Introduction:
This
week, we’re tackling the subject of identity, especially the
journey that comes with trying to find it. A subject that is so
relevant to youngsters all over the world was bound to be an
interesting topic of conversation is class. The book I picked to blog
about this week was Catcher in the Rye. A timeless classic which has
been sold over 65 million times and has been translated into pretty
much every single language on this planet.
First
thoughts/impressions:
My
first impression of this book was that I got through it so quickly!
Granted, it’s only 220 pages (+-) but the book is what I could only
describe as a ‘page turner’. Holden (the main character) is a
character that most people, including me, instantly despise. He’s
immature, always angry at something or other and has a hard time
expressing his feelings. I feel that the death of little brother due
to leukemia has given him a very bitter outlook on life and therefore
tries to express his anger at the unfairness of it all in the way he
acts. One of the most gratifying moments in this book is when he has
a meaningful conversation with his sister.
Age
suitability/theory:
If
I had to recommend this book to someone, I'd recommend it to people
above the age of 15. There are situations in this book a younger mind
might not be able to understand fully yet. The sexual confrontations
and darker parts of the book might leave a younger reader baffled as
to what’s going on. I'd also add that I'd recommend this book to
boys more so than girls. I don't feel that girls will relate to
Holden whatsoever but I feel the boys are going to at least somewhat
relate to the way Holden acts and talks. Most of the boys at that age
are busy searching for their identity and seeing where they fit in.
At the age of 15-16, they are also starting to develop sexual
interests and will understand everything the book offers them.
Obviously this is all different for each and every individual as
children mature at different rates, but I feel a 15+ tag on this book
would be a safe bet. The liberal use of profanity shows a disregard
for civil language that is common among teenagers. I read an article
by Mike Klaassen (2007) about profanity in young adult fiction where
he said something quite interesting."If a writer needs profanity
to make teen dialogue seem realistic, then a lot of it may be
needed.” I think this is especially true for Catcher in the Rye.
I do wonder if some parents would object to their
children reading this book however, due to the sexual content and
mature language used.
In
class discussion/theory:
This
week's discussion was super interesting as it went back to Eriksen
(1994) but this time we touched on the subject op identity and the
role confusion. I learned that there are 4 different types of role
confusion:
-
Moratorium, which is when a person keeps experimenting with their
identity but never actually settling for one in particular.
-
Foreclosure, which is the exact opposite of the aforementioned
Moratorium as the person in question doesn't experiment at all but
makes an instant decision on who they are (usually based on how they
are raised, e.g. in a very religious household)
-
Negative identity, which is when you define yourself by who you are
not. (I am NOT good at sports, I don't have a good body etc)
-
False identity, which is when you are integrating all different kinds
of roles.
We
also touched on Narcissism shortly, which can be divided into two
parts. Primary Narcissism is when you are completely in love with
yourself. Secondary Narcissism is when you feel gratification only
through social interactions. For example, having 500 facebook friends
or getting that 30th twitter follower. When we got to the book
discussions we talked about what we liked/didn't like and we tried to
put some of the characters into Eriksen's stages. Once we got to the
Wasp factory discussion the topic of sex change came up and we
discussed about this for quite a lengthy time. This was very
enlightening however as I don't usually think about these kind of
topics. Annabel offered some insights into sex changes as she has
people in her life who have undergone or have yet to undergo these
kind of procedures. The discussion carried on into the ages at which
boys/girls develop these kind of feelings of being "trapped
inside the wrong body" and some of the classmates started to
chime in at this point as well. It's nice to have such an open and
honest discussion about these kind of topics in the classroom.
Speaking
of not being open for discussion; this book (Catcher in the Rye) was
banned in American high schools from 1961 until 1982 and still to
this date people are trying to get this book banned out of
classrooms. This book has been around for 60 years and people are
still throwing a massive fit over the fact that there’s sexual
content and swearing in this book, yet they ignore books like
Twilight where they have really creepy love scenes and overtly sexual
descriptions of Edward’s body (throwback to last week).
Below are some other
interesting facts about Catcher in the Rye:- John Lennon's killer Mark Chapman had copy with him when he assassinated John Lennon.
- Salinger had also served the country army during World War II and was one of the first American soldiers who had entered a liberated concentration camp.
- Everyone wants to make a movie out of The Catcher in the Rye, but Salinger had a bad experience with one of his former short stories ("Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut," if anyone cares, which everyone should, since Nine Stories is awesome) and refused to let any of his works be made into film after that. Salinger thought about making it into a play, where he himself would play Caulfield. No one else could, seemed to be the conclusion.
Sources:
Erikson, E.H. (1994) Identity: Youth and Crisis
Klaassen,
Mike (2007) "Deciding if one should use profanity in youth
literature" retrieved from
http://www.helium.com/items/197281-deciding-if-one-should-use-profanity-in-young-adult-fiction
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