I don't smoke cigarettes but i swear to god I need one when I'm talking to most people about The Catcher in the Rye. No, that 16 year old is not the spawn of satan. He is not a bad person either. Yes, teenagers are still children. Yes, it is heavily implied through his behaviors, thoughts, perspectives, fears, and compulsions that he was sexually assaulted, even if there isn't a chapter where Holden says out loud "I was assaulted." Yes, it is anti-war. Yes, it is actually commentary on world war 2. Yes, it is actually that deep, and that is why it has been remembered & celebrated & read for this long. They wouldn't make you read this book multiple times in classes about important literature during your formative years if it wasn't at least a little important.
Yes, Holden Caulfield's ideas are hypocritical and self-contradicting. No, that does not mean he is a bad person. Everyone is contradictory, and if you aren't, you should become more nuanced in general.
Yes, I am aware that Holden describes himself as being an incredibly sexual person, then freaks out at the mention or thought of intimacy. Did you see the part where I said that he was implied to be a survivor of childhood sexual assault? Yeah, this is one of those parts that's supposed to make the CSA plotline click in your mind. Did it click? No. Is that J.D. Salinger's problem? No. Are people who experienced CSA more likely to understand Catcher than people who haven't? Yes, because the novel portrays Holden's trauma incredibly well. Is Holden "just an immature selfish creep" because he's fixated on childhood and laments the inevitable loss of innocence that could happen to anyone at any moment? NO. ONCE AGAIN, READ THE PART WHERE HIS KID BROTHER DIED UNEXPECTEDLY & HOLDEN WAS SEXUALLY ABUSED AS A CHILD.
The book makes more sense when you actually read it, I swear to God.
