Thoughts : The Catcher in the Rye

Well, I cannot hope to approach the sophistication of some analyses of this book after a single reading, but Holden is a fascinating character. It's wonderful how he manages to encapsulate a strange paradox of existence. He is trying to avoid the phoniness and sins of adulthood, deeply critical and condemnatory of these qualities in others. Yet, hypocritically, he is a compulsive liar himself, needlessly deceiving a mother of a yearmate that he meets on the train. In many ways, he is just as phony as the adults he despises; trying to lie about his age to buy drinks is another example. As a construct, Holden could represent a contradiction in all of us, that we make excuses for our own failings but have no qualms about passing judgement on others. Sometimes we put others down because their faults cause us to be uncomfortably reminded of our own. We can choose to realise that we ourselves are flawed, or as Holden does, run from self-reflection and maturity.

Holden has another quality that makes him easy to identify with, a fear of change. He does not want to leave the realm of childhood, but it is clear from his actions and thoughts that he has left it irrevocably. He longs for a past, predictable and stable. While I doubt any of us can claim to relish uncertainty, we have to keep up with the tide, adapting to circumstances lest we be left behind.

The complex interplay between loneliness and Holden's cynicism is wonderfully depicted. A second paradox of being. Holden desires company, but is unable to appreciate it when he has company. He arranges to meet Sally and ruins the date. Perhaps he looks for company of a very specific nature, looking for it in various people, unable to determine what he is missing. I think it has to do with Holden's tendency to idealise and condemn. When he is alone, he is free to believe that the next encounter will be just what he's been waiting for. But when he is right in the thick of it, he cannot ignore all the flaws and irritating qualities of others that so glaringly present themselves to his judgmental notions.

A final quality that I found noteworthy was Holden's desire to be unique. His red hunting cap as a representation of this. He wears it as a way of indicating that he is different from the rest somehow. Taking comfort in the fact that he is different, and in that difference, somehow superior to the rest. We all believe this about ourselves quite easily. To think that we alone make decisions of our own volition while the sheeple around us are subject to the forces of society. It's a belief that consumerism exploits, to make you think that you're making the choice when in fact, you're making the same choice as hundreds around you. Our individuality should be a source of wonder, but it should not grow at the expense of our regard for the individuality of others.

The world of the Catcher in the Rye is not a beautiful one. Holden chooses to notice what he wishes and most of the time, he focuses on the negatives. No one is perfect, so everyone seems to have given up trying. Perspective does change a lot of how we live our lives. Our world in its entirety is both beautiful and horrific, awesome and awful. Depending on what we choose to observe, consider and internalise, we can come away with vastly disparate experiences. 

Notably, Holden's world is also a Godless one. To me, that explains why the Catcher in the Rye remains so captivating and Holden so identifiable decades after the book was published. The world remains, as it was then, largely a Godless society. Only when the Kingdom comes will we look back and find that Holden's incisive comments, his conflicted being and his disillusionment no longer seem relevant or necessary. I am of the belief that God alone can never disappoint our hopes in social interaction, He alone can allow us to express our true selves without inflating our egos, He alone gives us assurance in the face of change and He alone enables us to live out authentic lives, without a shred of phoniness.