Meet Holden Caulfield, Our Literary Guide for the Future
Growing up is never easy.
Realising that the world doesn’t want your innocence, doesn’t want you to be yourself, you struggle to let go of your beliefs. And the hardest part is- knowing that there’s nothing you can do except watch yourself fall down the cliff of adulthood. But what if, despite society’s forceful images that brainwash our youthful thoughts- we start to realise that life is a conflict between artificial and authentic. In “The Catcher in the Rye”, J.D. Salinger portrays an adolescent character- Holden Caulfield, an outsider, a misfit, wanting to maintain his distance from the world for his own sanity and protection. Holden looks at the world as a place “full of phonies”, rejecting society’s standards- opting for originality and the desire to be himself.
For a long time, Bildungsroman’s had been looked down upon for controversially clashing with what society decided was right and wrong. The Catcher in the Rye is a story about isolation, grief, and the loss of innocence, and over time, the world started to realise how much young people like me could relate and share our feelings with Holden. In a world where depression and suicide rates are consistently rising among young people, Holden’s depression and loss of innocence are still relevant.
Holden feels isolated and overwhelmed, as he is suffocated by how artificial society is. He hates the way adults brag about how good they are to feel better about themselves but knows they aren’t on the inside.
“Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right — I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game.” — Holden Caulfield (Page 7–8)’’
When people think of social media, it’s thought of as an innovative idea- letting us connect and share memories with those around us. Fair enough right?
Wrong.
Social media gives us a reason to hide behind screens, allowing others to judge us for the lives we want them to think we have; a popularity contest, desperately seeking for society’s approval. The problem is, people are conforming to society’s expectations, which cuts originality and stops them from being who they want to be. Young people like me should acknowledge that our ideal world is slipping away, like how social media has become a popularity platform which encourages phoniness.
In all the stress of our adolescent lives where society moulds us like we’re a group of sculptures in a museum, we need a simple character to relate about our own sadness and opinions. A literary guide we can share our feelings with. Holden recognises that “in [a] museum …everything always stayed right where it was.” (Page 109), so it wouldn’t be right to compare a museum to the phony society that tries to transform the youth into unoriginal citizens that conform to society’s expectations. Sculpting adolescents into identical statues.
Holden’s personality that naturally objects conformity causes him to “puke” when someone is pushing the limits of being too phony. Of course- it could be a figure of speech. But it’s also part of his actual dislike to life — life literally makes him sick.
“It was the phoniest conversation you ever heard in your life… I was all set to puke when it was time to go sit down again. I really was.” — Holden Caulfield (Page 115)
Holden rejects society’s expectations as it forces him to change his originality and honesty, making him hopeless and depressed. On the other hand, there are people that take the loss of innocence and defy society- to the benefit of their family and the whole world. Take all these climate change strikes for instance. In Sweden, fifteen-year-old Greta Thunberg became depressed because of nothing being done about climate change. But she did something about it. Despite parents convincing her not to, classmates refusing to join, bystanders expressing pity- she skipped school, sat down outside the Swedish parliament, and protested- kicking off a global movement. Unlike Holden, Greta can similarly relate to hopelessness and anger but decides to build on these experiences, using it as motivation to improve herself, and the whole world. As I said before, Holden is like a literary brother and guide, telling us that we aren’t alone in our frustrations about the world. It’s only a matter of time before the young generation takes after Greta’s footsteps, and understand that growing up means channelling your frustrations towards something that can change big problems.
Sure, Holden is set in a world so phony that society conforms to other people’s rules, standards, and expectations. However, phoniness for Holden stands as an emblem of everything that’s wrong in the world around him and provides an excuse for him to isolate himself from everyone. We shouldn’t just sit at the edge of the cliff of adulthood, not conform to society’s expectations, and choose to be hopeless and angry. Instead, like Greta, we must build on our individuality- using our experiences to improve ourselves and the whole world. Because there’s no point catching the youth to stop them falling down the cliff of growing up, just so that they can feel depressed about how phony society is. If young people want anything of their own in this world, they will have to fight for it. We must find wings to escape the cliff for good.
