Holden Caulfield: "Beautiful Loser," or Just Plain Loser?
In her article, "Get a Life, Holden Caulfied,"Jennifer Schuessler claims that Holden Caulfied may be losing his relatibility to today's teens. Summarize her main points, then agree or disagree, using evidence from the article as well as your own experiences with the novel.
In her article, "Get a Life, Holden Caulfield," Jennifer Schuessler stresses how the way students view Holden changes throughout time. The novel, written in 1951, was completely relatable to teens back in its prime; but now, teen readers are quick to get annoyed at Holden's immature attitude. Schuessler states that this is because of new 21st century outlook on life. Instead of finding all the faults in humanity and society as Holden did, teens today spend their time trying to figure out how to fit into the complex society, rather than to change it. Readers today also find it hard to relate to Holden with the language he uses, like "phonies," and "goddamned." A strong point the author makes is that teen readers are more likely to relate/enjoy heros who they can look up to, like Harry Potter. Holden Caulfield is described as an "alienated antihero," someone readers would rather mock than idolize. I agree with the author's claim- it is very clear and unmistakable; as time changed, so did readers' points of view. Holden was probably a very influential literary character back in its day, but now, teens are more likely to appreciate characters who don't complain and achieve something very worthwhile; someone they can look up to.
ReplyDeleteIn the article "Get a Life, Holden" Jennifer is stating that teens today don't relate as much to him, because they just see him as a rich white kid that doesn't care and has a fun weekend in New York city, they do not see him truly suffering on the inside due to the fact that he comes from so much money. She also states that the language is very outdated too with all of the "goddam's" and "phony's." I personally can not relate to Holden because i'm not in a Prep school or live in upperclass New York City, but i have met people that could relate to him. Yes, many students find Holden to be winey and childish, in this article Jennifer states that a 15-year-old boy said we all just wanted to tell him to "shut up and take your Prozac," because now-a-days when teens are feeling this lonely they are just put on drugs such as Prozac. Over the summer i worked for wealthy teens who really never had to work for anything in life, and while some of them i became very close with; they told me about how much they hated the prep school that they were going to, which is like Holden. They would also say how lonely they felt and now that i had read Catcher and the Rye and know what Holden felt, i can now relate more to the teens that i worked for.
ReplyDeleteLauren Hill
ReplyDeleteIn her article, Schuessler says that Holden is losing his reliability because today, many see him as a “weird, whiny, and immature” teenager who rejects the world. She also points out that a lot of today’s teenagers cannot relate to a rich kid with a free weekend in New York City. I agree with what she says in her article. I feel like it was hard for me to connect to Holden, because where I live it isn’t really possible for me to go to a bar or get involved with a prostitute. His overthinking and overanalyzing of everything get kind of confusing after a while, and in todays society someone like Holden would be seen as a depressed boy in need of help. So, I cannot really relate to Holden and I feel as if a lot of others feel the same way.
Jennifer supports her claim by stating that teenagers nowadays think what once seemed like courageous truth telling is now weird, whiny and immature. Jennifer states that it has a lot to do with pop culture. She says that today's pop culture heroes, it seems, are the nerd who conquer the world like Harry Potter and not the beautiful loser who reject it, like Holden. Lastly she states that back then teenagers found themselves stranded between adult things and childish pleasures like Holden but not in today’s world. I agree with Jennifer. Teenagers today think and act much different than those from back then. Holden is used to the life back in the 1950s while teenagers now are used to today’s world. This shows how pop culture has a big effect on this. Overall, people today cannot relate to Holden because people of his time period and today are very different.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Schussler's claim that Holden doesn't relate to teens the way he used to. She states, "These days, teenagers seem more interested in getting into Harvard than in flunking out of Pencey Prep." This is true. Teens have more important things to worry about these days than flunking out of a prep school. This is because teens are pushed to accomplish more these days. Teens have less respect for the way life used to be, so they can't really respect Holden or feel any sympathy for him. Life has changed too much for teens to appreciate the Catcher in the Rye.
