Why do we still read The Catcher in the Rye?

The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is read today for many reasons, but the primary reason is what the reader can learn from the protagonist Holden Caulfield. Holden is a pessimistic teenage boy that feels nothing but indifference for the world around him. Throughout the novel, Holden can be seen calling many different people phonies, or someone who is fake and just acting. Holden judges anyone from his brother to people that he observes from the street. All of the resentment that Holden builds up begins to separate him from the world. He begins to think himself separately from everyone else, and even daydreams of going someone where no one knows him and saying that he is deaf mute so no one will talk to him (Salinger 257). Yet, on the other hand Holden is very lonely. He portrays this by paying for a prostitute to come to his hotel room (Salinger 119). When Sunny the prostitute shows up, Holden is only interested in talking to her (Salinger 124). Later in the novel he even calls up a boy named Carl Luce to have a drink with him (Salinger 177). While Holden is describing Carl to the reader he mentions that he doesn't even really like Carl and once called him a "fat-assed phony" (Salinger 177). Most people don't want to hang out with people they don't like, but Holden is just that lonely. His view on life and loneliness may also cause his destructive behaviors such as drinking and wandering around at all hours of the night (Salinger 199). Holden also goes through severe unhappiness with living and pretends that he has been shot and is dying many times in the story (Salinger 195). Holden's experience with shutting himself off from the world and his loneliness shows the readers what happens when you can no longer see the good things in life. With optimism it is easy to fall into despair and loneliness just like Holden did. To stay connected to life and be fulfilled it is crucial to be like life as a whole and see some good.

Bibliography:Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1991. Print.