On the day that we were going through the R and R exercise, where the censored books were mentioned, The Catcher in the Rye was among them. I had recently borrowed the book, recommended by my sister. Curious to why it was banned, I began to read it. Slowly I understood the novel. It was about teenage rebellion! No wonder it was banned in some countries. It was about how a boy, Holden, flunked out of school, and had to deal with living in hotels and motels as he was afraid to go home. He goes out with girls, partied, got drunk and met up with old friends. In the end, he could not resist not seeing his little sister, his favourite person in the world, to tell her he was running away forever. His sister, also loving him very much, wants to go with him, but he does not allow her to go with him. Finally, the little sister manages to persuade Holden not to run away from home.
Holden’s attitude maintains from the beginning to the end of the novel showing no signs of maturation. He feels that he is smarter and more mature than adults, but in my opinion, he is much less mature. He is very emotional and sensitive, and is easily able to see through a person, and that person’s motives. Holden admires kids’ attributes that he struggles to find in adults, like innocence, kindness, spontaneity, and generosity. Overall, I really enjoy the book, though I admit it did spark some form of rebellion from me. It was interesting, and gave a new perspective of adults to me from a rebellious teenagers view.
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