ReplyDeleteStephanie V
In her article, Schuessler explains why Holden may be losing his grip on today's kids. She says that students today find the language outdated, and "cant really feel bad for this rich kid with a weekend free in New York City". She also says todays culture has changed. Instead of trying to change society, kids today are trying to succeed in the existing society by doing well in school and going to college. She concludes by saying that teens today find the transition between childhood and adulthood easier than teens back then. I agree with Schuessler. Kids today see Holden as a kid who had everything (money, a family, friends, a good school) but threw it all away for no apparent reason then complained about it for 200 pages. Thats how I interpreted it at least, and how many other students do as well.
ReplyDeleteIn the article, "Get a Life, Holden Caulfied," Jennifer Schuessler talks about why Holden isnt understood by many of todays teenagers. She mentions that young readers dont like Holden as much as they used to, because the language is 'outdated' and it doesn't relate to them as much. She says a lot of students say they "can't really feel bad for this rich kid with a weekend free in New York City" and teenagers don't connect with a book and can't connect with a book that has sympathy for 'alienated antiheroes'. Later on in the article she talks about how Holden won over the older generation (1960s) where the belief in purity of the soul against trashy culture was well shown in their post counterculture generation. I agree with Jennifer when she says that Holden wouldn't have felt so alone is he were growing up today. I can't really connect to the book with mutual experiences because nowadays no teens can choose between going to 'have a skating date or a prositute to come up to your hotel room'. Its unrealistic to have that happen now, and as said Holden is less popular these days because of the fact that teenagers cant relate to Holdens problems and struggles. Throughout the book Holden kept complaining about how depressed he was constantly and if this was current day Holden he would probably be given some antidepressants and going to a doctor to help his problems.
ReplyDeleteIn Jennifer Schuessler's article, "Get a life, Holden Caulfield," she states that in today's school atmosphere, students are unable to connect to Holden. As one student was quoted in the article "I can't really feel bad for this rich kid with a weekend free in New York City." Schulesser goes on to say that in today's world, students like to be captivated by interesting characters. She gives the example of Harry Potter, who has an ever-exciting life. Also, she says that a character that spends his time embarking on a lifelong quest to find identity and meaning is less appealing to today’s students. I completely agree with Schulesser. You are not going to entertain the student body of today by describing a troubled character who does nothing to help himself. Holden just coasts through his life complaining about what it could or should be. He doesn't fix what is actually wrong with his life. Holden's life described in the book doesn't even have a climax. He just goes on from one thing to the next in misery. Also, the students of today have a hard time connecting with Holden due to the difference in the times. In these times, a mother was somewhat ok with finding out her ten year old daughter took a few puffs of a cigarette while she was home alone. Also, sixteen-year-old boys could be found at wicker bars.
ReplyDelete- Nick Monaco
Jennifer Schuessler claims Holden is not as relatable as he once was. She wrote about in the 1950s there was more soul searching in adolescents then there is now. Most of the kids hate Holden for complaining too much, “Oh, we all hated Holden in my class.” She is trying to convey how the story doesn’t work for modern times anymore. This is true in my opinion. Holden keeps complaining on how phony people are, and I can relate to that. I keep seeing these girls go around in groups and when one gets something they all have to copy her. I find it very annoying but I don’t call everyone a phony just because I don’t like them. Most of my class hated Holden also and were grumbling about how much he complained. Also unlike Holden most of the kids in my class, or at least I hope, don’t got around and drink at bars and get hookers because they are lonely. Teenagers in this time aren’t all about breaking the rules like Holden was. But back when the book was published, it was a trend to break the rules, like flappers in the city.
ReplyDelete-Melissa Stangel
Jennifer Schuessler takes the time to get the point across that Holden is not a character that most teens today can relate to because the teens today view him as weird and crazy rather than a boy speaking the truth and looking for a place in the world. The language used throughout the novel also affects how teens relate because of the over use of "goddams," and the way Holden speaks about his life and what he is going through is not the way teens today speak about their life. I agree that it is hard to be a teenager today and relate to Holden Caulfield because, in the article Jennifer mentions that Harcourt Brace turned down the book because, "It wasn't clear whether Holden was supposed to be crazy," and it makes sense; you feel like he is crazy and it's hard to relate to him being crazy and his weird life. If you compare now, 2012, to the 1950's and 1960's students definitely have more opinions of people and make more judgements so rather than reading the book and going on the journey with Holden and really being interested in his story and his life and his feelings, students today sit there and think about how crazy he is and why can't he be normal? why is acting so weird? why does he do weird things? It is just different to read this book now then It was to read it then and I believe that.
