event is the death of his brother Allie. Holden never reveals how Allie dies but the reader is meant infer that Holden somehow feels guilty about his brothers death. Holden repeatedly talks to Allie throughout the novel and he also consciously changes his memories to include taking Allie on a ride to the park when in reality he feels guilty about having left Allie behind that day.
It isn't until the end of the book that the reader learns there is another hidden theme of Holden's childhood which is more impactful (in my opinion) than the death of his brother. Holden has run out of cash and doesn't want to go home so he stays over at his old English teachers apartment. In the middle of the night Holden wakes up and his teacher is petting him on the head. Super creepy, seriously this scene makes your skin crawl. Holden immediately leaves (which he should) and then goes to a train station to think. This is where Holden makes two very telling statements. He comments about how he knows perverts because this things always seems to happen to him. WHAT?! Not okay. And this is where the reader learns that somewhere along the line Holden had been molested. What is worse is this seems to have happened repeatedly though we don't know if it was by more than one person. Holden then trivializes the experience and wonders if he over reacted to what his teacher was doing. Makes sense I can't tell you how many times I've woken up with a former teacher petting me. No big deal right? It is unclear if the death of Allie and the molestation are connected events in Holden's childhood but either way both clearly still affect him.
Suddenly everything make sense: Holden's nostalgia, his emotional immaturity, his connection to children and the way he despises almost all adults and teenagers. Another part that clicks is Holden's sexual life. He mentions how he is unable to "get sexy" (his terms not mine) with a girl unless he really likes her and how when girls ask him to stop he always stops. At first I was like 'well go Holden' - way to be respectful of girls (pretty much the opposite of all teenage boys ever) and not try to convince a girl to get too serious before she's ready. But then we learn that in fact his response may be due to an adult molesting him somehow when he was younger (I still give him props for respecting girls though). Talk about baggage.
NEXT PARAGRAPH CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS
If that mind bomb weren't enough, J.D. Salinger then pulls an awesome plot twist. By the end of the book we realize that there is obviously a lot of mental anguish still going on for Holden and possibly some mental disorders, the least of which would be ADD. But then Salinger adds in something else. Holden starts feeling physically sick. He get nauseous, and at first I was like well he does have a drinking problem. I bet he's hung over. The symptoms start to increase though and Holden starts becoming light headed (not as common with a hang over but still possible), and finally he passes out. At this point we are worried about Holden's mental and physical well-being and this is when we learn the truth: Holden is actually in some type of institute. MIND BLOWN. He has been the whole time and we're just listening to one of his stories.
So despite being annoyed at the beginning of this novel, Salinger won me over. I still don't really like Holden but as I started to under stand him I became sympathetic towards him.
I am currently reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I will be posting about that in about two weeks if you want to read along with me. Let me know your favorite parts of The Catcher in the Rye in the comments.
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