J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye Essay Example For Students

J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye Essay People who dare to make a unique stand, people who don’t fit into the social rules and norms of the world, are rejected by the circle of Society. Society allows those who fit comfortably into its circle, obeys the regulations it creates and follows what everyone else in the group does. Being outside this circle made by Society is not only a challenge, it has become nearly impossible to do so all these years. As time passes by, society narrows its thoughts even more, and the space of the group descends with time, and those outside the circle, are the ones who remain isolated. In J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Albert Camus’ The Stranger, the protagonists, Holden and Mersault chose not to follow what society had destined for them, and followed their own route. When this route betrays them, and society pushes them into further isolation and despair, they realize the importance of being accepted in the circle of society. I would like to explore as to what extent society can really be blamed for isolating these characters, and whether it is society’s fault or the individual who suffers in adjusting with the way the world works, and to reflect upon the conflict between the individual and society. Isolation is the state of being alone and not being surrounded by anybody. In a world consisting of six billion human beings, it is impossible for someone to spend their life devoid of people around them. Someone could be sitting all alone in an empty room, and yet not enjoy loneliness and isolation, and there could be someone struggling with millions of people around him, and yet could suffer an isolated life. Such is the rule of isolation. Physical detachment does not define isolation, as the isolated are detached from the three main functions of a human being: the heart, the mind and the soul. Isolation brings along sorrow to some beings and relief to others. Nobody can define isolation as either a positive or a negative feeling, as there are some who frantically pursue isolation and some who rapidly veer away from it. It is as good or as bad as not accepting the norms of the world, not following the tide that the others create and not feeling comfortable in other people’s comfort. It is about the desire to create something that stands out of everything, yet something that stands completely true to the person itself. The troubled souls are those who isolate themselves from their problems, the circumstances and the attached sorrow that comes with it. They conveniently decide not to embrace reality and delve into fantasy and illusion in pursuit of happiness, acceptance and satisfaction. Some people enjoy embracing other people, combining themselves with their pain, celebrating their sorrows with other people around them and slowly fanning their untouched insecurities and inner fears and surrounding themselves with as many people possible. Whether or not, either way cannot be termed right in its approach, as it destroys and disrupts the usual way of living as manifested by a stronger power called God. Anything done in extremity or out of necessity or forcefulness will disrupt the usual way of living. The stronger power called God wants everyone to live life according to the wide boundaries he has set. Society wishes everyone to live according to the narrow boundaries it has set. Society diminishes natural boundaries by a great distance, and humans are supposed to live and die in that cubicle. The protagonists in ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ and ‘The Stanger’, being Holden Caulfield and Mersault respectively, have chosen to cross those boundaries by a great distance, and thus, have isolated themselves from the world. In J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist Holden Caulfield is a lonely teenager studying at a prestigious school in the United States of America, and it is his hesitance of accepting the fact that children eventually grow up and with time, and that immaturity leads to maturity, which pushes him into isolation. He isolates himself from the world of adults and primarily remembers them for their negative qualities. While indulging in conversation with adults, he constantly seems to digress away from the topic or veer into talking about irrelevant and unimportant details about them, and this proves the disinterest that lies within him for the older generation. His attachment with people who aren’t with him anymore also states the fact that he values what is lost and doesn’t pay much importance to what he actually possesses. His insecurity is proven by his obsession for constant movement and not settling down in a certain fixed place. He also wishes ho w he could sync fantasy and reality together, and detach himself from the usual norms of society. It is his obstinacy to embrace the absurdity of reality and dreams of a living life as a recluse. Whereas, in Albert Camus’s The Stranger, the protagonist Mersault is an existential and isolated character who is affected by none of his surroundings, however extreme they may be, and doesn’t wish to delve into thoughts or express his opinions for any reason. He merely suffices everything with slight nods and mono syllabic responses and thus, can be termed impassive Humans mostly function carelessly to the meaninglessness and absurdity of their condition. To the contrary, sometimes, some people go through an awakening and realization that life is purposeless. At extreme circumstances like his own mother’s death, Mersault is expected to react with awe and grief, but he remains unaffected by it. On his professional front, when he is offered a job in Paris, he refuses to change locations as he doesn’t care about where he works, and this also proves that not only is he a recluse, but