ReplyDelete~Amanda Schwartz
I would agree with Schuessler's opinion that Holden's character is pretty outdated. Actually, I liked Holden; I thought he was funny, and almost resembled the typical disaffected teenager. However, I do agree that our generation is "more of a joining or togetherness culture." Back in the fifties and sixties, it was probably more difficult to distinguish between "phonies" and sincere people than it is today. Holden's character, although amusing, seems to be losing value over time. Even the language he uses was popular at the time, but today it just seems repetitive and, yes, "whiny." He really did complain and worry about every little thing, which just shows how most teenagers act even today. The language use and Holden's persona as a "beautiful loser" are aspects that make him more disagreeable than welcoming. I mean, years ago, many kids would have taken comfort in Holden's truthfulness, and desire to be himself. Now, we would reject someone who smokes all the time and refuses to go to school -- we would not think of him as a hero rejecting a corrupted society; we would think of him as a loser who does not want to be successful.
ReplyDeleteSome of the main points that Jennifer Schuessler claims are: "What once seemed like courageous truth-telling now strikes many of them as 'weird,'whiny' and 'immature.'" and "'Holden's passivity is especially galling and perplexing to many present-day students." I do agree on the numerous points she makes that today's students are not interested in Holden Caulfield as the students or yester-year, but I disagree on the evidence she claims. My personal experience in reading J.D Salinger's book explains to me that Holden's story has a very low relation level because very few kids these days get kicked out of school and spent a few months to a year away from their parents and going anywhere they please.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with Jennifer Schuessler's point of view on the topic. She makes a good point when proving the difference in diction used by the author than that of teenagers used today when she mentions, "phony, her hands were lousy with rocks, the relentless 'goddamns' - grating and dated." Although Holden is a character considered to relate to teenagers struggling everywhere I don't think he necessarily does in many cases. This day in age no one his age would have handled his experiences the way he chose to when being kicked out of multiple private schools. By the end of the book, I believe, most students are tired of the drawn out lonely and depressed Holden who needs to just "shut up and take his prozac." I understand how his character may have reached out to a larger group of the 60s but the life of a teen in the twenty first century is a lot different than it was then just as Stephanie Savage, the executive producer of "Gossip Girl", described when she stated, "you can either go to the carousel in Central Park, or you can choose the Wicker Bar." Basically, I think English classes should start choosing more up-to-date books on the common struggles of a teenager if teachers are looking to relate the stories to their students.
ReplyDeleteIn the article “Get a Life, Holden Caulfield” Holden is accused that he doesn’t relate to present day teens. Teens in the present day generation does not walk around the city when they get kicked out of school and ask if a prostitute can come up to their hotel room. Jennifer Schuessler says “ You can have a skating date, or you can have a prostitute come up to your hotel room.” She is stating that because they are two opposite ideas the Holden had within the story. Mrs. Levenson stated “I had a lot of students comment, I can’t really feel bad for this rich kid with a weekend free in New York City. Holden can somewhat relate to teens today because there are kids that come from a rich family that have the weekend in the city because their parents do anything to make their kids happy. In Holden’s case though, he was in New York City because he got kicked out of Pencey High-school because he was a failure in school. Overall I think that Holden cannot relate to teens today because we are in a completely different era where you don’t just roam around the city until Wednesday and bring prostitutes up to the hotel room that you are renting out. Also kids these days don’t come home from school, find the nearest club/bar and just start drinking because one side of their hair is gray. It just doesn’t happen. I do not think Holden can relate to a teen reading “Catcher in the Rye” nowadays.
