The twentieth century was incredibly rich in literary masterpieces as a whole, and it was able to present the world through the stunning novel The Catcher in the Rye about maturing in the world of American reality. For over half a century, this work has appealed to people of various ages and cultures. Being one of the most controversial books of the past hundred years, the novel was included by the American Library Association (ALA) to the Top Ten Frequently Challenged Books Lists of the 21st Century (ALA, 2009). To this day, the novel has not lost its appeal because of the main themes. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel, was the first who accused the American society of immorality, hypocrisy, smugness, and the absence of humanity. His protest against social apathy and conformism sounded in Salinger's novel once made a kind of revolution in the public consciousness. The issues raised by the writer are still relevant today, and that is why the interest in the novel is still large to the widest possible audience. Holdens point of view of other people and his relationships with teachers and classmates reveal his personality and psychological state.
The narration in this novel develops on behalf of a young man of seventeen, in front of whom a new world of the future adult life opens. The reader sees the surrounding reality and people through the prism of his evolving and maturing personality in different kinds of tone. Due to his age, the main character has not received sufficient education and not accumulated life experience yet, but he is gifted with a special scent. Holden reacts painfully and violently to the smallest manifestations of hypocrisy, the habitual vulgarity or meanness which he faces in everyday life. He does not accept falsehood and insincerity, and he is skeptical of the recognized authorities. Like any teenager, Caulfield is a person who holds extreme views and is not prepared to compromise. That is why, very often his negative perception of reality is somewhat exaggerated. This is manifested in the fact that Holden automatically notes unpleasant details in people around even if he likes and respects them. What is more, he reacts negatively to even a minor sign of insincerity. For example, he admires the beauty of Sally Hayes, but her mannerism jars him. Obviously, the protagonist is experiencing an acute moral crisis. This fact gives readers a reason to believe that Holden cannot be objective in the description of the other characters and the critical perception of the world.
Holden also has an awkward relationship with classmates and teachers. His demeanor does not help him to make contact with others. Sometimes Holden allows himself inexcusable antics. He can blow cigarette smoke in the face of his pretty companion and insult his girlfriend with a loud laugh or yawn deep in response to teacher's friendly persuasion. The phrase that he is still a “madman” not accidentally sounded as the refrain in Salinger's novel (Salinger, 2001). His language is full of such words as "hell," "damn," "Chrissake," and "crap." One of the readers counted 785 profanities used by Holden Caulfield in this novel (Andrychuk, 2004). This fact also defines Holden's personality and psychological state as a period of acute moral crisis. Most of all, it reveals not the personal circumstances but the prevailing spirit at the school of universal deceit and mistrust between the classmates and the teachers. For example, Holden rails against advertisements for Pencey Prep “showing some hot-short guy” on a horse when the school has no horses. Likewise, he hates the school motto "Since 1888 we have been molding boys into splendid, clear-thinking young men" because he sees no one being mold into a “splendid” and “clear-thinking” person. Instead, most of the boys are like Stradlater, who looks good and seems charming, but who is a womanizer, a secret slob, and a cheat who gets Holden to write his English paper for him (Reiff, 2008). The same is with the teachers. They are lying when they say about raising good people. In relation to this fact, Holden recalls the director of the private school where he studied. Director sickly smiled to everyone, but in fact, he knew very well the difference between the rich parents of his students and the poor ones.
Holden Caulfield is no longer a child in his seventeen years, but not yet an adult. He is a teenager who is hesitant at the threshold of adulthood. Maximalism inherent in this age and lack of experience do not allow him to be objective in his assessments. The reluctance to fit the accepted rules and to adapt to the "phony" relationship and falsehood at school has doomed Caulfield to loneliness.
