Catcher in the Rye speech Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the novel Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger as a young adolescent struggling to find his place in the world shows many characteristics that easily link him to being a stereotypical teenager as we know in this day and age. Catcher in the rye was written and published in 1951 and with this text being so relatable to teens today shows the timeless nature of Salinger’s work. Holden has a desire for independence though struggles with leaving his childhood behind. Whilst trying to gain independence Holden experiences drinking, smoking and being with women all experiences that teens experience in this day and age. The concept of being a teenager came about in the …show more content…
This is one of the reasons that it should catcher the public eye. Though critics were excited at the idea of a book that explored real issues that people can relate to such as death or being an outsider the text was disapproved with references to sex, violence and alcohol abuse which were seen as taboo subjects, parents were not so pleased that their teenagers related so easily to this rebellious …show more content…
Holden is also similar in many aspects to the modern day teenager; Holden sees life in his own individual way, though his behaviors are not necessarily “normal” for an average teenager such as Holden’s tendency for lying, which he even admits to the audience “I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera. It's terrible.” The fact that Holden acknowledges his wrongs shows that as a character he has a strong sense of moral values and this is what often causes people to get annoyed at him. When Holden does something wrong he usually feels guilty about his behavior through out the novel an example of this is his not wanting to go home as he knows his parents will be angry for being kicked out of another school. Like many teens Holden shows a dislike towards authority figures of any kind such as his parents and his teachers such as Mr. Spencer an old man that taught Holden History at Pency prep though old Spence is friendly to Holden because of the age gap Holden cant relate to him the one authority figure that Holden does like in the novel is Mr. Antolini who is Holden’s old