Modern Society’s Demands

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Modern Society has set certain standards that they expect everyone to conform to, but in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Holden Caulfield is used to show what happens when humans do not conform to society’s wishes. J.D. Salinger uses Holden Caulfield to tell some of his own story and to show the consequences of not conforming to society and how society will eventually force everyone to conform. Salinger subtly points out may of societies demands, such as growing up and understanding sex. Holden refuses to give into society and will not grow up because he formed an unfounded definition of adulthood. Conformity plays a large part throughout the novel because it eventually leads Holden into a mental institute because he cannot and is not willing to conform to all of society’s demands. J.D. Salinger uses a young Holden Caulfield to show the affects of self-alienation, that people cannot run away from the inevitable, and how sexual identities affect humans in a society where conformity is expected.
Modern society demands that humans form friendships, which is echoed by Salinger through Holden’s lack of friends and irrational decisions. J.D. Salinger uses Holden to show how self-alienation affects human being and the people around them. Critics of the book have said, “Holden is an outcast like Huck Finn, and like Huck he tells his story in his own idiom, Holden's voice is not merely a virtuoso recreation of contemporary adolescent speech” (Sandock). Holden is considered an outcast because he refuses to solidify a friendship with anyone but at the same time Holden always wants to be around humans. Salinger uses Holden to stress the importance of friendships and how they keep humans sane. Holden’s lack of friendships has led him t...

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...nections with other humans. Holden refuses to conform to societies demands at first but in the end he is forced to conform. In a modern society, humans can easily be manipulated into believing that everyone needs to be the same, which J.D. Salinger predicted over fifty years ago in his book The Catcher in the Rye.

Works Cited

Baumbach, Jonathan. "The Saint as a Young Man: A Reappraisal of The Catcher in the Rye." EXPLORING Novels. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
Corbett, Edward P. J. "Raise High the Barriers, Censors." DISCovering Authors. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York, NY: Little, Brown and, 1951. Print.
Sandock, Mollie. "The Catcher in the Rye." DISCovering Authors. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.

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