Why would he be so calculating and... What are the three major events in The Catcher in the Rye? Of course, teens still face many of the same challenges Salinger chronicled in his first book. Eventually we get to Allie, Holden's younger brother, who died of leukemia. ", The real message of 'The Catcher in the Rye'. He’s famous – or infamous, depending on who you ask – for complaining about the “phonies” of the world (ie., everyone over the age of 11 or so). According to a Wall Street Journal article investigating the effects of social media on teen girls, these platforms actively work against their proper development, including girls’ physical, cognitive, relational, sexual, and maturational health. The main message of The Catcher in the Rye is one that Holden has to learn: that no one person can save the world. The reason he fixed himself up to look good because he was madly in love with himself.”. Start your 48-hour free trial and unlock all the summaries, Q&A, and analyses you need to get better grades now. Salinger, the legendary author, youth hero and fugitive from fame whose "The Catcher in the Rye" shocked and inspired a world he increasingly shunned, died Wednesday at the age of 91. Copies of J.D. And, yes, the broader context of Holden Caulfield's story - the isolated, elite world of private schools in Cold War America - is important. The main message of The Catcher in the Rye is that no single individual can save the world. Girls today are experiencing the highest levels of loneliness on record, according to a 2018 Cigna national health survey. Follow her on Twitter @AllisonShoeStor. We all need to be that "catcher in the rye. The novel also says that trying to preserve innocence is futile in a corrupt (or any) society. Salinger. “As they create more interesting, supposedly happier virtual personas for themselves, their real selves diminish,” it says. The time and consumption Instagram and similar social media platforms require is an investment, taking time and effort that no longer goes to developing sound relationships with friends, family, and those in the local community. The book is more relevant today as teens battle the age-old problem but now with the added weight of social media and technology serving them endless unrealistic expectations of popularity and beauty. Caulfield gets frustrated by any tendencies that could qualify as common or people-pleasing. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. Although Holden is hardly out of the woods at the end of the novel, he is able to watch his beloved sister, Phoebe, ride the carousel without undue worry. Salinger perfectly captured the sentiment of so many who have grown tired of the constant pursuit of Instagram likes as a replacement for genuine love and friendship, more than 50 years before Instagram was released on the App Store. Salinger's classic novel "The Catcher in the Rye" are seen at the Orange Public Library in Orange Village, Ohio on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2010. Essential Quotes by Character: Holden Caulfield. Allison Schuster is a former intern at The Federalist and a senior Hillsdale College working toward a degree in politics and journalism. Depression, anxiety, and feelings of isolation have skyrocketed in recent years, but “The Catcher in the Rye” indicates such feelings have long been highly present among young people. “Girls collect ‘likes’ instead of making friends. Salinger described with disgust the everyday ways his high school classmates and acquaintances fought to fit in, including keeping up with fashion trends, using the same slang, and taking on contrived vices to impress particular people. The phonies are magnified in the 21st century on a national level through social media. J.D. What is the significance of the title of The Catcher in the Rye? Let us allow Salinger’s fundamental lesson to serve as some corrective for today: the loneliness of youth is only perpetuated by young people’s empty attempts to fit in. He is beginning to understand that he needs to let go and let the people he love take the risks that are part of being alive. And in the same way that nearly everyone around Holden reacts to the manifestations of his troubles - the smoking, drinking and swearing - and not the reason he behaves as he does, for years my students have fixated on his bad habits. He also gives ten dollars to nuns when he sees them eating a meagre breakfast at a diner, and he worries about the fate of fish when the ponds freeze. But all of that is landscape, and none of it helps us to understand the story's central question: Why is he so messed up? Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. What's especially sad - from this teacher's perspective - is that most folks seemed to have missed the point of the novel. starTop subjects are Literature, History, and Social Sciences. The elites fit the characterization of Caulfield’s “phonies” perfectly, so it makes sense they wouldn’t see their social pursuits and behavioral tendencies as he does. Fitting in is a struggle that transcends time. Holden tells her of his plan to run away, and, unlike everyone else, who advise him to consider the consequences of his actions (so teacher-like), Phoebe's response is to pack her suitcase and go with him. Girls don’t just want to fit in, they’ve suddenly been bombarded with images and likes and republishes and story views and comments and shares that follow them wherever they go. Salinger criticized athletes at his school for sticking together. Although loneliness among the young has been a