2nd Catcher in the Rye ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example

Dear Mr. Salinger, I am writing you to share some of my thoughts about your novel, The Catcher in the Rye. I suppose it is normal to see this book as a story of teenage angst and disorientation, but my views are somewhat different. In considering the behavior of Holden Caulfield, I tried to imagine living back in the 1940’s and being around him. I don’t think I would have liked him. Holden seems to lack to respect for anyone he comes in contact with, which at times is very confusing since he claims to have fond feelings for a few people in the story.

Holden constantly criticizes people for their phoniness and petty behavior, but his is no different from theirs. He claimed he had a true love for his younger brother Allie, who died, but uses the story of Allie’s baseball glove for a fellow student he himself has already recognized to be shallow and uncaring and self absorbed. When Stradlater rejected the paper about the glove, what other response was Holden expecting? A memory so sacred as that would not have been wasted on someone like Stradlater.

Secondly, when Holden returns home and meets up with his sister Phoebe, he jumps in the closet and allows her to take the blame for smoking from their parents. Is this the way you treat someone you have respect for? I don’t think so. Holden seems to have regard for certain people when it’s convenient for him to do so, but the moment he is expected to put any part of himself on the line, he backs away, and immediately finds something at fault about the other person. This is not only the behavior of someone who is inconsiderate, but someone who is willingly immature; and I say willingly, because he clearly admits to being a liar and fabricator early on in the novel, so he knows his behavior is inappropriate, but he simply doesn’t care.

I understand that Holden was living in a time of social change, but so was everyone else. The thing that sets Holden apart from the others is that he refused to allow anyone to help him grow up. Once you grow up, you can no longer make excuses for bad behavior, or alienate yourself from society because there are rules to follow. Holden Caulfield, as poetically as he may be on paper, in life, is an inconsiderate brat. Catcher in the Rye - Part BQuestion 1: Holden, you often seem to be quite angry, what is the source of your anger?

Answer: I’m angry and frustrated at all of the phony people around me who think that they are so much better and superior to others, and feel that they can get away with anything. I hate that fact that having money and material goods somehow makes you someone important in this world, and gives you the right to step on others. Question 2: Holden, you have identified hypocrisy in others, but can you identify it in yourself, as well? Answer: I know that I lie and make things up, and I also exaggerate things from time to time, but I’m only dealing with phony people on their own level.

People like that are not ready to hear the truth, and resent anyone for trying to tell it to them. I’m not doing anymore than telling people what they’re only prepared to hear. Maybe I make things up and lie to certain people, because the hypocrites of the world don’t deserve an honest encounter.Question 3: Holden, what does conformity mean to you?Answer: Conformity means giving up on what is real and important, and giving in to being like everyone else. Conformity is being willing to sell yourself out for whatever is popular or socially acceptable at the moment, all so you can fit in and be considered normal, whatever that means.

Conformity is the ultimate denial of the self; it’s like announcing to the world that you don’t matter, and that the only thing that does matter is fitting in and not rocking the boat. People who conform have no will power, no sense of what is real and truly important, and no respect for themselves. And if they don’t respect themselves, why should we?Question 4: Holden, how do you feel about your ability to relate to other people?Answer: I can relate to people who are real and authentic, but I don’t like people who are phony or not in touch with the truth, and so I guess I don’t relate to them as well.

For instance, when I meet up with Sally, I tried to talk to her, but found that she is so shallow and starved for attention; we had nothing in common to talk about. She reminds me a lot of Stradlater. I tried also to talk to Ernie’s mother, but had a hard time relating to her, because she couldn’t see her son for who and what he really is. And maybe she doesn’t even know what he’s really like, but talking to her I discovered that she was intent on seeing him as the innocent that he is not.

On the other hand, I relate very well with my sister Phoebe. She and I are best friends, and although she is younger than I am, she understands things that are important to me; she gets me. I relate to Allie, even though he’s deceased now. Lately, I find myself calling out to him and relating to him more and more.Question 5: Holden, what do you mean when you say that you want to be the catcher in the rye?Answer: I mean that I want to be the one who saves the innocents of the world from all the bad stuff that goes on.

There’s a lot of pain in the world, and life is not always fair or kind, especially to innocents and kids. One minute you’re walking along, living your life and minding your own business, and the next minute, the rug gets pulled out from under you. One minute you’re on vacation with your family, and the next minute your brother is dead, and you don’t get to see him anymore, you don’t get to say goodbye or make things right or take things back. Or, one minute you’re a bright and innocent young girl, and the next minute some idiot or moron is running your name through the mud trying to make people believe you’re cheap and loose.

And when all of this stuff happens to you, there’s no one there to turn to; there’s no one there to catch your fall. For all of those thousands of kids and innocents running through the rye fields of life, I want to be the one who catches their fall.Works CitedSalinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. U.S.A: Little, Brown & Company, 1945.