by Andrea Gonzalez

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
is a story of a boy who has everything, yet has nothing. Holden Caulfield is
sick of the people in his life. In his mind, they are all pretentious, selfish,
and simply “phony”. The teenaged anti-hero finds himself getting expelled from
another boarding school, and decides to explore New York City before facing his upscale
parents. Little does Caulfield know that those few days will lead him to make a
stunning revelation.

Unlike
Nabokov, F. Scott Fitzgerald, or Joyce, Salinger’s writing style is simpler. He
doesn’t write an entire chapter explaining what Holden saw while looking out a
window. Salinger knows that a teenaged boy is telling this story, and he
doesn’t embellish the novel by using a complex vocabulary. Yet, despite the
fact that Caulfield is a slacker, and not very studious, Salinger’s writing
style does not at all imply that his protagonist is dim-witted. This author
knows the balance of simplistically writing prose without taking it too far.

Like most
novels that stand the test of time, Salinger has created a very relatable
character. Holden Caulfield is a misanthropic, pessimistic outsider, yet is a
hypocrite. Throughout the whole novel, he complains how everyone around him is
“phony”. Well, guess what? Caulfield puts on a different face every time he’s
with someone else. He’s almost a compulsive liar who tries to have the courage
to speak his mind. Yet, that is the tragedy of Holden Caulfield. At some time
in our lives, we all think that we know and have seen everything about life in
general, but we eventually discover that we don’t.

I really
liked The Catcher in Rye because it
was entertaining. Holden has odd misadventures as he reunites with old friends,
meets undesirables, and wanders around the city. On a scale of four stars, I
give this anthem of teenaged alienation four stars.

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