Examples Of Alienation In Catcher In The Rye

As a child you are slowly growing up, whether you like it or not. You do not have a choice. ¨The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger tells about a young man named Holden Caulfield who goes through the struggles of growing up and how he wants be the ¨catcher in the rye.¨ It symbolizes him wanting to protect innocence. Salinger 's purpose is to show the difficulties of young adolescents accepting that the fact that they are growing up. To begin with, one theme that contributes to the author´s purpose is alienation. Alienation is one of the reasons Holden struggles to grow up. He desperately needs love and contact from others, but his bitterness prevents him from looking for such interactions. Holden seems to be ostracised and victimized from the world around him. Interactions with others confuse and overwhelm him, so Holden is usually isolated. Holden is in this weird situation where he desires companionships or to interact with others but he ends up backing out. The reason behind his alienation could be the fact that others alienate him, he alienates himself, or both for that matter. In chapter twenty, he

The third theme one could argue is “The Phoniness of the Adult World” or rather just the adult world in general. Holden doesn 't like adults that much is clear but there is a underlying meaning to this I believe. With the context of the author one could argue that holden does not only does not trust them and thinks that they are fake. Weather It be the way they talk or the way they act he seems to think that the way they are expressing themselves is a lie unlike himself who is “ perfect”. He often, I feel like, wants to understand them. He quotes “I dont give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am - I really do - but people never notice it. People never notice anything.” he can 't fit in with them so he despises them because they are everything that he should be but