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Chu, Alecsandra Deniece D. January 15, 2013
100868
III-AB POS
A Book Report on the Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher of the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a book that explores the themes of loneliness and what is in the mind of a 16 year old teenager. Salinger did pretty well in capturing the thoughts of a growing and wondering kid in a very big world as he encounters the bitterness and harshness of life. A lot could be said about these topics and it is a great book to start the discussion of genuine dialogue as discussed by Martin Buber and William Luijpen in their articles Elements of the Interhuman and the Phenomenology of Truth respectively. Also, this gives way for additional explanations from Marcel’s Ego and the Person and lastly from Ricouer’s Socius and the Neighbor. In reading this book, one must realize that the story makes us understand how encounters between people are ineffective and false nowadays. It makes people realize that the self plays a major role in fixing this dilemma by trying to be more “open” to the other people. The self is the center of every action that we make, it can either make or break us. But the self always needs the help of the other to take charge and keep in check when the self is not able to perform considering its best interests. To argue this, this reflection will start with the discussion of genuine dialogue and how this is hindered by some ideas that the modern world has invented as discussed by Buber. Moreover, this will be followed that in order to achieve genuine dialogue, one must pursue to be someone’s neighbor. Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist and narrator of the story is depicted as someone who is very dark. Reading the first few pages will already give you that the character was depressed and lonely. One of the main themes of the book is alienation of the self. As evident throughout the entire book, the protagonist of the story Holden, talks
100868
III-AB POS
A Book Report on the Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher of the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a book that explores the themes of loneliness and what is in the mind of a 16 year old teenager. Salinger did pretty well in capturing the thoughts of a growing and wondering kid in a very big world as he encounters the bitterness and harshness of life. A lot could be said about these topics and it is a great book to start the discussion of genuine dialogue as discussed by Martin Buber and William Luijpen in their articles Elements of the Interhuman and the Phenomenology of Truth respectively. Also, this gives way for additional explanations from Marcel’s Ego and the Person and lastly from Ricouer’s Socius and the Neighbor. In reading this book, one must realize that the story makes us understand how encounters between people are ineffective and false nowadays. It makes people realize that the self plays a major role in fixing this dilemma by trying to be more “open” to the other people. The self is the center of every action that we make, it can either make or break us. But the self always needs the help of the other to take charge and keep in check when the self is not able to perform considering its best interests. To argue this, this reflection will start with the discussion of genuine dialogue and how this is hindered by some ideas that the modern world has invented as discussed by Buber. Moreover, this will be followed that in order to achieve genuine dialogue, one must pursue to be someone’s neighbor. Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist and narrator of the story is depicted as someone who is very dark. Reading the first few pages will already give you that the character was depressed and lonely. One of the main themes of the book is alienation of the self. As evident throughout the entire book, the protagonist of the story Holden, talks
Cited: Buber, Martin. Elements of the Interhuman. N.p.: n.p., n.d. PDF. Marcel, Gabriel. Ego and the Person. N.p.: n.p., n.d. PDF. Ricouer, Paul. Socius and the Neighbor. N.p.: n.p., n.d. PDF. Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. N.p.: Little Brown and, 1951. PDF.