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On the Complexity of Characteristics of Holden in The Catcher in the Rye
Abstract
The Catcher in the Rye
is a famous novel in U.S.A;
the author successfully portrays an adolescence juvenile. The author pays attention to those people who have not been cared about before. Ernest Jones，in writing about The Catcher in the Rye, has states it excellently:” The novel is not at all something rich and strange, but what every sensitive 16-year-old since Rousseau has felt, and of course what each of us is certain he has felt.” Dan Wakefield comments in a way representative of many critics in saying that The Catcher in the Rye “speaks for all who have not lost hope-or even if they have lost hope, have not lost interest-in the search for love and morality in the present-day world.” Harold L. Roth highly recommends the novel but warns that it may be a shock to many parents and should be thought of as strictly adult reading. This article tries to analyze complex
characteristics of Holden Caulfield from the hero’s psychology, his own internal factor, influence from his family, and social background. This book tells about Holden’s thought, who is puzzled, and then he escapes from school, family and society. In the end, he is ideally crushed down. He is taken to a mental hospital.
Key words:
The Catcher in the Rye; psychology; his own internal factor; family; social background
剖析《麦田里的守望者》主人公霍尔顿的复杂个性
摘要
《麦田里的守望者》在美国是一部家喻户晓的小说，它之所以经典在于作者成功的刻画了一个青春期少年的形象,并关注到了一个前人很少给予关注的群体。欧内斯特·琼斯在写有关《麦田里的守望者》的文章时对此进行了无懈可击的阐述:这部小说“一点儿也不荒唐和不可思议,它写出继卢梭之后每一个敏感的16岁少年的感受，当然，也写出了我们每一个人确信我们已经感受到的东西”。丹·韦克菲尔德的评价代表了许多评论家的观点，他说：它是“当今世界上所有对爱和道德的求索尚未失去希望，或者是即使已失去希望却没失去兴趣的人们的代言人”。国外的一名评论家强烈推崇这本小说,但是他同时也告诫道本书也许会使一些家长带来震惊,而且会被他们严格界定为成人读物。理解小说主人公的复杂个性是解读这部小说的关键。本论文从马斯洛的需要层次理论开始着手，从主人公的心理，自身原因，家庭原因，社会原因等角度，阐述了内心充满矛盾的霍尔顿逃离学校，逃离家庭，逃离社会，最终理想破灭，精神全面崩溃被送进精神病院的心路历程。
关键词:
麦田里的守望者；心理；自身；家庭；社会背景
On the Complexity of Characteristics of Holden in The Catcher in the Rye
1. Introduction 1.1 About The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye
is a very unusual book. It first appeared
in New York City after the
Second World
War
in
America. The novel opens with the narrator, Holden Caulfield,
a sixteen-year-old junior who has failed out of school several days before he’s expected home for Christmas vacation.
Although he is intelligent and sensitive, he leaves school planning to spend some time on his own in New York City, where he lives. Though Holden is friendly with many people at school, and though he has several friends in New York, he is constantly lonesome and in need of someone who will sympathize with his feelings of alienation. The person Holden feels closest to is his ten year old sister Phoebe, but he can’t call her for fear of letting his parents know he has left school. He spends his time with a variety of people, but can’t make meaningful contact with any of them. After a day of futility, he sneaks into his home to see Phoebe, but she disappoints him by being annoyed at his being expelled from school. Holden decides the
only solution to his overwhelming problem is to run away and establish a new identity as a deaf-mute who will not need to communicate with anyone. On the verge of nervous collapse, Holden changes his mind and decides to rejoin his family. He then enters a hospital not far from Hollywood, and he is telling us his story while in this institution. At the novel’s close, Holden isn’t sure whether he’ll be able to handle things better when he leaves the institution, and he is sorry that he told his story at all.
This novel presents a coming-of-age story, but with a twist. Holden narrates in a cynical and jaded voice. He finds the hypocrisy and ugliness of the world around him almost unbearable, and through his cynicism he tries to protect himself from the pain and disappointment of the adult world. However, the criticisms that Holden aims at people around him are also aimed
at himself. He is uncomfortable with his own weaknesses, and at times displays as much phoniness, meanness, and superficiality as anyone else in the book. As the novel opens, Holden stands poised on the cliff separating childhood from adulthood. His inability to successfully negotiate the chasm leaves him on the verge of emotional collapse.