also apathetic and remains quiet and content with what he possesses. The people and characters around him do not penetrate his consciousness, even though one of them expresses her love for him, it still remains unaffected. Once he is sent to jail, he relies on prison interrogations for human contact, and this clearly portrays the isolation that has been lying within him all throughout his life. The Protagonist’s Individual Isolation The difference in the isolation and solitude that Holden Caulfield and Mersault possess is that Holden yearns to escape reality and venture into fantasy, whereas Mersault is satisfied with the absurdity of life and remains isolated firmly with his own existence, refusing to get affected by anything or anyone, and I would like to argue that as stated by Eric Lomazoff that â€Å"Caulfield’s self-destruction over a period of days forces one to contemplate societys attitude toward the human condition. Salingers portrayal of Holden, which includes incidents of depression, nervous breakdown, impulsive spending, sexual exploration, vulgarity, and other erratic behavior, have all attributed to the controversial nature of the novel† I infer that though society has it’s harsh ways of surviving and people have their unusual way of living in society, and it is indeed society and the people in it that Caulfield is escaping from, Caulfield is adamant not to give into the norms of society and conform to its rules, and thus has been isolated and been pushed towards disillusionment. Society does not make an attempt to let Holden redeem its faith in the people and their behavior around him, and gradually, he is pushed further away from the regular norms of living. I would like to argue that it is not completely ‘society’s attitude towards human condition’ that allows him to slip into his state of insanity, but his hesitance and fear of conforming to the way the cruel society works, and as renowned existentialist Jean Paul Sartre states â€Å"The absurd man will not commit suicide; he wants to live, without relinquishing any of his certainty, without a future, without hope, without illusions and without resignation either. He stares at death with passionate attention and this fascination liberates him. He experiences the divine irresponsibility of the condemned man.† I would also like to infer with provided evidence that I agree with his statement, and it aptly defines the character of Mersault and the isolation and loneliness he is suffering, and how it is not entirely the society that pushes him into solitude, but his attitude towards himself and the style of life he wishes to embrace is also the key factor for his loneliness. Society and its relationship with the Protagonists As stated by Wikipedia, A society or a human society is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations such as social status, roles and social networks. Human societies are characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals sharing a distinctive culture and institutions. Without an article, the term refers either to the entirety of humanity or a contextually specific subset. Society includes all kinds of people. People you wish to meet, people you not wish to meet and people you wish you never meet again. But such is society, and people who do not conform to the norms are the ones who are isolated, segregated and separated from those who follow these norms. Holden claims not to be fond of The Holy Bible, even though he is fond of Jesus, despite terming himself as an atheist. If we study the Bible, it states that Stagnant Society in Anthem EssayFor the first time in years, I had this stupid urge to cry, because I could feel how much all these people hated me. This is the first time Mersault cries and shows sign of remorse and sorrow, at the expense of society around him. He spoke nothing but the truth during the trial, and kept getting crucified for whatever he said, and couldn’t please anyone including the Magistrate. This shows how a man can not only survive but live fruitfully if he pleases the people around him, if he contradicts the bitter truth and sweetly wraps it under the section of law. His first sign of remorse shows his defeat to society’s persistence for following its rules and living like a member of society. Symbols and Metaphors for Isolation The Catcher in the Rye has various symbols and metaphors used by J.D Salinger to bring out the isolation within Holden. His fascination as to where do the ducks disappear during winter at Central Park portrays his extreme imagination, and how his thoughts don’t stay stationery, but rapidly move from one place to another. It could be his desire to be a duck himself, and maybe discover the way of reappearing during summers and disappearing during winters. The summer is when the weather is pleasant, the sun shines bright and symbolizes the days of joy and enjoyment, and winter symbolizes pain and the loss of innocence, akin to the loss of leaves at autumn and the maturity that the plants, trees and the environment absorbs during that time. It is as if he yearns to find out the place where the ducks fly away to, so that during the time of gaining maturity, he could also fly away like them. Holden’s favorite hunting Hat that he buys from New York the day he loses the foils at a metro station can be pictured as his device of independence that he carries along with him. Independence is co related with Isolation. Sometimes, the isolated wish to embrace self pity and conform to the norms of the world around them, but Holden wishes to make a statement of independence and change, and wears a hat which symbolizes uniqueness and the color of which matches his dead brother’s hair. This could be a way of lingering onto memories, but also a way of isolating his kind of people with the help of wearing this hat. This can be proven, when in the end, Holden gives away the hat to Phoebe and