Alienation in J. D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (1952)

Abstract

This work studies the essence of Alienation in a postwar context of high technological development and extreme social mobility of the 1950s in the American community, to show that estranged heroes are typical to narratives of such period. They are individuals of a troubled psyche, traumatized individuality, and estranged existence. This study takes J.D Salinger’s masterpiece The Catcher in the Rye (1952) as a central literary body that elucidates the work’s purpose. Salinger utilizes a very simple yet eventful plot to deliver a sincere depiction of society and its contribution in the people’s developmental estrangement. In his novel the Catcher in the Rye he tells the story of a depressed teenager, Holden Caulfield, who suffers from psychological troubles and illusions because he cannot fit in a phony society. So he alienates himself from society and people around him, and clings to his innocent traits to shield himself from entering the adult world with its complexity and problems. Salinger presents this character to portray the unsatisfied portion of people, who hold antiestablishment sentiments towards their general surrounding. They are so overwhelmed by how materialistic life has become after the war, so they crave the pure human relations and search for themselves in an absurd reality.