Themes and Episodes in Catcher

Today in class, we took a look at certain episodes within The Catcher In The Rye, and how those episodes related to the whole, or how they were important. When Stradlater comes back from his date with Jane, Holden and Stradlater get into a fight because Holden believes Jane and Stradlater had some physical play during their date that night. Holden punches Stradlater, and then continues to verbally duel with him. This aggressiveness is due to Holden’s insecurities as well as unresolved feelings about Jane. Stradlater is everything Holden isn’t –handsome, intelligent, smooth, a lady’s man, etc. Even though Holden thinks he is all of those aspects, he isn’t. Heck, he cannot even close the deal later in the book with a prostitute. Additionally, Holden has some unresolved feelings about Jane. They have been childhood friends, and still continue to be close. This act of violence against Stradlater could be suppressed feelings about Jane. This specific episode is crucial, because not only do we get a little glimpse into Holden’s clouded mind, it makes him leave Pencey early, and start his epic journey to New York

            Another episode in The Catcher In The Rye that is essential is the whole scene where he is in Central Park, and tries to convince the phony girl, Sally, to run away with him and escape the bowels of society. While trying to persuade her to flee together, Holden lets all of his inner emotions shine through. The floodgates have been released. This is Holden uncensored. He spews all of his hatreds about society at Sally in one big conglomerate of speech – about the phoniness of New York City, Pencey, the professional world, people, education, and all the like. The lines, “I hate living in New York and all. Taxicabs, and Madison Avenue buses, with the drivers and all always yelling at you to get out at the rear door and being introduced to phony guys that call the Lunts angels, and going up and down in elevators when you just want to get outside, and guys fitting your pants all the time at Brooks, and people always – ”and the “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 goddamn Cadillac some day, and you have to keep making you believe you give a damn if the football team loses,” clearly illustrate the extreme pessimism Holden faces when he looks at the world – he is unable to look at anything that gives him any joy. Negativity. Negativity. Negativity.

Even though he is very judgmental, he has some amazing points about the system called society. Holden is able to look past all the fakeness of the professional world. He can see past the faces people put on, the materialistic obsessions, the ‘phonyness’, etc. of the world around him. While reading this episode in particular, I connected to Holden on a lot of levels. It was refreshing to read about Holden calling everything out that is fake. I really was keen about the materialistic obsession he observes from countless humans. The reason I can sympathize with Holden on this point is I can see that same fixation in my own friend group – it is sickening. With that being, however, Holden cannot look past that fakeness and find a meaning in his life. There is no beauty to him. This inability to see any light in darkness is his major flaw in The Catcher In The Rye.