reoccurring theme throughout history, teenagers today experienced new levels of isolation and social pressure unimaginable to past generations. And then I ask them: Why is this kid who has money, two parents, a successful older brother and a sister who adores him in such a bad place? Nintendo Switch Pro Controllers and Joy-Cons are on sale, Get 3 Prime Layers masks that don't go behind your ears for $21, Study: Mouthwash might slow the spread of COVID-19. Holden wants to protect all the world's innocents to compensate for his brother Allie's death, but he starts to understand that he needs to let the people he loves, like Phoebe, take risks. Salinger’s message about the perennial problem of teenage loneliness and the need for genuine human relationships rings truer today than ever. So here's this teacher's take-home message: We all need to be Phoebe and look out for those around us, our friends and family and especially all the children everywhere. Caulfield couldn’t bring himself to find solace in all that his classmates seemed to, which in Stradlater’s case included his good looks. Salinger’s ‘The Catcher In The Rye’ Offers A Timeless Message For Teen Loneliness Epidemic. In their lifetime masquerade of attending dinner parties and events only to make surface-level conversation with others they may barely tolerate, they are too distracted to fathom Salinger’s open expression of discontent. He very openly expresses his loathing toward the other guys at his school over their constant conformity and lack of depth — most aggressively against his roommate, Stradlater. If one phony acts a certain way, he argued throughout the novel, their entire entourage follows suit. What many anguished American teens were able to relate to in the ‘50s now seems to be the trademark quality plaguing teens, specifically teen girls, everywhere in 2020. For me, that is the thread that links all of Holden's good and bad choices together, that is the layer we must reach to really understand this story, and that is what we adults can look to in order to really recognize the weight and beauty of Salinger's book. Main Theme of Catcher in The Rye. He wants to fix the world so it will be safe, which is the way he remembers it being before Allie died. “He always looked good when he was finished fixing himself up, but he was a secret slob anyway, if you knew him the way I did. © 2020 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Only his sister Phoebe understands Holden and, to borrow the cliche of my students, is "there for him." Like all of us who read "The Catcher in the Rye," and like many of us who teach the novel, I was saddened by the death of J.D. What is the point of view of The Catcher in the Rye? It's the only way. Holden gets into a fight with his roommate, Stradlater, in a futile attempt to protect his friend Jane (ironically, after she has gone on a date with Stradlater, who Holden sees as a sexual predator). The novel takes place most in New York City as the main character, Holden Caulfield, navigates growing up and leaving behind his childhood innocence. Many elites publicly refused to understand what the main character and sullen high school student Holden Caulfield experienced each day. In chapter 8, Holden lies to the women on the train. In The Catcher in the Rye, is Holden himself a phony? In addition to serving as a source of comfort for so many, “The Catcher in the Rye” sent shock waves through elite cultural circles in America. J.D. Caulfield’s dissatisfaction with such a life baffled them. Caulfield felt disillusioned with society as he attempted to survive the daily life as a well-to-do American teen. In the movies "Precious" and "The Blind Side," we see perfect examples of how this works: Suffering young people are saved when those with Phoebe-like sensibilities intervene. Rather, Caulfield’s cynical rejection of such a shallow way of life represented the confused conscience of those who desired more than what so many “phonies” seemed to. In "The Catcher in the Rye", how does Holden describe his mother? The main message of The Catcher in the Rye is that no single individual can save the world. The convenience and omnipresence of smart technology in the lives of young people presents the additional problem of never needing to learn basic life skills, including communicating with new people and forming real-life relationships. She knows what no one else knows - that to rescue someone, you don't hand them a pamphlet, you take their hand. J.D. Holden is haunted by his younger brother Allie's death, and in response, he wants to protect all the innocents of the world. What separates the behaviors teens now experience from how Salinger portrayed them, however, is the extreme scale on which young people feel pressured into competing. Salinger's classic novel "The Catcher in the Rye" are seen at the Orange Public Library in Orange Village, Ohio on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2010. Ironically, although Holden wants to become the catcher in the rye, the person who guards children and catches them before they can fall off the edge of a cliff, he begins to mature as he realizes that achieving that goal is impossible. To sum up, the main message could be that the individual's fight against the establishment is a lonely journey and not necessarily successful. One of the girls whose story was included in the article, 16-year-old Genevieve, said she specifically yearned for the “olden days” when kids hung out in person and went on real-life dates.

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