she wears it, and it’s as if its Holden’s reassurance of the fact that Phoebe would not grow up like a regular adult, or in fact, not grow into maturity at all. The vulgar graffiti signs on Phoebe’s school walls and the National Museum and his reaction to them are a deep insight into his isolation from the younger generation of society. As he went to the same school as Phoebe and has visited the museum numerous times, he holds a special attachment for both the places, as they are also reminiscent of his childhood. His childhood and the days of growing up hold a special place in his heart as he resents growing up as an adult. He feels that people are destroying his childhood in a way, and also the curious children who might get influenced by it, and grow up as corrupt adults. His extreme hatred for the people vandalizing the beauty of childhood is also what isolates him further from society. Society ignores these people as it has much important tasks to complete, and leaves out the little things that matter. This angers Holden and he cannot place himself in the same circle as society. In The Stranger, After Mersault is accused of murder and finally ready for execution, he is forced to meet the chaplain, who despite repeated rejections, still insisted on meeting Mersault. Mersault ponders over his life in a fit of rage, and is angered by the chaplain. He thought about his mother after a very long time, and acknowledged why she fell in love with Thomas Parez. It was because at the brink of her life, among souls ready for departure, she thought of giving life a new chance, a chance that is usually given during the young and zestful days. â€Å" As if this great outburst of anger had purged all my ills, killed all my hopes, I looked up at the mass of signs and stars in the night sky and laid myself open for the first time to the benign indifference of the world. And finding it so much like myself† This statement by Mersault just before his execution portrays his defeat against society. The battle against the absurdity of life and the battle where he finally accepts that the world around him is similar to what he is now, as society has gradually acclimatized him over the period of his life, and has made him identical to the way it functions. Society has proven that severe isolation from itself for a long period of time will lead to nothing but defeat. Mersault realizes that the world is indifferent to all its human beings, and life stands to be meaningless, as everyone will eventually experience death. The fact that everyone is walking towards death and decay makes everyone as meaningless and purposeless as each other, and after death, the person loses its importance in the world. Even though he claims to be content and satisfied in the end, it is because in a way it seems society has allowed him in its circle, and given him solace. With the helping hand of society, Mersault ex periences false contentment, maybe because he finally recognizes himself is no longer a stranger to him. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff— I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden, while talking to his sister Phoebe, expresses his innermost desire. A desire which seems to be vital in the current state he is in, and a desire that he secretly dreams about. Holden’s fantasy was to hitchhike his way to the West, where it would be much more beautiful and peaceful a place than he has ever lived, and wanted to settle down there. He wishes he could get a job somewhere, a place where he could walk unrecognized and where he could recognize nobody. He wanted to pretend as a deaf-mute, in order to avoid conversation with anyone around him, particularly adults, who might start phony conversations as he fills the gas up in their car. He wanted to prevent all ways of interaction and conversation from the world around him and live the rest of his life as a recluse. His innermost desire is to escape the absurdity and the corruption that society possesses and sneak into the paranormal world of fantasy. To be a catcher in the rye is symbo lic of when little innocent children play in the rye, without the prying eyes of society and without the knowledge of the world ahead of them, and the task of the catcher is to stop them from falling and hurting themselves, which is metaphoric of how Holden would catch the children from losing their innocence, hurting themselves and gradually turning into phony adults. He yearns that he could just catch them all day, immersing himself in their laughter, their tears and their innocence, and clean the world from its maturity. The dream is certainly extreme in its thinking, and the reader could sense the instability that Caulfield is experiencing to experience such thoughts. Conclusion I would like to infer that the conflict between an individual and society has been taking place for many years. Many of them become martyrs and live life without any pattern or without conforming to the narrow minded rules of the world. It is difficult to assume as to who is victorious in the end, whether it is society or the protagonists. It is also a battle between absolute truth and society’s tinted statements. Society will isolate those who do not conform its rules, and if the isolated are strong enough, they could live life their own way, and die as martyrs, but as Albert Camus comments about Mersault, he calls him not a reject, but a â€Å"poor and naked man, in love with a sun which leaves no shadows† and someone â€Å"without any heroic pretensions, agrees to die for the truth†, whereas Holden spends his life clinging and lingering onto the notion that basic yet the most beautiful values of life like love, kindness and innocence are the key to a fulfillin g and satisfying life, we do not know whether he succeeds in proving that to society and the world around him, as he quietly goes back home, instead of leaving his home.