A thesis statement is simply a sentence that summarizes a thesis or the major claim one is making in a particular piece of writing. A good thesis is one which can be argued. In other words, the statement that Holden is a rebellious teenager would not be a good thesis as it is a statement with which it would be impossible to disagree. The problem with creating a thesis for this work is that as it is a standard school text and much literary criticism has already been written about it, creating a thesis that is original, rather than trite, is quite difficult.

One interesting approach might be to note that Salinger wrote the novel when he was serving as a soldier in World War II. Holden, although not a soldier, has experienced the death of his younger brother Allie , a name that is similar to the "Allies" the faction Salinger was fighting for in the War. Thus one might create a thesis statement revolving around how Holden's character is shaped by the same sort of post-traumatic stress...

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