Weblog Entry 16 Holden the Misunderstood

People are generally very insensitive towards others when we can't understand their motives. This can be seen in all aspects of society. If we see someone that is "different" to ourselves, we often see it as a threat and rather than being tolerant towards said person we generally criticize them before knowing the whole story. This is a theme that reflects deeply within the story The Catcher in the Rye. For instance, generally when people try to determine the cause behind Holden behavior they assume that the protagonist Holden is a hypocrite or misanthrope for all of his crude remarks against society's nature. However, in doing so we miss the true reason behind the remarks, and his intentions. I believe that this is why we can’t just blatantly call people such as Holden a hypocrite and dismiss the problem, because by doing so we fail to identify the problem altogether. In the story, Holden performs many actions that question many of the remarks he makes. For instance, he always talks about how the adult world is “phony” and he resents it so much, but he does things such as call prostitutes and consumes alcohol, which are actions that many would consider to be “adult”. However, the reasons behind him doing these actions are not from sheer hypocrisy. It is easy to forget that Holden is a very hurt individual. We can see the subtle reminders through his “wounded” persona (bullet through the gut) and his deteriorating mental state. After all his parents neglected him as a child and one of his greatest friends, his brother Allie, the only person he had a true relationship with died at a very young age. He also knew that his other childhood friend Jane Gallanger (who he possibly had interests in) was presumably sexually harassed by her stepfather. These issues are in no way problems that people, especially teenagers should we exposed to, and they are at the crux of Holden’s remarks and behavior. Thus, we cant just blatantly assume that Holden is a hypocrite, because by doing so we dismiss the issues that torment Holden, and nothing is solved.