Right, Wrong, Happy, Unhappy, Who cares

If you are convinced that you are an adult with nothing but responsibilities, like family, getting up for work, etc., and that everything you did and loved during your childhood is absolutely nothing but a part of the past, then the whole experience of reading The Catcher in the Rye can be resumed as reading a lousy teenager's diary for you. But, if you admire what you used to do as a child, and even further, do anything you can to maintain that innocence, or in other words, stay young, then you will probably feel identified with the story told by Holden Caulfield, the protagonist himself, pretty much like I did.

While reading The Catcher in the Rye, after the second chapter, there was one thing I started noticing as the essence of this book. Or at least, what I understood as the essence. And that is, Holden's mental barriers to adulthood, and how he does everything at his disposal to avoid crossing the line.

The most interesting 'strategy' that I found, and that he used to keep himself safe from this transformation, was that of addressing every single thing that bothered him, and somehow, make the reader understand that it is related to the adult life. By establishing that relation, Holden keeps himself away from those elements. He shows in the lecture how he wants everything but to be a part of that. He can't stand, for example, seeing an old man in his pijamas and his room full of medicine, he doesn't give any details on why, he just can't stand this situation. 

He tries as hard as he can, but Holden fails to be apart from everything he wants to when it comes to his personal problems that involve growing up, like sexuality or problems with his identity. And the reader can easily see this by his constant contradictions between some of his words and his actions.

I mentioned earlier in the post that I felt identified with Holden's situation, this is because I am actually in the middle of this transition, at least which the adulthood topic, and when I realize it, I tend to get very emotional. It is a tendency in popular belief that being mature has to do with leaving behind what you love, to do what is correct. And that probably is right, but when you think about it, isn't doing what makes me happy the right thing to do? So, how can I do it while doing what's correct? What does society wants me to do then? make me happy or make them happy?

This comic is an example of doing what makes you happy, while at the same time, doing what is correct for everybody.

By seeing Holden's perception, you really don't know what to do. Criticize the world you're in, let yourself be assimilated into it, or even leave yourself out of anything and stay as far away as possible. There are many possibilities, and what I have been doing since I noticed my childhood can't be a part of me, at least professionally, is to let myself be a part of the world I'm in.

That's a path that differs from Holden's, as he chooses to be as far away from the world as possible. He has many techniques like the one I mentioned earlier, but his most explicit way of doing it is his red cap. And it's not like he uses twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, he uses it as a way of becoming his true self, like when he wants to read in privacy. He uses the cap as a bubble that keeps him safe from the world he tries to hate. When thinking about that, I actually believe everybody has one, mine is video games and comic books (share yours in the comments section!).

Overall, The Catcher in the Rye is a novel that just by its writing style can make people dislike it, as it would only be another story of a teenager vs the world, but at the same time, it's something that can make people believe they are not alone in their beliefs of what is the right thing to do in life. At least it did that for me.

So what do you believe? do you think anything here makes any sense? I know it can be messy, I tried to get my point on the table as clear as possible, but even for me it was complex to do it. What I can assure without any doubts, is that childhood is a phase that nobody in the world but yourself can take away from you. So, keep it? leave it behind? that's your choice.

If you liked this post, put a comment in the box below and tell me what do you believe about your childhood. Is it there? is it hidden? did it die?