I just finished reading J.D. Salinger's famous novel about Holden Caulfield, who I am torn to like and hate at the same time... He's not really someone you can claim is a good person or even one you would think would amount to much since all throughout the book he's too preoccupied with his own feelings of smugness and superiority over the other people he comes across with. Mostly he thinks everyone else is stupid and fake and he laughs at them, sometimes not so secretly. When asked about one thing he really liked, all he can think about is his deceased brother Allie, who died when he was young and who he sometimes converses with in his head.
Holden Caulfield seems like a nice, sensitive boy though and it's hard not to overlook his flaws when he just seems like he tries so hard to cope with the phoniness of society and the repercussions of growing up and having to live up to the expectations of his parents, teachers and peers. I liked the fact that he was a romantic though. He only wanted to have sex with people he had feelings for, or so he said. However in another instance he was fascinated with "perverted" acts that he saw people do... like spitting water in the face of the other person. It leads one to wonder when Holden would take that next step despite of his romantic notions.
In the end, he ended up in a psychiatric hospital to get psychoanalysis before he went back to school. I have to wonder if Holden Caulfield is the face of American youth back then and now (since so many people relate to him) does it mean that there are a lot of sad, cynical young Americans who are that way for what? For being privileged and too smart for their own good? Is being depressed an indication of a lofty state of mind or must the youth be enlightened and educated and molded so they can move forward and continue in their path to conformity, as the ending suggests?
Lots to think about. Will get back to you.
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