Thoughts about "The Catcher in the Rye"

The Catcher in the Rye.

The Catcher in the Rye... What a revolutionary book. Well, in this entry I will be sharing some thoughts about an extract from "The Catcher in the Rye". Luckily, I had the chance to read this book last years, so I can easily put this extract in context and compare it with the story of Holden Caulfield.

J.D. Salinger's 

The Catcher in the Rye

(excerpt)

"Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead?"

Once I read this extract, different ideas come to my mind. The first thing that impressed me is the relaxed way of thinking that Caulfield has; He doesn't care about his body once he dies, he just want someone to throw it to a river or anywhere else. He says he doesn't want to end in a cemetery, nor wants flowers in his grave. At first, what Holden says seems to be very logic, I mean, do flowers do you any good when you are dead? No, they don't. But, if I go further, I don't think Holden says this because he is just a logic person, but also because he doesn't share most people values. By this I mean that, for example, he is not catholic, furthermore, he doesn't like them, so he doesn't give the importance to a cemetery that believers do. He is very rational, but he doesn't understand emotions very well. Also, his thought is very selfish, because when your familiars go and put some flowers in your grave, they remember you and pray for you. Another thing that may influence in Caulfield's anti-cemetery idea is the death of his young brother Allie. Caulfield, as a depressive young man, feels that nothing will bring his brother back. He could put tons of flowers in Allie's grave, but he will not return to life. This is something that, in my opinion, really affects the way he sees death.

The importance of this texts is that it shows us a different view about life and death. It expresses the way of thinking of a depressive, lonely and problematic young man that lived the troubles that the Cold War brought to the American society.