>>What’s wrong with Catcher? It’s just not in the top ten of the 20th century. Salinger was actually something of a conservative. It’s apparent from his other fiction.
It’s just a really limited book. It focuses on frustration and the whole catcher symbol of protecting growing children from the corruption of adulthood. Holden never has to mature suddenly like Huck Finn, who decides to go to hell rather than betray Jim. The one interesting thing about the book, however, is that if you think about it Holden’s sitting in a mental hospital “rest home” telling his story to you direct - so you must have been committed to the hospital to be listening.
Well he talks about the fact that he’s writing down what happened to him for therapy. So you could be reading his account from anywhere. The novel ends before he has the chance to mature but it’s clear that he’s moving forward.