1.
2 Receptions of The Catcher in the Rye
With the publication
of The Catcher in the Rye
in
1951,
It immediately
aroused the concern of the critics,
Ernest Jones, in writing about The Catcher in the Rye,
has stated it excellently:” The novel is not at all something rich and strange, but what every sensitive 16-year-old since Rousseau has felt, and of course what each of us is certain he has felt.”[1]Harold L. Roth highly recommends
the novel but warns that it may be a shock to many parents and should be thought of as strictly adult reading.
Dan Wakefield comments in a way representative of many critics in saying that The Catcher in the Rye “speaks for all who have not lost hope-or even if they have
lost hope, have not
lost
interest-in the search for love and morality in the present-day world.”[2]
“With the publication of The Catcher in the Rye,
J
.D.
Salinger gained an almost immediate acceptance as being among the significant post-World War Two American novelists.”[3]But it is banned by many schools and libraries later.
It has been courting controversy for half a century. Nowadays it is one of the most frequently taught books in high school English classes in the United States.
In
The Catcher in the Rye
, the major themes reflect the values and motivations
of the characters. The intention of this paper is to analyze the complexity of characteristics of Holden in
The Catcher in the Rye
and the causes for the complexity.
2.
A. H. Marlow’s
Hierarchy of Human Needs
and
Holden’s Characteristics
2.1 Brief Introduction of
A. H. Marlow’s
Hierarchy’s
Human Needs
Marlow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow
in his 1943 paper
A Theory of Human Motivation. He formulated
hierarchy
of human
needs, and his theory contends that as the basic needs are met humans desire higher needs.
We each have a hierarchy of needs that ranges from “lower” to “higher”. As lower needs are fulfilled there is a tendency for other higher needs to emerge.
Marlow’s theory maintains that a person does not feel a higher need until the needs of the current level have been satisfied. Marlow’s hierarchy of needs is often depicted as a pyramid consisting of five levels:
Physiological Needs; Safety Needs; Social Needs;
Esteem Needs;
Self-Actualization.
2.2 Analysis of
Holden
under A. H. Marlow’s
Human Needs
2.2.1 The Physiological Needs
The Physiological Needs-------Basic Human Needs. “The needs that are usually taken as the starting point for motivation theory are the so-called physiological drives”. [4]
Humans are just one species of animal. We need to keep ourselves alive. Physiological needs are what we require for survival, the need to breathe,
the need to drink water, the need for sleep, the need to regulate body temperature, the need to eat,
the need to dispose of bodily wastes, and the need for sexual activity. When these are not satisfied we may be accompanied by sickness, irritation, pain, discomfort, etc. These feelings motivate us to alleviate them as soon as possible to establish homeostasis.
Holden Caulfield is a student at Pencey Prep School, being born in a middle-class family.
Holden’s father is a corporate attorney. His family lives in an expensive apartment in an affluent section of New York City.
After he is
expelled from school several times,
the parents can also send him to expensive private schools to study. From it we can see that they don’t have financial concerns. Mr. Caulfield is doing very well financially. He can afford a live-in maid, Charlene, and his son seems to go from one private school to another with little concern for cost. Holden’s perspective is that of the upper-middle class. In the first chapter of the novel, he notices that the Spenser, whom he is visiting, can’t afford a maid and have to answer their door themselves—“They didn’t have too much dough.”[5]—which implies
Holden’s socioeconomic background. Living in such a good economic environment, His food and other basic living problems can be good met.
His living condition is superior to those of the average people. The Physiological Needs are basically meet.
2.2.2
The Safety Needs
The Safety Needs--------Safety and Security. We require for physical and emotional security. Physical security is easy to understand. Everybody needs to keep his body safe from injury, illness, etc. Emotional security may be the point in this hierarchy of needs, where humans begin to differ from other animals. We are thinking animals. We have worries, what we fear may be losing a job, or being struck down by a severe disease and so on.
Holden longs for safety and security, and he reveals this longing through his obsession with a lake and the ducks that takes refuge there. Holden is most agitated by his fears that the ducks will not be able to stay in the lake during the winter.
From it, we can see that he is worried his own safety and security. Holden is first reminded of the lake when he is supposed to be paying attention to his teacher lecturing him for getting kicked out of school
“
The funny thing is, though, I was sort of thinking of something else while I shot the bull. I live in New York, and I was thinking about the lagoon in Central Park, down near Central Park South. I was wondering if it would be frozen over when I got home, and if it was, where did the ducks go. I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over. I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away?
