256
I’M SEVENTEEN NOW,
AND SOMETIMES
I ACT LIKE I’M
ABOUT THIRTEEN
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE (1951), J. D. SALINGER
N
umerous authors, from
Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe and John Keats to
James Joyce and F. Scott Fitzgerald,
explored the precarious state of
adolescence long before the birth of
the “teenager” in 1950s’ America.
Teenagers, though, with their wild
new music and their thrill seeking,
represented a challenge to
conservative society and culture,
and were treated with nervous
dismissal: adults considered this
generation to be morally lax and
directionless. Teenagers kicked
back with assertions of hypocrisy,
considering themselves outsiders
in an uncaring world; and this is
the territory of Salinger’s writing.The Catcher in the Rye is narrated
by 17-year-old Holden Caulfield. He
is liberal with his parents’ money,
and relentless in his commentary
on the human condition, sexuality,
and morality. He has little regard
for authority and seems careless
about his self-destructive trajectory.Teenage disaffection
But Holden Caulfield is much
more than a teenage rebel. His
frank admissions of deceptions,
imperfections, and contradictions
reveal a bemused individual who
is hankering after childhood
innocence, suffering grief, and
growing painfully aware of the
contradictions of adult life. He
is a compelling antihero—an
ambivalent, vulnerable figure—
who can be sensitive and witty
as well as immature and vulgar.
Caulfield’s casual disregard
for honesty and disdain for
societal norms are mitigated by a
genuine confessional impulse and
surprising tolerance for some of the
diverse characters he encounters
throughout the course of the novel.
Caulfield is also an easy victim.
He is bullied in his dormitory at
school, and ripped off by a pimp
working the elevator in the NewIN CONTEXT
FOCUS
Birth of the teenagerBEFORE
1774 The Sorrows of Young
Werther, by German writer
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
follows the passions of a
sensitive young artist.1821 English poet John Keats
dies at 25. His early verse is
criticized as “adolescent.”1916 Irish writer James Joyce
publishes A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man, a
coming-of-age novel that
depicts rebellion and anti-
Catholic sentiment.AFTER
1963 American writer Sylvia
Plath publishes The Bell Jar, a
coming-of-age story with a
twist—its teenage protagonist
descends into madness.1982 In American author
Charles Bukowski’s Ham on
Rye, a first-person male narrator
remembers his teen years.I’m the most terrific
liar you ever saw in
your life. It’s awful.
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