Catcher In The Rye Childhood

Childhood is a period where a anyone is able to experience innocence, ignorance, depression, and development. Most people describe childhood as a period of time where there are no responsibilities and it’s all joyful and fun, where parents can take care of everything, in fact many authors present childhood in that manner, but some may think theirs as just isolating and saddening depending on how they lived. As presented in Salinger’s the Catcher in the Rye, childhood is described as both bright and joyful, and depressing and sorrowing.
While in J.D. Salinger’s the Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden, portrayed his childhood to be depressing. For instance, at the beginning on the novel, Holden watches a football game between his school aka
Pencey Prep vs Saxon Hall from afar from a hill. While he was describing the football game he mentions,”practically the whole school except me was there.” That part of his description shows that he is isolated from the rest of the people. Holden experiences loneliness most of the time, from the lack of phone calls as shown after Holden gets off a train station: “I felt like giving somebody a buzz […] but as soon as I was inside, I couldn't think of anybody to call up.”(59) to ordering a prostitute. Being alone is not the only thing this melancholy character experienced, but Holden had to face the death of his younger brother, Allie when he “was only third-teen” (38-39). Because of the many instances where Holden experiences misery, the novels show how depressing childhood could be.
Although Catcher in the Rye shows childhood to sometimes be saddening, it can also be a touching and happy experience.
Holden sometimes goes back and remembers the good experiences he had. A positive experience during his childhood was with his friend Jane. Holden remembers having a crush on her and mentions that she was “terrific to hold hands with” and even mentions that he was “always happy” whenever he held hands with her (79). That isn’t the only positive thing in Holden’s childhood. Phoebe, Holden’s little sister who he holds dearly to him, sees her as a kind and innocent girl who is basically like a best friend to him. Near the end of the book where Holden visits Phoebe’s room, he reads some of her writing and jokes from one of her notebooks and mentions, “I can read that kind of stuff, some kid's notebook […] all day and all night long. Kid's notebooks kill me.” (161). This is an instance in which the main character actually experiences some sort of happiness by reading his sister’s writing. They also seem to enjoy talking to each other throughout Chapter 21. This shows that Holden has positivity in his adolescence. Even though Holden experiences a lot of distress throughout his childhood, there is
happiness.
Although childhood tend to be seen as just blissful ignorance and pure innocence, there could also be sad moments. The novel presents both depressing and lighthearted scenes during Holden’s childhood. Childhood and adolescence is all about developing and it can’t just be described in one word. A person can experience both loneliness and happiness in a long period of time. Even though not everyone’s childhood is the same, The Catcher in the Rye has a realistic approach about innocence and misery in childhood.