” [6] The teacher’s censure for Holden’s expulsion from Pencey Prep is overshadowed by what Holden feels is a larger threat: the loss of a safe refuge. Holden identifies with the ducks, and in worrying about returning home, he wonders if his mother’s demeanor will turn icy since he has let her down. The image of the ducks flying away prefigures Holden’s own exile: he runs away from school and hangs out in New York because he is afraid of his parents’
reaction.
He also lack of
safety and security from his family in his thought,
concern for his ducks only increases once he reaches New York. One of the first things he asks a cabbie concerns the welfare of the ducks: “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 it gets all frozen over?
Do you happen to know,
by any chance?”[7] During his next cab ride, he inquires again about the ducks:
“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?”[8]This time, the cabbie’s reaction is impatient: “ How the hell should I know a stupid thing like that?
”[9]The cabbie goes on to talk about the fish in the lake, despite Holden’s corrections that he is
asking about the ducks, and finally spits out:
“If you was a fish, Mother Nature’d take care of you, wouldn’t she?
”[10]This protecting mother figure is exactly what Holden craves, but as he identifies with the ducks, and not the fish. He does not get the safe feeling that he wants. He is looking for the safety and security in the whole novel.
2.2.3
The Social Needs
The Social Needs--------Love and Belonging. After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs is social. Under this category, Maslow puts our requirements for love and the sense of belonging. We need to be loved; we need to belong to a group not just the family in which we can share with others in common interest. In Marlow’s view, this need can be satisfied through the work environment and some informal organizations. Certainly, we also need social relationships beyond the work place, for example, with family and friends. Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group (such as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, gangs) or small social connections (family members, intimate partners, mentors, close colleagues, confidants). They need to love and be loved by others. In the absence of these elements, many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and depression. This need for belonging can often overcome the physiological and security needs.
We go over the book carefully.
We find
that Holden couldn’t communicate well with his parents. His father just let him enter some good schools and would “kill”
him
if he does not try his best to study according to the school’s requirements.
Holden is lack of the love from his family.
Holden is a kind boy. He donates
ten Yuan to the nuns.
He always tries to consider for others and does not want to make life difficult for people. In the first place, we see one instance, although Mr. Spencer regrets the necessity of giving Holden a failing mark, he cannot restrain himself from reading aloud Holden’s inadequate examination composition. Thus, instead of assuaging the boy’s discomfort, he adds to it. Holden, on the other hand, tries to alleviate the teacher’s embarrassment by engaging him in aimless conversation. We see that their relationship is ironically inverted. Holden has more sympathy for an interest in people than does Mr. Spencer.
Holden’s attempt to put his teacher at ease fails, because although he has a great awareness, his immaturity precludes his channeling it into actual communication. Instead, Holden thinks, while chatting, about the ducks in Central Park. This delicate concern for the creatures of nature and sensitivity to the mysteries of nature are beyond Mr. Spencer’s perspective ability. The teacher lives in another world. Holden often consider for other. He does not want to make their life difficult.
He gives them more care and love.
Holden’s chance meeting with the mother of a schoolmate leads him into the perpetration of the tangled skein of lies. All of his statements
are deliberately misleading. He tells Mrs. Morrow exactly what she wants to hear about her son, humoring her own sense of vanity and self-absorption by making her believe that her son
is one of the most honorable and decent students at Pencey. From the psychological justification for this act—for which he feels remorse, even when committing it—arises from his inability to inflict pain; he wants to make the other people feel happy. From their conversation, we can see that Holden considers
others carefully.
He hopes
that the people around him are
living in happy!
He wants
to bring happiness to the people around him.
Allie’s left-handed baseball glove is a physically smaller but significant symbol in the novel. It represents Holden’s love for his deceased brother as well as Allie’s authentic uniqueness. Allie covered the glove with poems written in green ink so that he would have something to read when things get boring in the baseball field. When he writes a descriptive theme about the glove for Stradlater to turn in for his English assignment, of course the insensitive roommate does not understand.
Holden is a person who treasures feelings of the people.
In his heart always filled with love.
2.2.4 The Esteem Needs
The Esteem Needs-------Esteem.” All
humans have a need to be respected, to have self-respect, and to respect others.”[11]
Self-esteem is a sense of our own achievements and worth. We need to believe that we are successful.
