Some say certain books will never die and will always be used for the purpose it has been used for since the beginning. Some of these books include To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, and The Catcher in the Rye. These classics have been used by English teachers for decades to teach kids about literature, but sometimes you have to wonder if maybe they're starting to get a bit outdated. So when I was posed the question, “Does the Catcher in the Rye resonate with teenagers today?” I simply had to say no, it no longer does.
The first reason behind my ideology is that Catcher in the Rye was written sixty-five years ago and teenagers as a whole have changed drastically. Media, television, movies, and most of all the internet have completely transformed the way our youth act socially. As Jay Parini, a poet and novelist, puts it, “TV shows that feature more up-to-date versions of Holden Caulfield.” When Salinger wrote the book he was appealing to the youths of that era and quite frankly modern teens don't find his book intriguing. Perhaps a more relatable character that still portrays many of the …show more content…
It's just that after reading all the opinions and digesting the question thoroughly I ended up realizing that most teens don't resonate with the book. The book wasn't intended to relate with youths in this time period. I don't think Salinger ever thought his book would live on for such a long time, so he just made Holden relatable to the teens of his time. We must remember, however, this is in the 1950s. The years of the hydrogen bomb, of the baby boom, and of rock and roll, but not when therapy was a widespread concept. So, back with Holden and him being a snob, him and the spectacular book he partakes in just don't harmonize with the teens of today, and most certainly not entirely with
The first reason behind my ideology is that Catcher in the Rye was written sixty-five years ago and teenagers as a whole have changed drastically. Media, television, movies, and most of all the internet have completely transformed the way our youth act socially. As Jay Parini, a poet and novelist, puts it, “TV shows that feature more up-to-date versions of Holden Caulfield.” When Salinger wrote the book he was appealing to the youths of that era and quite frankly modern teens don't find his book intriguing. Perhaps a more relatable character that still portrays many of the …show more content…
It's just that after reading all the opinions and digesting the question thoroughly I ended up realizing that most teens don't resonate with the book. The book wasn't intended to relate with youths in this time period. I don't think Salinger ever thought his book would live on for such a long time, so he just made Holden relatable to the teens of his time. We must remember, however, this is in the 1950s. The years of the hydrogen bomb, of the baby boom, and of rock and roll, but not when therapy was a widespread concept. So, back with Holden and him being a snob, him and the spectacular book he partakes in just don't harmonize with the teens of today, and most certainly not entirely with