Holden Caulfield And Catcher In The Rye By J. D. Salinger

Holden Caulfield was very depressed and lonely throughout the entire book; what is something that a lot of depressed and lonely people do? They sing. The song "Basket Case" was sung by Green Day and originally written by Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool and is very similar to the book Catcher in the Rye which was written by, J.D. Salinger. The son explores the inner thoughts and feelings of a paranoid, depressed individual who seems to have many internal conflicts. The book, Catcher in the Rye, features Holden Caulfield who gets kicked out of school and wanders around New York City alone for a couple of days until he goes home for Christmas. The book also explores the inner thoughts and feelings of a paranoid, depressed individual

background music in the song is very loud, grungy, and angsty which is similar to how Holden is characterized. The volume of the song is significant through the number of different thoughts circulating in Holden's head. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden is never short for something to say, he spends an entire book walking around New York, mostly on his own, just thinking. Because of this, it is safe to assume that there are a lot of thoughts constantly circulating in Holden's mind. The loudness of the song could represent everything that is going on in Holden's head. When thinking of the song as if Holden was the one writing it and singing it, it would make sense that Holden's inner thoughts and feelings would translate. Along with the volume of the song, "Basket Case" by Green Day is very grungy and angsty. This also reflects Holden's character as he is an angsty teenager. The way that the song is sung, makes it feel like the singer is angry, which Holden is, and that the singer is an outcast. Holden is the poster child for being an outcast, he is very strange, has no friends, and gets kicked out of every school he goes to. Rock music as a whole was designed for outcasts so Holden being attracted to that style of music is very fitting for his

In the book, Holden is often seen complaining or whining about anything he can think of. These feelings parallel those sung in "Basket Case." In the following line from the song, "Do you have the time/ To listen to me whine/ About nothing and everything all at once?" Holden's character traits are shining through. The beginning lyrics, "Do you have the time" show how Green Day is directly addressing the listener in their song. Holden also does this throughout the book; he addresses the reader. Holden will often tell the reader that "they should have been there" or "they would have loved him." This makes the song or the book feel more like a journal entry of sorts which therefore makes the book or the song feel more intimate and personal. When moving to the latter part of the line from "Basket Case," Green Day sings, "to listen to me whine about nothing and everything all at once." In Catcher in the Rye, Holden is almost always seen complaining or whining about everything; still, he complains about nothing of value. There are multiple moments throughout the book where Holden will complain about whatever he sees or hears. Holden complains about the word "grand" or Holden complains about how his date, Sally, felt about the play they watched. Later in the song, Green Day sings "Grasping to control…/ So I better hold on…" This also parallels the way Holden is