The Catcher in the Rye - Question 1

The Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger does a magnificent job of keeping a book about nothing completely interesting and full of wit and humor (in my opinion anyway). He expresses his values and attitudes through Holden Caulfield, the novel’s main character. Holden stresses all throughout the novel how he cannot stand fake people. Although he may be a rebellious teenager who cares little about school or grades, Holden values and respects women and believes they should be treated with the utmost respect (why can’t more guys be like Holden?). It is clear that Salinger expresses his own values and attitudes, those being a disregard for phony individuals and respect for women, through The Catcher in the Rye’s protagonist.

Growing up, we all have to deal with petty drama. And sometimes we are forced to deal with those certain fake individuals we just cannot stand. Holden Caulfield, also the narrator of the novel, does not hold his feelings back when it comes to “phony” people. Caulfield is always labeling people as phony. “The worst part was the jerk had one of those phony, Ivy League voices, one of those very tired, snobby voices,” (Salinger 128). Here Salinger exemplifies how Holden finds the smart and fancy rich kids to be a bunch of fakes. "'It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac some day, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques,'" (Salinger 131). This quote strongly reflects Holden’s (and Salinger’s) values and attitudes toward “phonies”. I honestly could not agree more with the latter quote.

Holden strongly believes that women should be treated with respect. He depicts these feelings when Stradlater returns home from a date with Jane Gallagher, a girl whom Holden likes. After he asks Stradlater if he “gave her the time”, Stradlater replies with a sarcastic remark. Holden takes it as a yes, and he gets up and attempts to punch him, but misses (Salinger 45). Even though Holden turns to violence to put Stradlater in his place, he exemplifies that he values respects girls and that a person cannot go and have “the time” whenever they please. Toward the end of the novel Holden also comes close to having sex with a prostitute, but in the end does not do it because he does not feel it is right (Salinger 97). His actions throughout the novel, though sometimes violent and immature, reveal his admiration for women.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1991. Print.