A Rebel on His Way to Adulthood in The Catcher in the Rye :: The Catcher in the Rye Essays

Ever since I read The backstop in the Rye I was 17 then I havetried to explain myself why this book is so significant. Why is it sohated and adored at the same cartridge holder? I must confess I hadnt heardanything about Salinger till I watched Conspiracy Theory. If youdont remember Ill tell you that the movie was about this taxi driverJerry Fletcher who traced conspiracy in everything and all of suddenone of his theories came to be true. Mel Gibson was incredible playinga reality who was funny and serious, brilliant and a bid mad. And thisqueer someone couldnt feel normal if he didnt buy a copy of TheCatcher in the Rye every day. And that impressed me so untold thatafter that I bought the book myself. I dont know why I did it.Generally, I hate to be told what to do, less what to read. But atthat time perhaps I needed to feel normal too. Now, four yearslater, I read it again. And I was a bit nervous about it. After allthere is this disaster called time and we are all infected b y it butthere is no cure. The symptom is that we change but not onlyphysically. Our points of view, ideals and beliefs also change. Thatis why I was so anxious about translation the book again but at the sametime I was curious to find out how much I have changed. Actually, Ididnt remember most of it. I could recall only my feelings. And thatis not a recommended approach towards a book. But I dont considermyself much of a critic but an observer and an interpreter. After allreaders, incl. critics who are also readers, respond to a book the wayit has affected their inner self. Thats why I would like to trace thedifficult path towards adulthood that passes by various social andindividual stops. For me, that is what makes the book so significant.Because we all struggled and willing continue to struggle suchpsychological battles on our way towards know thyself.I would like to begin with the way some critics approached Salingerswork. Although each of them show different points of view w hichare too extreme I would like to consider them and try to find thetruth somewhere in the middle.Ann Goodman commented that Holden was so all told self-centeredthat any other characters who wandered through the book, with theexception of his sister, Phoebe, had no authenticity at all.1 Ofcourse, its not so surprising for a person that passes such a