Catcher In The Rye Historical Analysis

The novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger was set in the late 1940s to the early 1950s. The novel is narrated though the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, who is a sixteen-year-old junior who traveled to New York by himself for a weekend after getting expelled from his former school Pencey Prep. During the late 1940s, parents rarely checked up on their children for long periods of time, which in this case was an advantage for Holden. The 1940s and 2016 are extremely diverse times in history. If The Catcher in the Rye, was set in this day and age, there would be a substantial effect on how the characters are supervised and what they were permitted to do back then. As a result of these two times being so different, there would be several events changed in the novel. Holden Caulfield is mostly free to do and have what he wants because of the certain time period The Catcher in the Rye was set in. In the novel, Holden is supposedly allowed to smoke and drink
when he is sixteen. When Holden pulled out a cigarette, began to smoke in front of grown men and women, they could care less. Also, when Holden was staying at a hotel and ordered a scotch and soda from the bar, the bartender never questioned him on his age. If The Catcher in the Rye was set in 2016, those things that he was permitted to do would be against the law. For instance, if a sixteen year old went into a bar and ordered alcohol in 2016, the bartender would ask for his or her I.D., and would not allow the teen to buy the drink. That would also apply with cigarettes because the drinking and smoking age is twenty one in the United States. It is clear that what used to be permitted during the 1940s is no longer allowed in 2016, so that would make a big impact on several parts of the novel. Not only the laws were different during the 1940s, but also the kind of supervision.
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden's parents rarely check up on him, visit him, or even talk to him. His parents just sent him off to school to live without them once in a while checking up on Holden. If The Catcher in the Rye was set during 2016, Holden's parents would most definitely call or text him just to make sure he is doing alright. In addition, when Holden checked into a hotel, none of the people who worked there checked up on him, even if he was a sixteen year old, which he was. If the sixteen year old checked into a hotel in 2016, the front desk would probably question Holden and wonder who was taking care of him. Another factor that would differentiate the two time periods by the supervision is the increased technology used today to communicate. Today, there are so many ways to contact someone far away so if The Catcher in the Rye was set in 2016, the parents of Holden would have communicated with him much
more. The Catcher in the Rye would clearly be different if the time period was set in 2016 instead of the 1940s because of what was permitted and the change in supervision. Many of the things that were tolerated in the 1940s are now illegal or not allowed. For example, smoking and drinking was permitted when you were sixteen in the 1940s, but now, the drinking and smoking age is 21. Also, the way people supervise teens today is much stricter than how they used to in the book. Now that there is more technology and better ways to contact others, it is easier to know what your teen is doing or where he or she is. So there are several methods that would make parental supervision easier today then in the 1940s. Overall, if The Catcher in the Rye was set in 2016, there would be a substantial effect on many parts of the novel all together.