The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

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The Catcher in the Rye is a popular novel written by J.D. Salinger. Published in 1951, the book was originally written for adults, but it is now remembered and adored by people from all parts of the world and people from all walks of life – especially by teenagers – a likely effect that was only inevitable considering the center stage of the narrator the great crumby flake Holden Caulfield, to use his style of speaking, who accurately portrayed teenage angst and loneliness in a style that many youngsters could and do relate to.1 The book is about his quest to find himself after being threatened with expulsion at the expensive prep school that he attends. Selling millions upon millions of copies and inspiring all sorts of people from pint-sized kids to presidents, the book serves as a ‘50s prequel-in-spirit to the one-man-against-the-world genre of storytelling that soon came forward in a free-spirited rush in titles of books and movies such as Norwegian Wood and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.2 3 The book is a moving testament to life in the era that it was set and written in, and it can be interpreted through numerous lenses in order to get a grasp of what society was like with regards to certain issues.
This groundbreaking novel can be interpreted through the lens of gender. What is gender? That is a question that can elicit many different answers depending on who you ask. The most accurate info regarding this question and questions like these can be found by checking the more well established sources. The World Health Organization (a specialized agency of the United Nations concerned with international public health) considers gender to refer to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a giv...

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... myth." The New Yorker 8 Feb. 2010: ?. Print.
2. Bloom, Harold . "The Language of "The Catcher in the Rye"." Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations: The Catcher in the Rye (2000). New York, New York, United States of America: Chelsea House Publications, 1999. N/A. Print.
3. "George H.W. Bush Interview -- Academy of Achievement." American Academy of Achievement. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. .
4. "What do we mean by "sex" and "gender"?." WHO. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
5. "History | Define History at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. .
6. "The Post War Economy: 1945-1960." About.com Economics. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. .

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