The Catcher in the Rye blog 6

We still read The Catcher in the Rye because of its message and story of a boy coming of age.  This is no ordinary book where the kid grows up and becomes an adult over the course of two hundred pages, instead Holden Caulfield struggles through his own identity crisis, and in the end still has no idea who he is.  He searches through everything he can think of in life to find himself and be happy.  It is just that he never allows himself to get too deep in something before he pulls away again.  This is what makes Holden a timeless character.  He seems to understand other people and their motives to an unrealistic level, but has no idea who he is.  The Catcher in the Rye is still read in schools, because of its well written story that many teenagers can still relate to.  As high school is a time of changing attitudes and opinions for all students, this novel has many similarities to the struggles that even today many people face.  “Though controversial, the novel appealed to a great number of people. It was a hugely popular bestseller and general critical success. Salinger’s writing seemed to tap into the emotions of readers in an unprecedented way.” (Sparknotes 1).  Many lessons can be learned from reading this novel.  One of these lessons is that youth does not last forever, and everyone has to grow up sometime.  This is the part that Holden struggled with because he did not want to deal with the responsibilities of being an adult.  Another lesson that The Catcher in the Rye can teach is the dangers of alienation.  When a person is alienated it does not just affect them physically, bout emotionally also.  Holden struggled with sadness and depression because he had no one to truly vent on.  All of his problems just stuck with him.  So it is great to know that being social is actually good for your health.  Being able to relate to others can be a very powerful thing. 

"The Catcher in the Rye." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 13 Aug. 2012. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/catcher/context.html.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1991. Print.