A Thought About Catcher In the Rye

[Susannah Elf]

4. The other side

Personally I don't need to love the narrator to love a book. I also don't have to have a lot in common with them. I grew up lower middle class, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a book about a rich kid. Holden's family's money did nothing to help him navigate the world. Sure, he went to prep schools but he still kept flunking out. And I don't think he is a narcissist at all. If anything he spends too much time thinking and worrying about other people. Like the nuns he sees at the train station. He himself is so unhappy that if he thinks about anyone for more than three minutes, he invents all kinds of anxieties for them. Anyways, don't get too hung up on Holden's wealth. It's just a circumstance like any other, and no one is guaranteed happiness no matter their privilege.