Catcher In The Rye Teenager Essay

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Being a teenager can be extremely difficult. Teens are stuck between childhood and adulthood and are torn between their yearning to grow up and their desire to remain young. Their awkward place in society leads many adolescents to believe that no one understands them and that they are set apart from everyone else. However this is not the case. By feeling that they do not belong anywhere, many teens embody the cliche teenager. In Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger creates a main character that epitomizes teen-angst. Though Holden attempts to portray himself as a unique character who stands out from the rest of society, he is fact the quintessence of a cliche, angst-filled teenager who both wants to be an adult, yet is afraid of facing his responsibilities. …show more content…
Throughout the book, Holden sets himself apart from everyone else and sees himself as being on the outside of society. At the beginning of the novel, Mr. Spencer explains to Holden that life is a game and that it is important to play by the rules. In his mind Holden responds, “Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right-- I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it?” (Salinger 11). One of our first impressions of Holden is that he sees himself as being isolated from everyone else. He believes that he is on his own team in the world, isolated from the rest of society. In Holden’s eyes, it's him against the world and there is nothing he can do about it. Throughout the novel, Holden feels alone and victimized as though the entire world is against him. Like many teens however, a big part of his loneliness stems from his own actions that attempt to isolate himself from everyone else. Holden constantly puts up barriers and walls to attempt to separate himself from his acquaintances. He criticizes the rest of the world in a desperate attempt to
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