The Catcher in the Rye - [short] Book Review

Salinger’s most controversial book The Catcher in the Rye is narrated by Holden Caulfield, who recently got expelled from his boarding school, yet again. Holden’s frequent expulsions from the many schools he has been to tells the reader in the beginning that he is “immature” and dull in many aspects. However, as one follows Holden in the streets of New York, where he fled, one uncovers along with Holden the bitter world the adults reside in and how he desperately tries for the innocence a child once has from fading away.

My initial impression of Holden’s character is different from that of my conclusive one. At first, I found his character arrogant for thinking he is better than the boys in his school. He is always causing some kind of trouble or is provoking others for a fight. He has lots of complaints with the way adults behave when he asks absurd questions. However, as I continued to flip through the pages, I came to reason with his character.

Holden is placed in a world where he does not want to grow up in. He lives in a world where children are forced to grow up so quickly. Since his brother never had to grow up because he passed away, he finds that it is his responsibility to not only look after himself but the innocent children, like his sister, so that they are careful not to fall into this world of deception, intimidation and manipulation, like he has.

The major reasoning behind his expulsion from the many boarding schools has to do with the reality of these institutions and the bullying culture breeding inside the dormitories or within school halls. The boarding schools have an image of how students in their institutions are brought up punctual, modest and hard-working. However, a great number of students are aggressors whose pride is hurt when they are called out for who they are. Behind the scenes, they lack etiquettes that their mothers believe are still in them. Due to the frequent harassment, the vulnerable students, the ones who are not able to handle it, often give up on the system, on the bystanders, and slowly on themselves.

Holden is just one of the many examples of the powerless students, who have faced aggression from their roommates; deceit from the ones who retract their statements; inappropriate behavior from the teacher he trusted.

Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is not about a child whining or about how he should grow out of it; it’s about a child who is afraid of what will be hurled at him next. The world fails us, the corrupt system mistreats us and the powerful only get more power yet somehow the many helpless individuals are supposed to live in the same world, with the same system along with the powerful. Salinger’s novel not only shows us the mirror of this rotten side of the world, but it also shows them their reality, which they are too egotistical to acknowledge.