Ege University’s 1st International Undergraduate Symposium
Youth and Myth
May 20-21 at the Faculty of Letters, Ege University, İzmir, Turkey
A Big Big Boy in a Big Big World: Holden Caulfield,
in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in The Rye
Nurulhude Baykal, Bilkent University
English Language and Literature, Junior UG
I'm afraid of people who like Catcher in the Rye
Yeah, I like it too, but someone tell me why
People he'd despise say I feel like that guy
I don't wanna grow up 'cause I don't wanna die
-Too Much Joy
The Catcher in the Rye being the recently-passed away J.D. Salinger’s masterpiece is about
Holden Caulfield’s 3-day-escape from phoniness, and all social institutions like family,
friends and school. The paper mainly focuses on the protagonist and the narrator, Holden
Caulfield, as by creating Holden, Salinger prefigured a lasting symbol of restless American
youth. At the time the book was published American youth found their symbol in Holden. As
a result of the slang words the narrator uses and the amount of sex it consists, the book was
banned in high schools and colleges. The Catcher in the Rye won critical acclaim and
thousands of devoted followers for its poignant description of a teenager trying to find his
way in this world. Although Holden Caulfield was just a fictional and semi-autobiographical
character of an infamous writer and was just after some peace and a non-phony world, he
captured the mood of a generation of high school and college students, becoming the symbol
of misunderstood youth and an unforgottable youth myth as well. This study is an
examination of how Holden effected world wide youth. To illustrate my points I will examine
the thematic content and formal concerns of the novel firstly by pointing out the
characteristics of Holden and then by exemplifying what Holden caused in youth.
MAIN SOURCES:
Alexander, Paul. Salinger : a Biography. Los Angeles, Calif. : Renaissance Books, 1999.
Salzberg, Joel. Critical essays on Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Boston, Mass: G.K. Hall,
1990.