Catcher In The Rye Perceptions

The Catcher in the Rye contains underage smoking, drinking, sexual references, and a negative perception of people and their actions, but it should stay in high school curriculum in order for students to analyze the deeper meanings behind his thought and behaviors, to analyze the author’s unique writing style, and to be exposed to the realities of depression.
One may perceive Holden; the protagonist, constant smoking, drinking, and sexual tendencies as a suggestion of approval towards underage inappropriate behavior. He is smoking packs of cigarettes a day, lying about his age for alcohol, and calling prostitutes to his room. However, these actions are merely a call for help. One night he is offered a prostitute, and when she arrives, she gets right to the action, but he asks “Don’t you feel like talking for a while?” When she asks him “What the heck ya wanna talk about?” he realizes she isn’t there for chit chat, but he doesn’t want to be alone. He offers to pay her anyways, just so they can sit and talk. He does not …show more content…
Holden points out everyday behaviors as not genuine, but this is just the exterior. He is really just upset with the world, because nobody seems to reach his expectation of purity as his late younger brother Allie possessed. “He was terrifically intelligent. His teachers were always writing letters to my mother, telling her what a pleasure it was having a boy like Allie in their class. They really meant it. And they weren’t just shooting the crap. They really meant it. But it wasn’t just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody.” He is constantly disappointed with humanity because nobody compares to his brother, and he cannot seem to find closure and acceptance that his brother is really