The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye describes the adventures of well-off teenage boy Holden Caulfield on a weekend out alone in New York City, illuminating the struggles of young adults with existential questions of morality, identity, meaning, and connection.

Holden Caulfield is a well-off boy at a prep school a few hours away from his home. On paper, he has everything he needs: food, clothes, a good education, and more. Emotionally, though, he is down in the dumps. He’s a teenager. He wants to rebel agains his parents. So, after failing all of his classes except one, he decides to paint the town — New York, his hometown — before his parents hear the news that he will be expelled yet again. As Holden narrates the events of his long-weekend adventure from a hospital a few weeks later (he caught pneumonia on his trip), one of the first things you’ll notice is that Holden complains about almost everything. First, the people. Everyone at his school is “a phony,” someone who’s fake. He is suspicious of all his teachers, even the ones he likes. His roommates are either annoying and unhygienic or “stupid morons” who “take an hour to comb their hair.” Later, Holden complains about bartenders never relaying one’s message to someone. He goes on a date with a girl, Sally, who supposedly talks too much. The list goes on and on. But Holden also finds something wrong with everything else. The weather is too cold. He doesn’t like the crowds of people on Broadway. He even hates it when someone wishes him good luck. If Holden were an adult, we would file him under “complainer,” and write him off as a lost cause. But Holden is not yet an adult. This is the first time he realizes that life is not black-and-white. Deep down, he is shocked at the fact that he can find something wrong with everything, and, as a result, he struggles to become emotionally invested in anything. As we all learn eventually, however, imperfection is just part of life. That’s how things are around here, and it’s not an excuse to give up on everything. The only way to find meaning is to care about something and commit to it — even if that thing is far from perfect. Holden is miserable because he focuses on the miserable side of everything. It all seems meaningless only because he refuses to care about anything, at least anything real, and honestly attempt to make something of it. For example, if Holden applied himself more in school, he could have meaningful conversations with his teachers without being reprimanded. If he accepted his dorm neighbor’s better dating skills, he could learn…