The Catcher and The Rye

The Catcher And The Rye

        I just read "The Catcher And The Rye" by J.D. Salinger.  It is about a guy in Pencey College, named Holden Caulfield.  He is rooming with a guy named Stradlater, who is a ladies man who is stuck up.  Holden gets tired of his school and comes to Manhattan, to try something new.  It takes place in the 1950s.  I believe that Holden is a very negative person, and that he has very high expectations for almost everything.

        Holden lets jealousy and negativity take over his impression on his life, sometimes even life in general.  Like when his roommate Stradlater went on a date with Holden's old friend Jane, he was in his room worrying if Stradlater was having sex with her, and he kept thinking about how he thought Stradlater was a goddamn sonuvabitch if he was doing so.  He doesn't realize that it's none of his business and that whatever Stradlater was doing on his own time shouldn't make Holden hate him.  When I'm mad at someone for whatever they've done, I try to think of things from their point of view, and I realize how ridiculous I'm being.  But Holden doesn't have the ability to do that, so almost everything anyone does bothers him.

        Whenever Holden meets someone, he is very excited for a serious discussion on his thought of the world.  But as we all know, a lot of people don't want to do that all the time.  For example, he had a prostitute in his hotel room, and wanted to talk to her about what he thought of Manhattan and his school, and his life and her life.  Not that prostitution is ok or anything, but I don't think that's what a prostitute is so interested in.  But the main problem is that if someone isn't willing to do that, Holden believes that it's completely their fault, and they're not a sane person.  No one else expects what Holden expects, and that is why he has such a hard time getting along with people.  What everyone in the world should expect from other people is themselves, and if you don't like that, than it's not their fault.

        Overall, I think that Holden Caulfield's main issue is that he doesn't have the social ability to respect that not many people in the world are like him.  I think that he should embrace that about himself, but not use it to make himself think badly of everyone else in the world.  If I were in Holden's shoes, I would start to think of things from other people's points of view.  Mabye I would even start thinking about changing myself, and my personality. so that I wouldn't have to deal with the social difficulties he's going through.