Examples Of Modern Day Catcher In The Rye

Modern Day Holden

In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield expresses certain negative characteristics and patterns that we often see today. Dylan Roof, Suspected mass shooter of a church in Charleston, South Carolina, shares many of these Holden like qualities. Holden never commits any serious crimes, but growing up the two have very similar childhood’s. In both cases Holden and Dylan drift in and out school, care about little to nothing, and neglect basic rules. Holden Caulfield shares challenges and ideologies that many kids face today, without providing help and extra care to these kids, the results can be tragic.

School is an important part of every kid's childhood, dropping out or missing big chunks of school at

The absence of these things is another similarity in the lives of Holden and Dylan. Holden talks about his depression and lack of caring often throughout the book, “After old Sunny was gone, I sat in the chair for a while and smoked a couple of cigarettes. It was getting daylight outside. Boy, I felt miserable. I felt so depressed, you can't imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed”. Allie, Holden's dead brother, seems to be another traumatic experience in Holden's life that he cannot move forth from. Dylan had little emotional support growing up too seeing as his dad was abusive to his mom and multiple domestic disputes occurred between the two. His stepmom ended up being his main guardian, “Paige Mann, said she raised him while his father traveled up to four days a week. She described her stepson as, “a loner and quiet and very smart - too smart”. They knew something was seriously wrong with Dylan, but no attempt to help or talk with him about it was made. Both Holden and Dylan needed extra care, their patterns of carelessness, solitariness, and depression should have been

In extreme cases like Dylan's, the outcome is tragic. But Dylan is not the only other Holden like person out there, there are many other examples of Holden's ideas and principles in teens today. The pattern of these negative styles of life in our youth should raise red flags as these traits may indicate something serious such as Dylan's shooting rampage. If both Dylan and Holden had gotten help from their schools or parents, the outcomes of their situations may have been very