Jan 3, 2010

The Catcher in the Rye | Social Concerns/Themes

The Catcher in the Rye heralds the America of the 1950s: the Eisenhower-Nixon administrations, the McCarthy investigations, the men in the grey flannel suits. It was a world of economic expansion and social complacency. The young, blacks, and women had little power, yet the voice of protest was muted. It seemed that things would go on in the same way for a long time.

This is the society in which Holden Caulfield lives. Speaking for many of his generation, he rails at the phoniness of his world but feels incapable of effecting any meaningful change. He cannot even connect with...