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

invariably since I rake The Catcher in the Rye I was 17 then I gettried to explain myself why this halt is so significant. Why is it so loathed and adored at the a a equivalent(p) sequence? I must confess I hadnt hearanything well-nigh Salinger till I watched Conspiracy Theory. If you beginnert remember Ill tell you that the movie was about this taxi number one woodJerry Fletcher who traced conspiracy in boththing and altogether of suddenone of his theories came to be true. Mel Gibson was flimsy playinga man who was funny and serious, brilliant and a free rein mad. And thisqueer person couldnt feel normal if he didnt buy a copy of TheCatcher in the Rye every day. And that impressed me so much thatafter that I bought the account 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 by it butthere is no cure. The symptom is that we change but non entirelyphysically. Our points of view, ideals and beliefs also change. Thatis why I was so anxious about reading 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 recallmyself much of a critic but an commentator 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 cordial andindividual stops. For me, that is what makes the book so significant.Because we all battled and will continue to struggle suchpsychological battles on our way towards know thyself.I would like to begin with the way some critics approached Salingerswork. Althou gh each of them expressed opposite points of view whichare too extreme I would like to consider them and try to find thetruth somewhere in the middle.Ann Goodman commented that Holden was so entirely 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