Holden Caulfield Conformity

The post war era of America in the 1950s established a culture of conformity. This culture conformed to the idea of an affluent society that declared there was a single path to success. This path included graduating, going to college, getting married, and producing a big family. In J.D Salinger’s, Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caufield represents his growing discontent with the culture of conformity by declaring that it has resulted in a nation full of fabricated individuals striving towards the set standard of life in post war America. The conclusion of the war resulted in an affluent society. This conformity resulted in the establishment of work programs such as the Organization Men, an organization that offered a job for life, and Walter P Reuther’s, Labor Management Accord, a movement that increased wages by 30% to ensure a middle class life to all workers. (Pettengill, 3/23/18). William J. Levitt later discovered a way to combine home construction with mass production, resulting in affordable suburban homes for white, protestant, Anglo Saxon families. …show more content…
And mean guys.” (Salinger, 167). Caufield continues to utilize the word, “phony” to describe the majority of the people he comes into contact with, as they desperately attempt to fit into the norms of society without drawing any suspicion onto themselves. The Second Red Scare ignited this way of life as it was described to be an American Anti Radicalism movement. Senator Joseph McCarthy introduced the idea of McCarthyism in order to bring communism to justice. McCarthyism was viewed as a form of political bullying as it proceeded to conduct witch hunts for communists, shut down democratic institutions, limited free speech, curbed the growth of the labor movement, and contributed to a culture of conformity where people desperately tried to not be different. (Pettengill