Social Issues In Catcher In The Rye

In Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caulfield, undergoes a challenge to face the world around him. He constantly faces social issues throughout the novel, such as insecurities, loneliness, and uncertainty. One of the main issues he faces is “Caulfield constantly feels as if he is being surrounded by his enemies. (Huber and Ledbetter 254)” Accordingly, this leads to his self-isolation because he views everyone in society as a phony just going through life as a fake. Thus, what he perceives as fake is really the normal world around him. Bickmore and Youngblood state, “An honest hypocrite, Holden is the very essence . . . of adolescence. (253)” Because of his negative perception towards life, he feels insecure about himself around others. Thus, Holden Caulfield is a hypocritical adolescent who isolates himself to feed off of his negativity.

Very often throughout the book, Holden isolates himself because he enjoys staying by himself to dwell on negative parts of his life. For

example, Holden exclaimed, “It was pretty nice to get back to my room after I left old Spencer, because everyone was down at the game. (Salinger 24)” Here, we see “Holden … [does] not connect successfully to people, even other teens. . . (Bickmore and Youngblood 257)” Therefore, proof that “ . . . he wishes to isolate himself from others. (Huber and Ledbetter 254)” The reason for this is because the only real friend he ever acknowledged was his brother Allie. Upon the death of his brother, Holden realized how cruel and lonely the world was, further contributing to his negative outlook on life.

Holden’s negative outlook on life leads to his principal character flaw, hypocriticalness. The fist example of this flaw arises when Holden explains, “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. (Salinger 19)” It seems as if, “ . . . Holden can detect phoniness everywhere (except in himself). . . (Ziewacz 215) ” Holden views the whole world as phony because he notices everyone expressing joy all of the time. Holden never experiences true happiness in the novel, thus, he perceives what others are feeling is fake. Therefore, Holden’s negative attitude prevents him from seeing the good in life, ultimately defeating the purpose of life itself.

Holden further demonstrates his hypocriticalness when he states, “People never notice anything. (Salinger 13)” For Holden, this is an excuse to look negatively at the world around him. Furthermore, “This to him is proof positive that the entire world is an evil place and that the plight of man is hopeless. (Huber and Ledbetter 252) ” However, Holden does not realize that his perception of the world is clouded by negativity, which he continues to concentrate on throughout the novel. Therefore, the world is not really hopeless; Holden just chooses to pay attention to the negativity built up inside of him. This occurs because Holden is stuck in a bridge between childhood and adulthood, and he does not know what to make of the world around him. Thus, his confusion about the world sources his growing negativity.

Of the many common uncertainties Holden demonstrates, self insecurity resides the most prevalent.

For example, when he calls the prostitute to his room, Holden says, “I know you’re supposed to feel sexy when somebody gets up and pulls their dress over their head, but I didn’t. Sexy was about the last thing I was feeling. (Salinger 123)” This exemplifies how Holden struggles when dealing with females. He is so insecure about himself that he does not know how to handle himself in uncomfortable situations. Holden believed the only solution to his problem was to try to slow the prostitute by talking his way out of the situation. Thus, “Caulfield may be classified as one who avoids life problems, by hesitating . . . (Huber and Ledbetter 252)” His hesitation allows him to make up a temporary fix for his problem, only making things worse in the long run. Holden’s self-insecurity only magnifies the problems and worries in his life ten-fold, further sourcing his

negativity.

Not only does Holden show insecurities around people, but he also feels insecure about himself physically. Holden knows he is skinny when he states, “I’m a very light eater . . . that’s why I’m so damn skinny. (Salinger 140)” Thus, “It would appear that organ inferiorities play an important role in Caulfield’s feelings of [insecurity]. (Huber, John, and Ledbetter 251)” Salinger paints us a unique picture of Holden throughout his novel. For instance, we receive a detailed idea of what Holden looks like when Sunny, the prostitute, says that he resembles “ . . . a ten-year-old boy character played by a twelve-year-old-boy actor with a cherubic face . . . (Beidler 56)” This description suggests that Holden does not look very mature, further feeding his anxieties about his physical stature. His insecurities about himself lead to his discomfort in the world around him, further leading to his identity crisis.

Holden’s identity crisis has one probable cause; he is not very self-motivated. Holden explains to us early in the novel, “This is about to be the fourth school I’ve gone to. (Salinger 13)” Because he is so unmotivated, as one can imagine, his grades are sub-par. Due to his grades, he receives a scolding from his parents, which he perceives as his parents telling him that they do not love him. This creates a whirlwind of problems for Holden mentally and in the real world, persuading us “Holden is clearly flawed . . . (Bickmore and Youngblood 254)” Thus, Holden’s lack of motivation can be seen as the birthplace from which many of his problems spring, leading to his negative attitude and identity crisis.

It appears that Holden’s self-isolation, lack of motivation, and insecurities, are the source of his negative outlook on life. His negativity towards the world around him highlights the problems in our civilization today. Thus, “Holden Caulfield aptly describes [the] flaws in our society. (Huber and Ledbetter 250)” One of the reasons Holden may feel so negative about the world around him is because he knows other people will have to encounter the same problems he will. Thus, for Holden to feel like he has achieved something in life, he must save other people from the struggles he has encountered. The only way for Holden to achieve his goal of saving others is to become the ‘catcher in the rye’.