Holden Caulfield Adolescence
Reading the Catcher in the Rye as a teenager, I found myself connecting with Holden Caulfield as a character. Every teenager can relate to the general cynicism and skeptical view on the world that Holden holds. Adolescence is the period in life when kids become exposed to the struggles of adulthood, and with it often comes a feeling of isolation. Holden Caulfield was characterized by this feeling. Modern teenagers, even in this age of connection, can still relate to the feeling of alienation.
Around the turn of the 21st century, the American youth were driven by self-expression. Children were told to have something to say or show, and people will care about it. When these kids entered adolescence, it was difficult to learn that very few people
actually would care and show support for what they did and what they were. This created a generation of people who wanted to express themselves. To answer this, the market created social media.
The growing generation’s desire to express oneself was satisfied in a medium that fused performer and audience. Teenagers become both a follower and the one followed. This creates the opportunity for everyone to feel important and listened to. The reality, however, is that most find themselves alienated. They see others at their highest points of their lives, and for others, especially those that don’t participate as much, they find themselves comparing their everyday life to others’ highlights. As people lie in bed watching the lives of others as a member of the audience, they feel this alienation that characterized Holden Caulfield.
As the connected generation reads the Catcher in the Rye, they connect with the feeling of isolation that haunted Holden throughout the book. With social media drawing in children, it cultivates the alienation experienced by so many. With forced comparison and introspection, social media makes the Catcher in the Rye resonate to a high degree with modern teenagers.
Around the turn of the 21st century, the American youth were driven by self-expression. Children were told to have something to say or show, and people will care about it. When these kids entered adolescence, it was difficult to learn that very few people
actually would care and show support for what they did and what they were. This created a generation of people who wanted to express themselves. To answer this, the market created social media.
The growing generation’s desire to express oneself was satisfied in a medium that fused performer and audience. Teenagers become both a follower and the one followed. This creates the opportunity for everyone to feel important and listened to. The reality, however, is that most find themselves alienated. They see others at their highest points of their lives, and for others, especially those that don’t participate as much, they find themselves comparing their everyday life to others’ highlights. As people lie in bed watching the lives of others as a member of the audience, they feel this alienation that characterized Holden Caulfield.
As the connected generation reads the Catcher in the Rye, they connect with the feeling of isolation that haunted Holden throughout the book. With social media drawing in children, it cultivates the alienation experienced by so many. With forced comparison and introspection, social media makes the Catcher in the Rye resonate to a high degree with modern teenagers.