this kid has gone through so much shit and all he wants is to save other kids from feeling the same way he feels which is alone, abused, and unwanted. it’s a selfless trait and that’s who holden caulfield is to me. he’s a hurt kid that doesn’t want any other kid to be hurt the same way he was. for people who are unable to see that, he’s the anti-hero i get it. his sarcasm and self alienation is off putting and it’s easy to focus on that. but essentially, it’s coming from a 16 year old kid making sense of his trauma so who cares if he’s annoying or whiny. what 16 year old isn’t? it makes him a more genuine character. his story is meant to be flat, there is no clear climax or resolution because that’s not the way it usually works out irl. personally, i never found that boring, it feels like a genuine account of life and it still makes for a great novel.
by notcoolkid01
12 Comments
I never thought he was whiny. I thought he was lonely. And a loner who felt different.
Good analysis. I’ve come across some people who quickly dismiss his character traits as annoying, whiny, and having a huge ego without really focusing on “why” he has these ‘negative’ traits. Once you figure out that he’s scared and is fighting against that transition between adulthood and adolescents, his character traits, as a whole, becomes more nuanced and understanding than just ‘negative.’
What was the trauma that he experienced? I thought he had it pretty good but rejected it all and was upset about it. Didn’t he create his own problems?
THANK YOU!!! This is one of my strongest literary opinions and I’m not even a huge fan of the book and will probably never read it again. 😂
But I was a depressed but also arrogant and selfish teen once and now I work in the mental health field. I have so much empathy for the poor kid and don’t understand all the hate he gets. That hate makes me frustrated because that same hate is why many troubled teens/young adults don’t receive the help they need. Or their family and peers shun them or mistreat them, only making the problem much worse.
The dislike of Holden because of his attitude and the dismissal of WHY he’s like that, gives me “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” vibes.
I really don’t get how a community centered around books and reading continously parrots these “edgy spoiled whiny brat” takes. If anything it to me just highlights how someone lacks reading comprehension or the very most basic interpretation skills. Fair enough if you read it at 12-14 whatever, but the fact that I see tons of adults (as they mention their age) is just wild.
You don’t have to like the book because of it, but the parroted criticism of “whiny spiled” Holden is just ignorant and a dead-giveaway to really not take someone seriously as a reader.
Remember that at the end we find out he is telling the story from a mental hospital and that the it is the the account of a teenager going through a manic episode.
LOL, I totally get why some people find Holden annoying, but IMO, his flaws and whininess make him a relatable and genuine character.
Having read it a few times over the years I’ve found my feelings about it changed. I liked it when i was young and have found it less and less appealing as I’ve aged. I will never read it again at this stage.
It could be both. He’s a complex character after all. He wants to rescue children in the rye, which seems laudable at face value, but his imagination also places those kids in a dangerous predicament in the first place. He has to invent danger to create his own sense of meaning. He wants to help others, but he’s highly self-oriented and overly introspective such that everything he does seems indirect in his own service. He’s young and hasn’t experienced much, still figuring it out. We can’t fully judge him because he’s in a formative period–we don’t know how he’ll turn out as an adult.
Every week someone comes on here and says that Catcher in the Rye sucks …
… But I think the greatest evidence of its brilliance is just how many different ways people see Holden Caulfield, and how that often changes throughout one’s life.
He is an incredibly true to life character, to my eye. All the good and bad of youth wrapped up into one.
There was a point where Salinger was probably overrated due to his disappearance. But I think that point is past.
there is no middle ground on this book, you either like it or you hate it
Literally one of my all time fav books and fav characters.