After being exposed to the unending hate that Holden receives from dozens of people, I decided to give The Catcher in the Rye a reread. I’ve never really understood the vehement support of a book requiring a relatable or likeable protagonist in order to be good. In this case there seems to be a lack of empathy towards Holden and a stark refusal to understanding his position.
Even in high school, when I first read the book, I didn’t dislike Holden. In this 2nd reading I feel even more compassion towards him, he’s reeling so hard from his brother’s death that he incessantly criticizes everything. He is just as guilty of the phoniness and hypocrisy he likes to point out. Rather than get frustrated with him pointing out how everything sucks, it really killed me. The fact that all his snap judgments and strange explanations of his own behavior are so ludicrous is why I find them hilarious.
What I got from Holden is that he just wanted someone to talk to without endless posturing and superficial bullshit. In the age of the internet and social media people love to point out how its destroying authentic social interaction. But even in Holden’s world, you can see how its not the sole fault of technology. A lot of interactions are superficial and based on some sort of deception. It’s not until near the end of the book where he has substantial conversations with both Phoebe and his teacher that he gets what he wants. He enjoys talking with his sister:
“Anyway, I like it now,” I said. “I mean right now. Sitting here with you and just chewing the fat and horsing—”
“That isn’t anything really!”
“It is so something really! Certainly it is! Why the hell isn’t it? People never think anything is anything really. I’m getting goddam sick of it.”
After spending time at his teacher’s place, it really kick starts his internal thought processes and he starts to understand the error on his judgmental attitude.
I like characters that I can jump into and try to understand how they work and I believe that Salinger really nailed it with Holden.
So I guess I kind of shot myself in the foot with my argument because I do think Holden is both relatable and likeable though I think it would be hard if not impossible to write a human character that isn’t relatable on some sort of level.
Stay Holden phony boy.