Catcher in the Rye #3

The Catcher in the Rye has several universal themes that almost everyone can relate too. The first theme is loneliness. Throughout the book it seems like Holden is purposely alienating himself from all the people around him except for his sister, Phoebe. Holden spends much of the novel alone, reflecting on past experiences and people he has interacted with. It is in a person's nature to enjoy being alone to have time to think and reflect, but not to Holden's extreme. Holden is very confused and at a strange part of his life in the novel, you basically believe that he is crazy. But, to cope with what he is feeling, or not feeling for that matter,  Holden separates himself from those who care about him, instead of flocking to them in his time of need. You have hope for Holden when he goes to visit Mr. Antolini, one of his only adult role models. But Holden finds something that Mr. Antolini does and separates himself from the adult. "What he was doing was, he was sitting on the floor right next to the couch, in the dark and all, and he was sort of petting me or patting me on the goddam head" (Salinger 192). Holden takes this sign of affection as a sign that Mr. Antolini is a "flint", what Holden calls gay people. This just shows how little Holden knows of the workings of a normal human relationship.

Another universal theme J.D. Salinger addresses in the novel is growing up. Other novels show how difficult it is for children to grow up into adults but never in the way Holden did. On the outside, Holden is just your average angsty teenager, but as the book progresses you see how complicated his mind really is. Holden takes how hard it is to grow up to the extreme. Holden wants everything to be very easy and just come to him, and he takes it hard when he realizes that this is not how the world works. The way the novel is written gives the reader a huge to how the mind of a slightly crazy teenager works when they are growing up.