Is Holden Caulfield Relevant To Present Day Teenagers?

While Holden Caulfield from the novel The Catcher in the Rye is relatable to modern day teenagers in some aspects, he cannot relate to them on many things. The most notable difference between modern teenagers and Holden is the importance of academics. For most teens school takes priority over everything else including sports and work. Another significant difference between Holden and present day teenagers is the extreme advancements and devolpments of technology. On the contrary, some will argue that Holden can relate modern teenagers because we all go through moments of sadness and doubts just like Holden. These along with other less significant differences make Holden Caulfield rather irrelevant to modern teenagers.
It is clearly seen that academics were of little worry to Holden. He showed this by failing all but one of his classes and by having previously been kicked out of school for poor grades. In the modern world there is a huge emphasis on doing well in school to set oneself up for going to a good college and obtaining a good job. This is validated by most teenagers have school as their number …show more content…
Present day teens use all sorts of new and improved technology everyday. These advancements make life much simpler and easier. Although advancements of the phone and the development of the computer hasn’t completely changed the world, it makes things much simpler. For example, Holden could have called Jane or Sally directly making things just a little simpler and saving himself a “phony” conversation with either of their mothers. Another thing that just makes life easier is the computer. The computer made typing easier and as it advanced it made research much faster and easier. The advancements and developments of new technology made things easier for present day teens consequently making it harder for today’s youth to connect with Holden and what he went