The Catcher in the Rye

Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, was published in 1951, a time of post war transformations of attitudes. Due to the dissension of the country caused by World War II and the Great Depression, society was in a state of tradionalism and conformism. Salinger accuses this society of being in a state of "blissful denial" as a coping mechanism for avoiding the problems that faced the generation in the wake of such a difficult time. As a response to these attitudes, Salinger created his unique and dynamic protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield is a one of a kind character with a revolutionary representation. He shocked his decade with his blunt, to the point, commentary on his environment. He expresses interesting insight on all of the people around him that set the tone for his rebellion against the attutudes of his time. Holden has a significant hatred for the "phoniness" of the adultworld as they fail to reject the reality of the times. The concept of the catcher in the rye involves Holden's desire to save all children from growing to adulthood. He describes to his younger sister, Phoebe, with whom he maintains a close relationship with, that he wishes he could stand in a rye field and catch the children as they fall of the "cliff" of childhood. This novel started a revolution as it started a generation of thinking concerning attitudes of realistic individualism that was identifiable, especially with youth. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel as Holden is a refreshing character with new and interesting insights into the obvious hipocracy that the adult world suffers from throughout history.
-gff