Why do we still read this book? Catcher in the Rye

I think that we still read this book become of its message that we can learn from it. We also read it in high school because it is so easy for us teenagers to understand because we are reading about another kid and Holden is the narrator too so it is written from his point of view and perspective. The way he talks and the words he uses and how he uses are the same as we do. He also feels some of the same things that we do wether it is how we feel about someone, or how we would have acted in the same situation, and how we feel for our loved ones just like Holden does.

Holden has to learn in this story that he can not stay a little kid forever but he is afraid of maturing and becoming an adult. At school a lot of kids act out and misbehave and receive disciplinary results because of their actions and maybe it is because they are not mature enough to know what is right and wrong and maybe they feel how Holden does, afraid of growing up and becoming boring(Salinger, 223). As a teenage reader I can relate to what he is going through and I know that I will go through something similar. I may start acting out more because i am afraid that people will not like me anymore if I am not my same fun self. I know how to have a good time and make people laugh, but will i be able to when i grow up? The message is that you do not have to be afraid of maturity and all of the things that come along with it. Everyone has to endure it and it is part of making the switch from childhood to adulthood. This book can be an example for every teenager who likes to laugh and is going into or is in high school when they are at the same point Holden is at.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print