People need to engage themselves to gain recognition and have an activity or activities that give the person a sense of contribution, to feel accepted and self-valued, be it in a profession or hobby. In the chapter fifteen, he tells us of the time when he is
embarrassed because his suitcases are
so much nicer than his roommate’s.
In order to express his respect for others, displaying his characteristic empathy, Holden tries to hide his suitcases, in consideration of his roommate’s feeling. This thoughtful act does
not achieve its desired effect, however, because his roommate wants
the suitcases to be seen so that it would appear as though he owns
them. Holden feels very uncomfortable when he is eating eggs and bacon, while the two vestals are only eating coffee and toasts. From this point, we can see that he is a boy who always
considers
for the others
feeling, and he wishes the life of the others is well-being.
We can clearly know
the Holden protect other people’s self—
esteem, and he also believe that he is successful finish own achievements and worth.
The respect
for others means the person is the respect and recognition from other people, by through our work or our activities in other social groups.
Holden holds Allie and Phoebe in such high esteem because they are innocent. Holden’s goal is to protect innocence in the world. When he hears The Catcher in the Rye
song being sung by a little boy, he decides that he wants to be the person that keeps children from falling off a cliff. That cliff symbolizes the transition from childhood to adulthood, and he wants to keep them as innocent children, not phony adults.
He
wants to give all the innocent people with high esteem.
Throughout the novel, Holden seldom receive the respect from others.
2.2.5 The Self-Actualization
The top level of this hierarchy
is
the needs
of
self-realization. In other words, they are the needs to grow and develop as people, the needs to become all that we are capable of being. These are the most difficult needs to satisfy. Whether one can achieve this level or not, perhaps determines whether one can be a great man or just an ordinary man. Of course, it depends on different people. The means of satisfying them tend to vary greatly with the individual. At the end of the story Holden’s
arrives at
his home. He is beginning to formulate his thoughts—a bit incoherently, it is true—about what he wants to do with his life. The Catcher in the Rye
is the guardian of innocence.
Certainly Holden is not heroic in the traditional sense. He is not conventionally successful in his undertakings. Obviously Holden’s strength does not rest in the traditional successes. Instead he is functioning on a different level: he is fighting a Don Quixote type of battle in order to restore moral order. Holden is heroic in the deepest sense because he truly battles against sham and corruption. In the last chapter, we can see that Holden is growing up. He does not desire to run away from home, and his concern for people has become more positive. , Holden will not submit to the phoniness of life, but will attain an attitude of tolerance, understanding, and loving which will make his life endurable. There is no doubt that Holden knows that things won’t remain the same; they are dissolving, and he cannot allow himself to reconcile with it. Holden doesn’t have the knowledge to trace his breakdown or the mental clarity to define it, for all he knows is that a large avalanche of disintegration is occurring around him.
3.
Causes for
Complexity of Characteristics of Holden
3.1 His Own Internal Factor
Holden,
a
16-year-old adolescent, has
the characteristics of the adolescent children. In their minds parents become less important and peers become more important people at his age
become curious and inquisitive. They desire opportunities to express themselves. They wish
that someone could understand themselves.
But in the novel we found that Holden feels that no one understands him and that everyone is a “phony”. He thinks that no one is honest, and everybody wants to be something else. He feels that the only person who understands him is Phoebe. He does not have relationships with girls or anyone because he feels that he is the only genuine person in the world. He is alienated from society.
Another incident that is revelatory of the unsympathetic adult world revolves around Allie’s
death. Holden breaks
all the windows in the garage, and then tries
to break the car windows, his parents speak of sending him to a psychiatrist. The adult world does not seem to understand the deep sense of loss that can be felt by an adolescent. He also displays
his rebellious character. Holden’s rebellion represents his criminal thoughts. But throughout the novel, readers can tell that it is only a kind of teenager’s imagination that is playing with revenge. Holden never commits any of his violent thoughts into action. The main aspect of Holden’s rebellion in the novel is to break life’s rule by failing out of school, running away from home, and planning to spend the rest of his life in a remote area. However, when Holden’s sister Phobe demands to go with him, Holden sees a rebel. He sees himself in Mr. Spencer’s eyes, he sees himself in Mr. Antonioni’s eyes, and he sees himself in Phoebe’s eyes. From cynical refusal to gradual acceptance, Holden finally gives up his plan to rebel, and states that he will apply himself in the next school to continue his education. He is in a special stage, he has demonstrated a juvenile adolescent characteristics. He is very sensitive and rebel. He wants his behavior aroused everyone’s attention!
