Book Review: The Catcher in the Rye

             The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a very interesting book. It is basically about a troubled teenager named Holden Caulfield. Holden was expelled from the boarding school he attended (hasn’t been the first time) just three days before winter break. He didn’t want his parents to find out, so he decided to stay there in New York until the break began. This is how the story takes place, in three days. In those three days, Holden was free to do whatever he wanted. He slept in a hotel and spent his time wandering around the streets, looking for things to do.

            At first, I thought Holden was just an ordinary young guy who simply didn’t care too much about school. But later I realized it was more complicated than that. During his time in the streets, I noticed specific patterns in the way he thought and the way he acted. One thing I noticed was that he labels most people as “phonies”. His definition of a phony is someone who tries to be someone he’s not. A phony to him is a spoiled individual who cares too much about money, parties, and social formalities. He sees a phony as somebody who is obsessed with the culture of movies and celebrities. He finds this attitude very destructive to the environment.
             It drives him crazy whenever he has to listen to people like this, which is another main issue in the book. Because the world so complex, there is no one who understands him. This is why he feels so isolated from the world, and why he’s kind of a loner. One time he was in a taxi cab, and he told the driver, 

 "Well – take me to the Edmont then," I said. "Would you care to stop on the way and join me for a cocktail? On me, I'm loaded.”  

           Holden is desperate for someone to talk to, and he does not care who it is. He is hoping for a chance for someone to understand him, that way, he won’t feel isolated from everyone else. This is the first in a long string of his attempts to connect with someone – anyone – during his time in the city. Whenever he finally manages to have a conversation with someone, they always seem to think he’s weird, when the reality is that they simply do not get him – because they are phonies. But at one point in the story, walks to a playground, and sees this little girl. Holden, frantic about his loneliness, engages in a conversation with her. Only this time, nothing seems to go wrong at all. He even asks her if she wants to get some hot chocolate with him, which of course, she doesn’t. But the reason they had a swell conversation was because the little girl was not a phony. She was not materialistic, nor did she even care about trying be someone she wasn’t for the sake of people liking her, she was only a child. This is a highly important point in the book.

             This shows that children are innocent, but they lose their innocence as they grow older, this one point the author elaborates on. This experience is the main factor that turns people into phonies. So what Holden wants to do is avoid this path to avoid becoming as ignorant as the rest of the world – the world that expects them to develop maturity. But he doesn’t just want to save himself, he also wants to save the children. He tries to protect children from having to experience the world of adults. He doesn't want them to be exposed to any elements which may take away from the way they see things, he tries to keep their innocence intact. The thing is, he knows it’s impossible. He thought to himself,  

“Certain things, they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway.”  

           Holden admits that keeping children’s perspectives the same is impossible. He knows that they will change as they grow up. This is one of the many things that makes him feel depressed. He can’t do anything to stop the kids from losing their innocence and become phonies. All he can do is sit there and watch it happen. This drives him crazy (he always says that).

            Holden who is seventeen, is at a point of his life where he is almost an adult. He’s been exposed to many things and has experienced the real world so many times that he knows it won’t be long until he loses his innocence as well. He asked the taxi driver, 

"You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when its gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?”…

"Where who goes?"
"The ducks. Do you know, by any chance? I mean does somebody come around in a truck or something and take them away, or do they fly away by themselves-go south or something?"

"How the hell should I know a stupid thing like that?"

-Then they start talking about fish, instead of ducks-

"All right. What do they do, the fish and all, when that whole little lake's a solid block of ice, people skating on it and all?"

"What the hellaya mean what do they do?" he yelled at me. "They stay right where they are, for Chrissake."

            Here, Holden is worried about what is going to happen to him as he grows up. The fish can symbolize Holden and the solid block of ice can symbolize the stress, depression, loneliness, and other negative emotions that are triggered by the thoughts of losing his viewpoint, dignity, and innocence. He wants to know what he’s supposed to do. Should he wait around for the answer to approach him? Or should he run away from the negative atmosphere he is living in? The driver is basically telling him that they stay where they are and freeze, meaning that Holden should just let it happen, and that it’s just nature.

          The Catcher in the Rye is a really awesome book that really makes you think deeply about the kind of society we are living in. It expresses the fact that everyone changes, and there’s nothing anybody can do to stop people from changing – even if it means we’ll all end up living as phonies. What we can learn though, is self control. If we learn to control ourselves, maybe we won’t end up being phonies after all.