The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a coming-of-age story documenting a couple of days in the life of a 16-year-old boy named Holden Caulfield. The novel begins with an introduction by Holden that is packed with attitude. It is already clear how he sees the world: phony, lonely, and unpleasant. He was just kicked out of another school after flunking all classes except English and it triggered his spiraling into a state of depression. Feeling alone, he makes a spontaneous decision to go on a “break” for a couple of days, drifting around New York City before heading home to angry parents. During the break he struggles with his mental health, constantly feeling alone and sad. He tries to cope by drinking (illegally) and striking up conversations with other people. However, he is constantly burdened because he feels like everyone and everything around him is “phony”. One of the only people he connects with is his little sister, Phoebe. She is the only thing that remedies his frustration with the world. Holden’s pure relationship with his sister contrasting with his negative depiction of everyone else emphasized the positive impact of positive human connections.
To be honest, I did not like the beginning of the book because the main character’s attitude was so negative and he kept going on so many tangents that seemed unrelated to the plot. However, as I continued to read, I realized those moments really helped develop a clear understanding of the character. With a better understanding, I became more invested in the well-being of the character and wanted him to recover. Because Holden struggled with his mental health throughout the novel, I found his happy moments to be heartwarming. For instance, when he saw Phoebe for the first time in a long time, she was so excited to see him. They had a casual conversation but Holden clearly enjoyed it the most compared to any of the other people he had talked to in the book. Seeing how Phoebe forces Holden to be responsible, reflect, and take care of himself created an interesting balance.
My advice for future readers would be to push through the slow moments and keep in mind that it has a positive effect on the engagement of the storyline. I would also recommend reading along with an audiobook because it helped me stay focused and comprehend the moments where the main character rambles, for sometimes pages at a time. Overall, I think the theme of the importance of human connection was interesting to read. The way the author chose to develop the idea of lacking human connection was boring to read at times, but it made the happy moments all the more uplifting.
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