3.2 Influences from His
Family
Psychologists
believe that family
relationships
influence
children’s characteristics. Holden, an extreme sensitive teenager in the novel, has serious problems with school and society. From his narration, readers can see the relationship between his parents, his relationship with his parents, brothers and sister affects him both positively and negatively. Holden’s father, a corporation lawyer, and his mother, an apparently unemployed, have sacrificed for their son Holden. Still, Holden seems unappreciative and distant, because
he is
lack
of
the respect
and love from them.
The parents’ relationship shapes his character in his family.
For one thing, the love between his parents seems vague. When Holden sees his teacher Mr.Antolity kiss his wife good night, he makes a remark to this common situation that they like to kiss in public. This suggests that his parents do not kiss each other often. Holden also tells briefly that if his father’s investment in shows on Broadway flops, his mother would be crazy. However, his parents in public act like the perfect couple. They visit Holden’s school under the teacher’s request, and Mr. Spencer calls them a grand couple. Holden says he would puke because he does not think they are great.
The parents love also shape his character in his family. Holden
is
lack
of
love from his parents. He is quite nostalgic, but he has no memorable conversation with his parents. Holden’s father acts as an ATM from which Holden can withdraw money.
Holden is
absent
from school afraid of being scolded. His father
is going to kill him once he knew his son’s dismissal and he cares
little about his son’s psychological reasons of hating school and study. For the matters of son’s many dismissals from schools, his father doesn’t attempt to understand Holden and find the reason of his son’s hatred of study and help his son to solve problems. Contrarily, his attitude toward his son is
very rude. Both of them are touchy and irritated. Holden’s mother, a heavy smoker, is an emotional and easily excited person. In this aspect, Holden’s unstable personality might be inherited from his mother. When Holden is playing around with his red hunting hat and calling his mother to give him a hand and take him away, he reveals his deep desire for being cared for. Holden’s mother couldn’t provide any tender feeling to his son. The rudeness of parents prevent Holden from going back home and daring to say his problems, of course he has no courage to get any help and support from parents. Holden is
eager to get care and help from parents, but in the novel, his father doesn’t appear; the only appearance of his mother
is
her sound from a dark room. This symbolized that his parents couldn’t give him the life guide and help in his spiritual world in the process of Holden’s growth. Holden’s father is a rich lawyer, so he took it for granted that just sending Holden to get good education in order to let him find a good job after graduation, but this father couldn’t give his son any care and cherish spirit. Even at home—the easiest communicative place, comprehension is a problem. His parents’ lives in their own circle, they don’t really know
Holden’s
bewilderment and upset. Generally speaking, the impassive relationship with his parents is one of the sources of Holden’s psychological trouble.
The relationship between Holden and his younger sister Phoebe is affecting and amazing. Phoebe is not only Holden’s friend, but also a schoolteacher. At first, readers know from Holden’s narration that Phoebe is a lovely girl. But when Holden sneaks into his home and meets Phoebe, readers see an intelligent and mature child, who soon guesses that Holden has failed and been expelled from school. She is angry with Holden; meanwhile, Holden looks like a student, explaining that he has at least passed English. Phoebe asks Holden to name one thing he likes, or something he would like to be in the future. Her question forces Holden to confront with his shortcomings: he lacks a life goal, and his ideal of being a catcher in the rye is unrealistic. The next day, when Phoebe learns about Holden’s plan of running away from home, she demands to go with Holden because she worries about him. Holden is moved by Phoebe’s true affection; he promises to go home with Phoebe. It is Phoebe who rescues Holden from regressing to childhood.
At the end of the story, Holden mentions D.B.’s visit to his place of recovery. We still do not know if his parents have been aware of self-questioning their ignorance about the true nature of the relationship. However, by analyzing the clues in Holden’s narration, readers can reach the conclusion that family relationships can be the painful cause of children’s psychological problems, or the best medicine for recovery from them. 3.3 Social Background
The atomic explosion over Hiroshima and Nagasaki claimed the victory of the United Stated over Japan and the end of the Second World War as well. Never had a new historical era so abruptly befallen American as the cataclysm of atomic bombs on Japanese. After the war, the United States got even more involved in the international affairs. America’s rival with the Soviet Union resulted in the initial of the Cold War. After the end of the Second World War, U.S. imperialism utilized its dominant industrial and economic expansion abroad.
