Book Review: Why 'Catcher in the Rye' is Particularly Relevant in the often Depressing Polit
JD Salinger’s only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is much talked about. It follows the adventures of a depressed and disillusioned teenage boy- Holden Caulfield, traipsing around New York, having just been expelled from his elite boy’s boarding school. If you haven’t read it, I would highly recommend it! Some hail it as a relatable and telling insight into the life of a teenager, whilst others say the opposite: that it is impossible to relate to the struggles of an upper class white teenager who uses words like “phoney” and “swell”. But perhaps Holden Caulfield is particularly relevant to all of us, because of his experiences in a society like ours that can often be depressing.
Catcher in the Rye was published in 1951, around 6 years after the end of WW2. People all over America had been affected by the war: families left bereft of fathers, sons, brothers, husbands; returning soldiers themselves, still suffering with the trauma that they had witnessed across the front. Those who had returned from countries totally obliterated by the war, having experienced untold suffering, returned to a bustling and industrialised America, where it seemed as though the world had gone on without them. In fact, Salinger himself had served in the war, as a part of D-day landings on Utah beach where he watched fellow-soldiers gunned down in their hundreds around him, the sea turning red with blood. He once famously said of his wartime experiences, "You never really get the smell of burning flesh out of your nose entirely, no matter how long you live." The atomic bomb was also a worry of many Americans: once seen as a blessing for ending the war with Japan, it now felt particularly terrifying, especially, in the hands of America’s enemies. The outbreak of the Cold War, also preyed on many people’s minds. Needless to say, disillusionment was rife in America: feelings of isolation from society, disgust at a world where such awful things could happen, mistrust of leaders who had allowed them to happen.
Catcher in the Rye, perfectly echoes these feelings in Holden Caulfield. The cynical and depressed protagonist of the novel, expresses hatred at nearly everything he encounters. From New York City, to taxis, to most people whom he comes accross, described by him as “bastards” or “phoneys”. In fact, Holden doesn’t seem to really like anything, other than his little sister Phoebe. Holden also struggles with grief over the death of his little brother Allie, whom he describes as “a thousand times nicer than the people you know”. Salinger expresses the striking unfairness of a world in which seemingly the best people are killed and most other people seem to be annoying, insincere or real “sonuvabitches”. There is no doubt that Holden is indeed an unreliable narrator: he is depressed, filled with hate at the world, and what you might call “teenage-angst”. But there is a reason the novel was such a success, people living in post war America could relate to Holden’s struggles, not only to his tumultuous, teenage emotions, but also to his feelings of disenchantment at the world, that even adults could relate to.
We too can relate to Holden’s struggles, even as they are, framed by lives and a society very different to ours. We can draw particularly relevant parallels between feelings then, and now. We too are forced to face the realities of the atomic bomb in the hands of those who would use it against us. And although many of us have never been affected by war, we hear daily about the bombings in countries like Syria, killing innocent children. We see school shootings happening in America, and leaders doing nothing to stop it. Furthermore, many experience daily, a world where they will be judged or treated unfairly for their race, gender, religion or sexuality. We can all relate at times to feeling, as Salinger put it, “confused and frightened and even sickened by human behaviour”. In this way, Catcher in the Rye is particularly relevant to us, a way to have our feelings of discontent at the world expressed, to learn from Holden’s mistakes and trials, and perhaps, through Holden’s feelings of discontent and horror at the world, to remind ourselves, that in this, we are not alone.