A search for identity.

Originally written in 1951 as an adult novel, the book was soon eagerly consumed by teenagers. Salinger wrote his novel on disillusion and quest for identity of the main character, Holden Caulfield, in an era of repression. After the second World War the political climate had become one of mistrust and conservatism. It was this suffacating conservatism perhaps that Holden, in his search for identity, tried to escape from, and as I understand, the reason that Salinger’s book was banned from many libraries and schools in Postwar America……

As I mentioned above, ‘ Catcher in the rye’ was banned from schools and libraries. One of the reasons was the use of language that was often referred to as being profane and unsuitable for children. I have to admit, even though I am very liberal in my approach to any literary work what soever, that I immediately detested Holden for his constant swearing and negative attitude towards every ( that is almost every) adult he encountered. Had I forgotten that I had a simular period in life as well? Apparently so because through a bit of reminiscing I soon recalled lots of misfortunate situations, discussions and rebellious outbursts on my part. It is all about finding out where you stand in life and getting there, which for most of us has been a search…a search for identity through conflict and clashes. Holden’s quest just hits you in the face as he lets the reader in on his most inner thoughts and anxieties ( Appleyard, 1991:11).

In literature class we discussed about how this book is an excellent example of a ‘coming of age’ novel. Holden’s loneliness is, among other issues, strenghtened by the narrative being the first person. This narrative almost makes a hostage out of the reader’s attention. You just want to read on until you have finished the book. The plot is a very strong element as well, just when one has learned that Holden has been expelled from school he embarks on a weekend of, so to speak and underestimate, turmoil in New York, where he goes to bars, not being honest about his age, has encounters with whores but also with nuns and gets beaten up by a pimp. Not the average adventures of a teenager but then again very engaging to read ( ‘Active engagement’, Hubl, 2019). After some research done by one of my fellow debaters, we found that Holden’s name has a more profound and deeper meaning in the book. As stated on Sparknotes, a caul is the protecting fleece around a baby in the womb. Given the idea that Holden is struggling with adulthood and wants so desparetly to stay innocent, the name Holden Caulfield ( hold-on-caul) is food for thought. He detests phony adults and takes a particular liking to the nuns he encounters who in his eyes are sincere and honest.

Through his statement about these nuns I believe Holden to be in between stage 5 and 6 of Erikson’s stages of development, where, at the age between 12 and 18, teenagers develop a self and a personal identity. Holden is still much confused about his role and he has a rather weak sense of self, which leaves him dangling in stage 5, but with a focus already on the possible relationships and sexuality of stage 6. He ends up with a prostitute in a hotel room but at the same time he feels that you should only lose your virginity to someone you really like.

That’s what I liked about those nuns. You could tell, for one thing, that they never went anywhere swanky for lunch. It made me so damn sad when I thought about it, their never going anywhere swanky for lunch or anything. I knew it wasn’t too important, but it made me sad anyway.

Holden Caulfield has a fantasy in which thousands of children play in a huge rye field on the edge of a cliff. He catches them if they come too close to falling and so he actually becomes “the catcher in the rye”. To him it means saving children from losing their youth and innocence, which is the pattern throughout the book, and in doing so, perhaps he can even save himself. He tells his younger sister Phoebe, who works as his conscience, about this fantasy and connects it to, as he believes, a song. It is Phoebe who corrects him and points out that the song is actually a poem written by Robert Burns. ‘It’s ” if a body meet a body coming through the rye”! old Phoebe said. It’s a poem by Robert Burns’ ( Salinger, 1951:186). Remaining a child is easier and childhood is clear, comfortable and safe ( Appleyard, 1991:19). Being a mother I could somehow relate to this because all you sometimes want to do is protect and save…In Holden’s case it is all about role confusion ( Erikson,1970) a good example is his, mostly absent, parents expecting him to become a lawyer, whereas Holden just wants the simple things in life, he wants to become a farmer and in this way hold on to the clearity and simpleness of childhood.

‘The catcher in the rye’ is suitable for ages 12-18, readers that have reached Erikson’s stage 5 (Erikson,1970). Readers at this stage are trying to develop a sense of identity and figure out how to connect to people and socialize, which is exactly what Holden is trying in this book. This book’s events go beyond the average teenage world and perhaps so does the use of language, but luckily today’s readers don’t live in Post War America and parents as well as teachers have experienced their own adolescence in a far more open society than the forementioned. As Perri Klass mentioned in the New York Times article ‘The banned books your child should read’, adults worry too much about the possible corrupting influence of the printing word ( Klass, P,M.D., New York Times,2017).