The Catcher in the Rye
Catcher in the Rye: Coming-of-Age? or maybe not?
We had just finished reading Catcher in the Rye last week and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with how it ended, near about the end it still felt like there was much more to this journey explore but to me the ending felt quite abrupt. I thought that the book would have ended with Holden dying or actually going to a ranch in Colorado never to be seen again as he said he would but none of that would happen and he would end up returning home after he saw his sister being mad. I feel like for this book, it did not exactly feel like a Coming-of-Age novel, because while the main character were exposed by some ideals that could cause him to change as a person such as when Phoebe asked him whether he ever like anything or when Mr. Antolini told about his behavior and how he would end up in the future. To me it didn't feel like Holden learned much from his experience, I just feel like the journey should have continued a little longer so it could be more clear about what Holden learned from the experience of running away from home for a short time. While it did feel like at the end, it felt like he gave up on his aspirations and realized that the world he tried to imagine went far past the reality of things and choosing to enjoy his life as a kid while it lasts until reaching adulthood instead trying to speed up his phase of "growing up". I just feel like that point was very ambiguous, that is if that's what he got out of his journey, but it also feels like this idea of Holden escaping from school early feels very "common", almost like its happened multiple times because of the way Holden explains the ending, it feels like he's like "so yeah, i ended up coming back home". The tone in which he spoke about it made it feel like this is something that has happened multiple times, almost like he has barely learned everything from his experiences.
Hi Elliot,
ReplyDeleteI can see what you mean by how Holden is seemingly sort of going back to his old self as he is basically saying something like "yeah I'm back at another school." However, I do think that Holden has changed as a person since the beginning of the novel. Change is difficult, and it's sometimes even more difficult to accept that change. Holden is a pretty prideful person when it comes to certain things and I think Holden saying nothing really changed fits his personality very well. His changes can be seen in the ending as he is contemplating possibilities of him applying himself in school.
Hey Elliot. While I do agree that the ending was a bit disappointing and not an incredibly wholesome or inspiring finale, I still think Holden did undergo some change. For example in one of the last scenes Holden allows Phoebe to take a risk by reaching for the gold ring, which symbolized him recognizing there's no way to hold on and protect her innocence. However, I do understand your view point. It does seem like he's just moving on to his next school and something similar might happen again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that the tone of Holden was very matter-of-fact, leading to your position on lack of change, but I would view it slightly differently. I don't think that a character has to necessarily undergo a very apparent/life-altering change to get the sense of coming-of-age. The sort of ambiguity towards the end of the novel allows Salinger to leave us with the sense that Holden's recent experiences pushed him to begin a journey of self-discovery. People do not really suddenly mature after one experience, mirroring the coming-of-age theme of growth being unfinished.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely makes sense to categorize Holden's coming-of-age at the close of this novel as "TBD." He says as much himself, and he dismisses our concerns about the future and his intentions as a "stupid question."
ReplyDeleteI don't know why you would have expected the novel to end with Holden's death: he makes it clear at the start that he is narrating from the West Coast, where he has gone to some clinic to recover from the "madman stuff" that "happened to" him, and he is NARRATING the story, which strongly implies that he is ALIVE when he does so. And we also know he isn't narrating from a ranch in Colorado, or the woods of "Vermont and Massachusetts," because those are delusional plans in the first place, AND he says clearly that he is in California, near Hollywood.