There is this book called ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ written by J D Salinger around the 1940s. The story revolves around a teenager named Holden who wanders frustrated around New York City after he gets kicked out of school. Throughout his meandering adventure, he meets all types of phonies that you can imagine. This leaves him even more frustrated and it results in him hating this whole system, in which you have to become a phony in order to get what you want.
This is a powerful yet sad tale depicting and exposing American society of that era. But what I found more striking and relevant is the fact that its theme doesn’t just hold for that specific place and time. Indeed, this book describes a timeless phenomenon present even now and here ( in Pakistan; and probably everywhere else).
The book reflects the America of the 1940s, but it might as well have been published now, Eighty years later, and it still won’t feel an alien thought. Not even a wee bit. It might as well have been published in Pakistan, and you’ll find not a single soul objecting to its depiction of the society. All phonies are the same everywhere, after all. All phonies have the same characteristics after all, even if they are two generations apart.
But the book isn’t about how people tend to become phonies. It is about how the system, its institutions in particular, require you to be a phony if you want to remain a part of it. Through constant bombardment of symbolism across the pages and through numerous incidents and events, Salinger attempts to demonstrate how deeply embedded individuals are in this mud of phoniness. You could find this phoniness everywhere if you look for it. In school, in the office, in a party, on the streets, on a bus, during an event, in politics, in state affairs, and almost everywhere.
I can even claim that if the public were only aware of the phoniness of their nation’s leaders, they could have the power to save the country from an impending doom! No, I am not exaggerating. This isn’t a wild claim as some would think; this is just how the world works, unfortunately.
Being phony doesn’t just mean someone is hiding his true intentions behind a pretty face. It also means that the person is not really listening to you, he is only pretending to be there for you. You realize and feel this phenomenon immensely, when circumstances take a difficult turn for you, and when you need a true friend, a true family member and a true human being to be there for you. Those are blessed who have such a person in their lives. The protagonist of the book, however, does not find the luck to acquire such a person In his sad adventure. This results in him being in an unstable state of mind, one where a person is quite vulnerable to a mental breakdown and depression.
The book may reflect a sad aspect of human nature, but it doesn’t depress you. It only expresses the feeling of being in such a situation. And it expresses in such a way that the reader steps into Holden’s shoes become Holden Caulfield and experiences what he experiences. Certainly, at one stage or another, we have already experienced for ourselves what being Holden is like. Maybe the book resurfaces such memories which we already have in the deep recesses of our minds.
Finally, this book is not a narration, as far as its intention is concerned. If you just want a good story to enjoy, you might as well watch a Netflix series. It doesn’t mean the storyline is boring. I just mean to say that this book is only to be felt. Feel the book, feel what Salinger wants to communicate. Because this book is not about what happens between people. It is about what goes on inside our brains when we realize that the person from whom we expect understanding is only faking it.
This is a must-read.