ReplyDeleteHolden Caulfied is a depressed, lonely teenager that has his shares of ups and downs (and really low downs). In the 1950s and from then on, teenagers of back then connected with Holden. According to the article, "Get a Life, Holden Caulfied," by Jennifer Schuessler, teenagers of today have started to grow apart form Holden. Schuessler says that kids have just stopped liking Holden, that he's "weird, whiny, and immature". Even students that have read the book and liked it found the language "phony". Also, due to the fact that Holden comes from money, kids just can't feel bad for him. They just don't have sympathy for him. Students that read the book want to 'distinguish themselves in society as it is presently constituted than in trying to change it.' Another point made in the article is the goal of today's teenager. Getting into high end colleges rather than flunking out of high school seems like a much better choice for students.
ReplyDeleteI personally agree with Schuessler. I honestly don't care that Holden flunks out of every school he goes to, in my mind, it's his own fault. I was brought up to do my best in school so I can get into a good college and have an amazing career. So when I read about Holden and how "lonely" he feels, I just want to sit him down, force prozac down his throat and send him to military school. I also didn't like his language. I felt it was so basic and almost disgusting, which was probably due to all the cursing and repetition. Besides, he seems like the type of person you wouldn't want to meet.
-Berrios
"Get a Life, Holden Caulfied" discusses the fact that students are no longer able to connect with Holden because he doesn't display normal, relatable behaviors of todays teenagers. Students are continuing to be uninterested in Holden's story in The Catcher in the Rye, claiming that Holden's character is "weird, whiny and immature". "Back then teenagers found themselves stranded between adult things and childish pleasures", however today teens are "more interested in getting into Harvard then in flunking out of Pency Prep" and they display "impatient with the idea of a lifelong quest for identity and meaning that Holden represents". Because of the rapid changes in cultures, todays teenagers are exposed to different lifestyles then the teenagers of the 1950, and because of these differences current students are unable to fully experience and appreciate Holden's situation.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Schuessler suggests that teenager today can no longer relate to the "alienated" and "lonely" character, Holden. Today many students that read The Catcher in the Rye believe Holden to be whiny, weird, and immature, rather than a beautiful loser that only seeks purity in a trashy culture. Students today do not appreciate losers that reject society, they favor ones that conquer it. Holden does not fit into this category and students are unhappy with his ambiguous, un-relateable personality. Schuessler also goes on to discuss how teens can not relate with the culture and language that is explored throughout the book. The slang words and common day activities (Wicker Bar, skating date, ect.) no longer exist in modern society so students can not relate to Holden's adventures. I agree with Schuessler in the aspect that students can not relate to Holden as close as they use to, but i still feel that Holden can be examined and understood today. Although we may not fully be immersed in the culture as the students of the 60s were, we are still able to see his troubles and relate to the overall problem of depression he faces. I feel students are not interested in the topic and storyline of the book and that is why they do not enjoy reading it. The students in the article believe Holden to be "whiney" and in necessity of prozac because they are bored with Holden's complaining and would just like the plot to thicken.
ReplyDeleteThe main idea behind the article is that the youth of the modern day society isn't connecting with Holden from "The Catcher in the Rye" like past youth generations have. The ideas behind it is that the youth of today is being brought up in a society that uses more mechanistic approaches to understanding human behavior, and I agree with this statement. I dreaded reading this book as from the very beginning of the book I was only able to see Holden as a young man who wouldn't stop cursing and complaining. I did feel sorry when later on I learned his brother had died. It was easy to assume Holden became the way he was as a result of that tragic incident. Still, I am told by my numerous English teachers to read and analyze not read and connect to a character. I focused more on what stylistic devices the author used to portray Holden as a person then actually understanding who Holden was as a fictional character. Compared to the rebellious youth of the 1960's sure we seem a little more cold emotionally and less likely to relate to a character in a book that only complains and tries to challenge the system. But thats how our society is today, you either get with the system or the system will leave you behind.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Schuessler has found that today's youth, as a whole, seem find Holden and his escapades as "weird," "whiny" and "immature." She attributes this to today's competitiveness in culture as well as the growing industry of entertainment for teenagers. She believes that society has become impatient with the idea of a lifelong quest for identity and meaning. I agree with Schuessler that these are the reasons that youth today have drifted away from empathy of Holden however I am not one who is bothered by him. I personally, enjoyed him as the protagonist and found him insightful. I think that lots of people today are dumb, ignorant, and close minded. Most of the people that complain of Holden being whiny and immature are themselves whiny and immature and in much more shallow unintelligent way. The media throws so much tasteless dreck at many find it hard to understand something that deviates from its path or parodies it.
