Examples Of Loneliness In Catcher In The Rye

Everyone grows up and they change, but do they as teens change themselves to fit in and be accepted? In growing up people all face challenges, and hiding their identity becomes one of those many challenges. When a teen develops a personality it just might not be completely their own.
Loneliness is a ginormous factor into the discovery of oneself proclamation. Holden constantly faces loneliness through the book. In trying to find out who he was/is Holden finds himself constantly searching for someone’s approval. “I was surrounded by jerks. I’m not kidding.” (Salinger, 95) Holden reacts to his own personal insecurities by judging others. He can’t see the good in himself so instead he makes others appear worse, he pulls them down onto his “level.” Loneliness consumes Holden’s life and he constantly
Kids will deny who they truly are, whether it be through clothes, interests, or even culture. They grow to be ashamed of being themselves as long as it doesn’t fit into today’s social standards. “You must be proud of you are different. Your only shame is to have shame.” (Tan, 5) In the article a young girl is ashamed of her family’s “gross” culture and when her basic white boy crush comes over for dinner she is embarrassed of the food/manner that her family is eating. Tan later learns from her mother, that she blend herself into American culture as much as she wants, but when she begins to hate her own culture she is only shaming herself. “For Christmas Eve that year, she had chosen al my favorite foods.” (Tan, 6) The irony in this quote radiates. Tan was too busy trying to impress a boy with a clean culture that she never took the time to realize that they were eating all of her favorite foods. Tan wanted to change herself, hide her identity instead of proudly embrace it, a result from teen’s constant need to “fit