The Catcher in the Rye is a wonderful coming of age story about a young boy named Holden Caulfield. This brilliant work of art can be classed as the Pride and Prejudice of the 50’s. In it, young Holden overcomes the egregious problems facing rich white males in the United States. For example, Holden has been raised in such a dissolute environment that he feels a strong desire to hire a prostitute. Clearly, not all of us have had to face such a difficult challenge. However, Caulfield’s innate moral compass leads him to refrain from sexual encounters; instead, he chooses to spend his time philosophizing and critiquing others who engage in less honorable practices. Caulfield deals with the ramifications of living in a boarding school; it’s quite comparable to similar epochal works such as Gossip Girl which also deal with the cultural difficulties wealthy socialites face. For me, the beauty of The Catcher in the Rye is this: Holden Caulfield physically and verbally fights others, which mirrors the metaphorical battle he undergoes to free himself from the chains of white privilege. However, The Catcher in the Rye is not perfect. It struggles to adequately deal with family life; Caulfield’s few family interactions are primarily with his sister. These limited insights fail to provide a full insight into the classic American family, which is what I was led to expect when I picked up the book. Naturally, because it was not what I expected based off of the cover, I must penalize it slightly. Furthermore, Phoebe suffers as a character because she comes off as overbearing; also, no younger sister would have the temerity to chastise her older sibling. Thus, the nuclear family presented by Salinger does not accurately reflect the accepted family structure in the United States. However, The Catcher in the Rye generally matched exactly what I think life is like, all while speaking to me on a deeply personal level. Final Rating: 4 ½ ★ A satire written by Ryan C.
2 Comments
|
Archives
December 2019
Categories
All
|