Emotional Damage, Hidden Truths, and Acceptance of Responsibility in JD Salinger's The Catcher in the RyeWhen we find ourselves in the position of a reader, we search in the novel things he can relate to. JD Salinger wrote a story that contained countless topics that people, past, present, and future, can relate to in many ways. The novel follows the story of a troubled boy named Holden who leaves school due to poor academic performance, an altercation with his roommate, and emotional complications due to the traumatic loss of his brother. He quickly understands how his narrow view of the world will get him into trouble when he finds himself alone. The reader accompanies Holden through his stressful experiences over three days during which we learn about his pain-filled past and his negative view of the future. Some of the barriers Holden encounters during the novel's time period are themes of everyday life. In The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger sets out to grab his audience's attention with the story of a young teenager named Holden Caulfield who must deal with emotional damage, hidden truths, and accepting responsibility for his inabilities. Holden's ability to lead a normal life, by the standards of people in modern times, caused him to reflect on his life and the emotional damage he suffered. His parents were concerned about their lifestyle and respected appearances to truly teach him good values. Due to the complex childhood he experienced, Holden found himself unable to connect to anyone other than his brother Allie, who died suddenly during his childhood. After Allie's death, Holden goes through a period of psychological dysfunction in which he loses meaning not only in his life, but also in his...... middle of paper...... "The Holden's irony in JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye "The Explainer 66.4 (2008): 203+. Gale Literary Resources. Internet. January 10, 2014.1Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951. Print. March 12, 2014. Sandock, Mollie. “The Catcher in the Rye: Overview.” Reference guide to American literature. Ed. Jim Camp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Gale Library Resources. Internet. January 10, 2014. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420007023&v =2.1&u=avlr&it=r&p=LitRG&sw=w&asid=b3f0341dcebdc63d26de6b40db210a30Svogun, Margaret Dumais. “Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye.” (JD Salinger) (Critical essay)." The Explainer 61.2 (2003): 110+. Gale Literary Resources. Internet. January 10, 2014. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id= GALE%7CA99398780&v=2.1&u=avlr&it=r&p=LitRG&sw=w&asid=21e26203d77b9530af065ba8dad12663