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Catcher in The Rye


Catcher in the Rye has been an uncomfortably relatable read for me. At the beginning of the book, I felt refreshed by Holden’s perspective and his readiness to call people out for being “phony.” But of course, every angsty teen relates to this aspect of Holden. As the book progressed, however, I began to see myself in Holden in a way that I didn’t like.
First, there was Holden’s outward façade of “not caring,” covering up that he cares deeply. For example, Holden pretends not to care about who Stradlater was going on a date with and jokes with him, but he can no longer hide it when he finds out it is Jane Gallagher. If he really didn’t care, would he have “nearly dropped dead” or gotten in a fistfight with Stradlater? Second, there’s his fear of growing up. He expresses his fear through his self-sabotaging behavior and lack of any ideas or plans for the future. While my behavior isn’t nearly as extreme as his, the underlying feelings behind it were too familiar.

Comments

  1. Jenna LeeFebruary 28, 2019 at 5:00 PM

    I really relate to this. It's a lot easier to be apathetic to things because if you don't care and something doesn't go right, it doesn't matter and doesn't hurt as much. However, it's really hard to be completely apathetic towards things, so often it feels like a facade when I'm apathetic towards things as well.

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  2. Dylan BMarch 10, 2019 at 9:49 PM

    Agreed, I could definitely see Holden's outward apathy in myself. However, I was frustrated at times when it felt like he was unaware of how self-absorbed he was. I think that's why I didn't connect with him more.

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