Catcher in the Rye Essay

In the book Catcher In The Rye, a young teenage boy named Holden leaves his prep school Pencey Prep, for the streets of New York City. It is obvious from the beginning of the book that he may have some mental issues. He has a false interpretation of the past and wants to hold onto everything he can from that time . Holden thinks he is stronger mentally and physically than he actually is, getting into fights and arguments, only to get hurt in return. He meets many people in New York, which brings up a lot about his past. As things remind Holden of his history and as he reminisces, it mostly angers him and makes him seem hopeless. The people he meets and reunites with show more and more about his life story.

The story of Catcher In The Rye has a very interesting time line because the main character and narrator are from a teenage boy perspective. This drew me to the book in the beginning because I felt like I could relate to Holden and the issues he was dealing with even though we are not much alike. I didn’t like that you really had to dig down into the text to understand really what Holden was thinking and dealing with, though the underlying motifs and symbols are significant to understand the theme. Holden’s actions in New York were so sporadic, he never had a specific route in mind. This makes every chapter more interesting and draws the reader in.

In my opinion, the most important issue within Catcher In The Rye is Holden’s idea of innocence. As the story grows, it is notable that Holden wants to hang onto every aspect of people’s past. This is especially true in his relationship with his little sister Phoebe. Holden not only remembers people (specifically his sister) as innocent, but pictures them as if they haven’t grown up or changed. When he reminisces about his family and friends of the past, Holden visualizes them in immature ways, as if they haven’t matured at all. It seems as if Holden’s enemy is the adult world and the cruelty that he thinks it involves. This issue is important throughout the story, but especially in the parts that Holden mentions relationships with his old friend Jane Gallagher and his little sister Phoebe.

Throughout Catcher In the Rye, the reader questions what kind of mental problems Holden has, but it seems to be something like depression. Society as a whole has a good grasp as to how much depression affects a person. Especially in schools, there are many groups and organizations that are designed for kids dealing with the disorder. As readers, we are not sure if Holden is going to doctors or communicating his thoughts, but it would be beneficial to his health. With my generation and younger generations, kids and teenagers are a lot less immature than in previous generations. We are being taught in school that grades and college matters, and we need to be serious in school or we won’t be able to get jobs in the future. This in ways, makes us grow up faster than people in the past. Older generations are mostly aware of this change, but don’t seem to be concerned about it. Some believe that kids need to have a time of innocence when they are young, but maturing mentally younger is not all bad. We have a better grasp on technology, our futures and what we want for ourselves younger than generations in the past have. Parents try to hide their children from this, but can only shield them from so much. Much like Holden, teenagers, especially more recently with the advances in technology and social media, are sometimes forced to communicate through gadgets and often don’t talk face to face. This has caused a lack of communication between younger generations.

When Holden mentions his