Essay Example on The Catcher in the Rye: A Fascinating Tale of Cruel Reality and Humour

Introduction

In the real sense, the book is open to a lot of debate and controversy, making it a fascinating read. The Catcher in the Rye certainly would not be an exciting book to everyone, but I find it a compelling book and an exciting one too, having a lot of cruel reality accompanied with humor, dissimilar with depression moments. Even though the book got written in 1951, it still finds significance in the current generation, and I believe that the teenagers would be able to relate to the various themes brought out in the book. Some of the themes brought out by the author in this book include the following.

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Loneliness

The main character in The Catcher in the rye, Holden, has failed to form relationships as he has chosen to alienate himself from people. He does not have the willingness to become part of his surrounding environment, as he thinks he is a different person. JD Salinger, in his book The Catcher in the rye, effectively develops the theme of loneliness by using suspense through the empathizing of three facts. One of the points is that after traveling for three days, Holden has no place to go; Holden has terminated his connections to all his friends, and he has forgotten about being nice and morals.

Depression

Salinger portrays Holden as a manic-depressive. In most cases, Holden lies to himself to ease the guilt and emptiness living within him and at some points, he even reveals that he "really felt like, committing suicide" (Salinger, 104). Even with no other evidence to show that Holden is depressed, there is a profound statement of all. Holden announces that life itself makes him depressed (Salinger, 75). There is no single page in the book lacking the element of depression by Holden. According to Salinger (194), it is evident that the character is suffering from mental illness.

Sexuality and sexual identity

Holden states that he does not understand anything about sex, and he even swears to God (Salinger, 63). Holden would admit to this after nine chapters, but right away from the first pages, we can see his sexual confusion. As a result of the American sexual openness dichotomy, emphasized with teenage confusion, and an immense sensitivity, Holden's sexual relationship is turbulent. He continually experiences emotions about sexuality, both from guilt and excitement. Holden experiences an internal struggle from all of these emotions since they are pressing and difficult. The social difficulties that Holden is going through are as a result of him disconnecting from his sexuality. In a probable reaction to the immense sexual culture, sex was embraced and rebelled by the younger generation, and this later brought motivation to the sexual revolution. There is a revelation of open sexual excitement from his private school when he tells his reader that "all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day," (Salinger, 131).

Conclusion

The novel by J.D Salinger is in a sense a wake-up call to all the teenagers, and at the same time, it is an inspirational read through the message it sends out that we should always remain true to ourselves and hopeful as well. As a result of its complex themes of loneliness, depression, and sexuality, teenagers can relate to it, but my recommendation would be that you read it before getting to the adult stage because then, you may feel like slapping Holden when reading the book for his actions.

Work cited

Salinger, Jerome D. "The Catcher in the Rye [1951]." Boston, MA et al (2001). http://www.amerlit.com/novels/ANALYSIS%20Salinger,%20JD%20Catcher%20in%20the%20Rye%20(1951)%20analysis.pdf