The Catcher in the Rye: A Cursed Book

The catcher in the rye It is one of the most read and best-known works of American literature of the 20th century.. JD Salinger, the author, managed to capture the essence of adolescence in this novel. Although the work was not well received by critics at first, the public admired it and, over time, The catcher in the rye It has become the literary work that best reflects adolescence. Its direct and vulgar language is a good portrait of reality, although it also generated some controversy at the time of its publication, 1951.

Despite the changes that society has experienced, despite technological advances and the obvious differences between the adolescents of “yesterday” and “today”, The catcher in the rye It is a novel that has managed to age very well and that, even today, continues to reflect that large portion of adolescents who cannot adapt. or fit into the system, who live that stage between childhood and adulthood as a moment of survival, rebellion and internal struggle.

The plot? It’s quite simple, a young teenager named Holden Caulfield tells his experiences in first person.. Holden is a bad student, he has been expelled from several schools and it seems that his situation is not improving, since they have just notified him that he is going to be expelled from his current school where he remains a boarder. Holden decides not to inform his parents, he doesn’t want to see them either, so he runs away in the middle of the night and returns to his city, New York; There, he will stay in a very low-category hotel and the adventure will begin.

The catcher in the rye presents us with Holden’s journey, that of any teenager disenchanted with the world (and proud of being so), who seems to hate everything and everyone. A novel that has gone down in history as the favorite of psychopaths, misfits, people with mental problems and also of the adolescent (and not so adolescent) public. What is its success due to? Because The catcher in the rye Is it such a controversial novel?

The catcher in the ryea reflection of adolescence

Salinger’s work has made many of us see ourselves reflected in the character of Holden CaulfieldThis probably won’t happen if we read it as adults, but it will happen in adolescence. What is the password? The secret is to draw an easily recognizable character, a character very close to reality, a rebellious young man who cherishes misanthropy.

For many, adolescence will be nothing more than a transition to adulthood, another stage of life. that passes without pain or glory; a time to focus on studies, begin to choose a future and take on new challenges and responsibilities.

However, for others, It is a much more complex and dark stage, new pressures and responsibilities, both personal and academic, can be a strong obstacle; Beginning to understand the world and assuming the consequences of our actions sometimes makes this stage of life difficult. Alcohol, drugs, experimentation, first sexual relations, getting to know the world… all of this can be very present in adolescence.

In adolescence, we focus on music, cinema, the media… we try to look for our reflection, to feel identified and to see that, deep down, we have a place, a reason in this life. Holden hates everything about living, he hates all people, he hates his school, he hates the system, society, the world… The only people he feels affection for are his siblings, not even his parents seem to care.

One of the aspects that most attracts our attention about this work is the way in which it is narrated, in the first person, using a vocabulary that we immediately associate with the youngest. Holden uses vulgarisms, bad words and current words of his timeHolden refers to some historical events such as the War of Independence with words like “can”, “roll”…

This expressiveness and naturalism that we see in their language are precisely to blame for the identification we talked about previously. Even the physical descriptions are very close to reality.we see that there are allusions to “bitten nails” or acne, very typical characteristics of adolescence.

Another of the most interesting points of the novel is that it lacks action; Yes, it is true that Holden escapes and has some run-ins, but nothing really notable happens. The action is static, like adolescence, Holden simply limits himself to narrating his thoughts and criticizing everything he can, he reflects on his role, what he doesn’t like, what he does and how uncomfortable it is for him. the world. The catcher in the rye It involves the mythification of adolescence, a coming and going from childhood innocence to the meaninglessness that is life at the end of this stage.

Holden himself is the one who defines himself as a catcher in the rye, that’s what he wants to be.wants to be in charge of picking up those children who run alone towards the abyss, wants to be the one who protects them from that fall, from that hard blow that represents the end of childhood and the awareness of reality.

Holden Caulfield, the confession of some criminals

How is it possible that a book that reflects adolescence becomes the favorite of many criminals? Perhaps, that feeling of not belonging anywhere and those touches of misanthropy that Holden conveys to us are some of the causes that have led some murderers to see in The catcher in the rye a kind of Bible.

It is easy for us, at certain moments in our lives, to see in Holden a kind of reflection of ourselves, to see in this work a mirror in which we can look at ourselves and feel understood or less alone.

The list of crimes committed under the shadow of The catcher in the rye it’s quite big, although most have fallen into oblivion because they are minor crimes or committed against anonymous people. Without a doubt, the case most remembered by everyone is that of the murder of John Lennon.

John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman, an admirer of his who saw Lennon as one of those children that Holden described running into the abyss.. Chapman believed that by murdering him, he would save him from the disturbances of the world and that his innocence would thus survive. After committing the murder, Chapman read The catcher in the rye until the police arrived; In the book, he had written “my confession” and signed it as Holden Caulfield.

Robert John Bardo and John Hinkley are other names that resonate when we talk about the work, the first, murdered the young actress Rebecca Schaeffer carrying a copy of the book; Hinkley, for his part, tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan while carrying another copy of it.

The popularity of the work together with the darkness that surrounds it has made the legacy of The catcher in the rye be immensefrom urban legends to music have echoed this “cursed” book. The catcher in the rye It is a mandatory reading, which speaks openly and which can be highly recommended in adolescence.

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