The Catcher in the Rye By J.D.Salinger (813 S164c c.1)

The book that I read this week was “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger. In my view, this book gives you a pretty good idea about youth.  As always, being young it never was easy. But that does not means that young people do not think about the troubles of the people. And Holden Caulfield – who is 17 - is telling us about his thought about the people. He said some kinds of things that are really true.

                Holden, when he was 16, had been expelling from 4 different schools. He is always complaining about people. This is because people are phony, egocentric and selfish, but as in everywhere, we found good people who do not expect anything as gratitude. Holden had roommates who were very superficial, and teachers, too. Also, all the girls that he knew were so silly, but the only exception was Jane, a childhood friend. I think that in our lives we meet some kind of people who are stupid and superficial, because the society makes them in that horrible way. For example, models are very superficial, and the most of them are looking for well off men who maintain them.   

On the other hand, Holden meet two nuns who were traveling to New York to be teachers in a poor school. They want help poor people to get studies. Holden was taking breakfast with them, but he felt that they deserve a good breakfast, so he offered them to pay their breakfast, but they said that it was not necessary and they really appreciated his goodness. So, Holden decided to give them some money to help them and help their children. This kind of goodness is great. We need to know when we need something and when not. The nuns are really humble people; they eat just the necessary, and the rest it is for their poor children. We must give without expect anything as reward.

In conclusion, even if your life it is hard when you are young, it does not mean that you cannot make a difference in the society. Sometime the small acts of kindness are a big way to help people. Holden could hate fake people, as me, but we know that in somewhere there are good people who are working for a better world. In spite of the evilness in the world, I think that we have the power to change our reality.