Name: Wainzie Nguyen

Class: 11 (E)
Date: 15th, March, 2024
Essay

The Catcher in the Rye is telling the story of Holden Caulfield. It describes the complex
lies of the world, showing the isolation of society. Because of America’s development and the
social trends changing, some teenagers like Holden are isolated from others. Societal
expectations and individual identity have become a serious issue, especially for young people.
Holden struggles with conforming to societal norms while maintaining his sense of self against
social expectations. He is struggling to ignore others' judgment about him, and making his own
way in the world, unlike anyone else.
From the beginning of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden portrays a terrible picture of his
childhood, the situation he was in last Christmas. He doesn’t mind saying his childhood was
“lousy” with a family that didn’t care much about him. Maybe it was the early period when he
started to be isolated from the world. He thinks Hollywood, where his brother D.B. worked is not
as good as others said. He sees Hollywood as an indecent place, and people who have worked for
them are indecent, “Now, he’s out in the Hollywood, being a prostitute” (Salinger 4). I do not
need to highlight the point, citizens all over America are obsessed with Hollywood and
entertainment. Loving movies and theaters is normal, but Holden feels his first difference with
the world by saying, “If there’s one thing I hate, it’s the movies. Don’t even mention them to
me”(Salinger 4). He ignored them, in some ways like me. I think I can sympathize with Holden.
Each person is a different individual, we cannot be the same as others, like coded robots.
Sometimes, the sense of self is against the world. Back to four years ago, I was friendless
because my persona was different from others. I understood it was not the problem, even the
feeling of it was not good at all. I decided to choose to be like Holden, I ignored my problems.
Perhaps, I still think it is a good way to guard my real self.
Moving up to his attention for his education and future. He used to study at Pencey Prep,
the school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Pencey Prep is a famous school for sports such as
fencing and polo, which has been advertised in thousands of magazines. They have a quote,
“Since 1888 we have been molding boys into splendid, clear-thinking young men” (Salinger 4).

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With those points, you can see this is a good school for male students, but it still does not fit with
Holden. He has taken five classes in the term and failed four of them. Normally, if you fail most
of the courses, you should be depressed, but he seems at ease. Even when Spencers – his History
teacher flunked him in his course, he still feels right, “Dear Mr. Spencers,…. It is all right with
me if you flunk me though as I am flunking everything else except English anyway” (Salinger
17). He does not care or even think about what happens if he fails continuously like that. In other
words, I can say that he was needless. When the US is in a period of prosperous development,
everyone puts all their energy into studying and working, he is in his own world. It is
embarrassing to talk about this point, but he is just like many teenagers back in my country. At a
young age, they want to affirm individuality, but sometimes they cannot realize their
affirmations are not accurate. They think they are living real with their individuality is enough,
and they cannot understand or care about what happens in the future, or something around them.
Until this point, I still think Holden is an unusual guy. He admitted he was a fraud, an
idiot in his family. He accepts his differences, even if they are not good, and he does not demand
to change too. That is a reason why he always feels lost in the community he is in. He does not
even try to fit in with “norm people”. In some way, I think he is scared when some things
change, he expects everything will be the same. He does not like others who try to change to
become like the majority. In chapter 16, when he comes to the museum, he appreciates it so
much. “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it
was. Nobody’d move. . . . Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different would
be you” (Salinger 157-158). Holden thinks, “The only thing that would be different would be
you.” Following this quote, we can understand this in two ways. First way, he respects all of the
differences, even if he does not stand for them. Second way, he cannot pay his favor to the world
because they are so easy to change, they can change in the short term. He is respectful of the
museum because it stays the same every time he visits. He loves the stability. The things he hates
most are lies and affectation. He thinks, that if everyone is the same, the world becomes robotics
and phony. There are several times I guessed why Holden is so separate from the world, he
always tries to isolate himself from others, and to this point, I think I have the answer, he is
scared to be the same as others. The things he hates most are lies and affectation. He thinks that
if everyone is the same, the human will become an automatic robot or liar.

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Holden has his own problems, and so do I. Sometimes, I feel weird, or I want to be
isolated from others. I was scared to stand out with other people in the community. But later on, I
feel I am different, absolutely different. I cannot do the things like them, I have some hidden
habits and favors that I never want others to know. Sometimes, I cannot accept my differences, I
am scared I am nutty as a fruitcake, and I am scared to be gossiped about by people around me. I
started to feel hard when I tried to fit into new places. Even now, I am still being like that. I still
try to get out of this bad situation. It wasn't until I studied abroad that I realized my differences
weren't necessarily bad. At some points, I am special in foreigners' and classmates' visions.
Because of staying low-key, I lost several opportunities. I learned one important lesson, as long
as your differences do not drag you down, it is acceptable.
In conclusion, Holden Caulfield is the boy who struggles with everything in the world.
He was scared to be the same as others, and he chose to be different negatively. Each person has
a different personality, you do not need to be the same with anyone but you must think for
yourself. Challenges are an indispensable part; everyone has their own problem. You need to
find out the way to solve your own difficulties. The journey of Holden is an encouragement for
you; if you still do not try to find a way to solve your problems, you cannot improve. Even if you
do it wrong, at least if you are trying. You could get more experiences for your life, and live real
with yourself.

Works Cited List:

Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Little, Brown and Company, July 1951.