Catcher In The Rye Taboo Analysis

The novel Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger describes a two-day journey through the eyes of Holden Caulfield. This journey includes escapades in alcohol, sex, and other controversial topics. There are groups of people who believe that these topics are too “taboo” to talk about in school. On the other hand there are others that do not feel that these topics are enough to have the book removed from schools. In fact, they believe that the topics covered can be beneficial to teenagers which gives the book more reason to be taught in school. Despite certain “taboo” topics, The novel The Catcher in the Rye is suitable for teaching in schools, for its lessons and relatability it offers to students.
The protagonist, Holden, is used in the novel to represent natural teenage angst. He is a character who spends the majority of his time analyzing, and complaining about the world around him. His angst is present throughout …show more content…
Jealousy is very prominent though Holden’s actions in the novel. To give an example, in chapter 12 holden is at Ernie’s and describes the guy to his right as a “very joe Yale looking guy, in a flannel suit and one of those flitty-looking Tattersall vests,” and he continues to denounce Ivy League guys as “bastards.” These quotes both show Holden’s jealousy for the Ivy League scholar. First by showing his contempt for the guy’s fancy clothes calling them “flitty” implying that the man looked gay. Then by continuing to further generalize all Ivy League guys as “bastards.” This shows the reader that everyone has a little jealousy in them, and that it is not a bad thing to express privately. Again, Holden’s relatability can really support teens in their high school years. Teens can really empathize with Holden and truly understand what he is going through jealousy wise, as they go through it most everyday. Being relatable can truly help students to work through everyday conflicts and struggles they go