America became very rich after the WarⅡ. After the WarⅡ, the standard of living and consumption were both developed, so the number of middle class was increased fiercely. At the same time, the spirit of most of the people was more and more vacuous and necessitous.
Internationally, the cold war was being more and more serious. Interiorly, everyone was involved in the horrific atmosphere by the nuclear war. Some people enjoyed the luxurious life, having a muddleheaded life; while others were eager to resist the vulgar and deceptive world, but they were lack of long-range ideal, so they could not find out a correct way. Some youth resisted the reality by negative way such as drinking, freak-out and cohabitation. As a result, some historians of the time regard the young Americans as the beat Generation in America.
3.3.1. Economy
The economy had certainly improved since the 1930s. The President Franklin D. Roosevelt (thirty-second President of the United States, serving from 1933–1945) combined with the enormous financial boost of World War II to pull the United States out of the nightmare of the Great Depression. Women had contributed significantly to the war effort by filling jobs in industry as well as serving in the armed forces. Some chose to continue with professional careers, an important step in the emancipation of women in the twentieth century. Others chose to return to traditional roles as housewives, opening more jobs for the returning men. This process took time, and the wait was difficult for many individuals. The government provided educational and other financial opportunities for returning members of the armed forces. A serious problem, however, was inflation. During the war, the emergency Office of Price Administration had kept costs in check. After its elimination, inflation ran rampant. In some areas, food prices doubled within a month. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s family
appears to have no financial concerns. Holden’s family lives in an expensive apartment in an affluent section of New York City. Holden’s father is a corporate attorney. Holden assures us that all a lawyer does is “make a lot of dough and play golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink Martinis and look like a hot-shot.”
[12] Although his profession is probably more difficult than what his son makes it out to be, Mr. Caulfield is doing very well financially. He can afford a live-in maid, Charlene, and his son seems to go from one private school to another with little concern for cost. Holden’s perspective is that of the upper-middle class. In the first chapter of the novel, he notices that the Spencers, whom he is visiting, can’t afford a maid and have to answer their door themselves—“They didn’t have too much dough” [13]—indicating Holden’s socioeconomic background.
3.3.2 Politics
Politically, the United States was becoming increasingly conservative. This spirit of repression is the context in which The Catcher in the Rye appeared. “With the publication of The Catcher in the Rye in 1951, J .D. Salinger gained an almost immediate acceptance as being among the significant post-World War Two American novelists”. [14]But it is banned by many schools and libraries later, because school boards and administrators have objected to the language as well as the general atmosphere of subversion in the book. Some critics conclude that the novel is not fit for children to read and that Holden Caulfield is preposterous, profane, and pathetic beyond belief. Ironically, Holden himself is opposed to the strongest obscenity in the novel and the vandalism that produces it. But the novel remains near the top of the list of banned books in public libraries in America, especially in rural areas. 3.3.3 Nuclear Threat
When the Soviet Union set off its first nuclear explosion in 1949, it was clear that the cold war could turn hot and destroy civilization. A real fear permeated American culture. Even in remote areas, ordinary people built bomb shelters in their backyards. Schools took time to instruct students on the best way to react during a nuclear attack. Although the intent was benevolent, the most likely result was fear and confusion on the part of impressionable young minds. This increased gap between adult values and childhood innocence may have affected Salinger and certainly affected his audience.
4. Conclusion
Holden represents the lonely American youth seeking to establish a moral code based on transcendent values. Holden’s wealthy background, however, allows him to skip over all the middle-class materialistic concerns of our society. Holden’s ambition to be the catcher in the rye symbolizes his desire to establish a moral order. (His name is a pun upon this theme: “hold” in “field”). Humorous as well as honest but by no means perfect, Holden searches for some purposeful relationship, but he is not yet prepared for an adult role in society. His interest in everything stems from his youthful search for experience and freedom. His general breakdown may have been brought about by society, but it does lead him back to reality with a new awareness. Holden’s new awareness, however, will not change society. Holden Caufield does not give society a moral vision that transcends the false power&n, bsp;and false security. But he is growing up, he gains the recognition — no man is an island. |
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