EPEOLATRY

BOOK 5

The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

by J.D. Salinger

“Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them—if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry.”

Okay, this was just great ... Actually, I was very reluctant towards this book till once I read a few pages in library and I was totally taken by the passive language used in it. (That's what makes this book a figure of contraversy in literature) The protagonist actually felt so close - as an introvert bibliophile young adult one is passing thro' similar problems (but usually not at that extent as in the book) with changes in secretion of hormones at this age.

The book describes the journey of a 17 - years old boy (Holden Caulfield) towards alienation which is actually an act of self-protection with the cynical sense of superiority, this isolation is some stabilization in a messed up life according to Caulfield but is actually the source of all his problems. He actually fears the change and it's complexity which leads him to a fantasy of adult world as superficial and hypocritical. He even fantasizes himself as 'The Cather in the Rye' (the protector of children from falling into adulthood) which looks like a Heroic act.

The entire book and espicially the climax is structured magnificiently. The elements, symbols and motifs are skillfully used in texts and are so touching. A remarkable transition is described at the end not to be spoiled.