ReplyDeleteIn the article “Get a Life, Holden Caufield,” Jennifer Schuessler says that today’s teen can’t relate to Holden the way earlier generations did. Now someone like Holden would be medicated like it says in the article, “Shutup and take a Prozac.” In the book Holden seems to be complaining about everything and acting like no one else has problems too. Now almost all teens have to deal with the stresses and pressures of getting good grades to get in to a good college to get a good job and so on. Holden’s problems seem minor, “phony people”, “goddams”, and much more. Besides his brother Allie dying Holden’s complaining sounds “immature”, “weird”, and “whiny” to many readers. He also seems very ungrateful. His parents send him to multiple private and he fails out of all of them. He spends a week in the city staying in hotels and going out at night basically for free. I would view Holden as a “plain loser” rather than a “beautiful loser” because now so many teens have other things going on in their lives and have to make it work or figure out a way to deal with it and Holden just complains about it.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Schuessler's research, teens do not relate to Holden because of multiple factors, one of them being the dated language in the book. Along with the previous, teens believe that Holden is "whiny" and "immature" and they can't feel bad for "this rich kid with a free weekend in New York City". For the most part, teens do not have sympathy for Holden and would rather get into a prestigious school rather than flunking out of one. Really, Schuessler's research sums it up perfectly. Holden is on the verge of being a cynic, and he curses just for fun. I hate it when people do that now, let alone having to read a 200-page book with him consistently doing that. I did not relate at all with Holden, maybe because it was a different time or possibly because he is an irritating kid who is socially inept. Holden's experiences in the book are also totally different than some one would experience now. I mean, how easy is it now for a teenager- by themselves- to get a hotel AND a prostitute. Plus my parents would, most likely, not even allow me to walk around the city by myself at my age. Whatever the case, I did not connect to Holden, as many other kids probably didn't.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Schuesler, writer of “Get a Life, Holden Caulfield,” believes that students aren’t as appealed to the character Holden as they used to be. The language used in the book is now dated, and the story line just doesn’t seem interesting enough to teenagers. She says that teenagers are now known for their “compulsive text-messaging and hyperactive pop culture metabolism” which makes them more interested in books like Harry Potter. She also thinks teenagers can’t relate to him because of his activities. Realistically, teenagers don’t order prostitutes and go to the Wicker Bar every weekend. I agree with Schuesler. As I read “The Catcher in The Rye” I couldn’t relate to Holden Caulfield. Schuesler is right; it was hard to have sympathy for a rich boy who had a free weekend in NYC. I haven’t experienced things like having annoying roommates, dropping out of school, and a death of a sibling so I couldn’t relate to him in that sense either. As Schuesler stated, perhaps Holden would not have felt quite so alone if he were growing up today.
ReplyDelete-Bridget
Jennifer Schuessler's article "Get at Life, Holden Caulfield," explains how kids today cannot relate to The Catcher in The Rye's main character Holden Caulfield. Her main point of the article explains that kids don't live in Holden's world anymore. in today's world kids cant just go out to bars or hire prostitutes to do something with their lives. Students even said, "they can't feel bad for this rich kid with a weekend free in New York City," most kids in todays world have never even been to New York City let alone been by themselves doing what they want. Another point, according to Morris Dickstein is that the story would fit in more with a counter culture type youth population. The counter culture movement in the 60's would surely relate to Holden because kids in those days wanted to be individualistic and have their own sense of well being. But Dickstien states that kids are not an individualistic culture anymore but rather a togetherness culture. Kids today are definitely unrelating to Holden because no one today focusses on being that individual who doesn't care if they fail school or what other people think of them. In todays world kids worry about getting into the good colleges and dressing to impress people to make sure they have a good reputation.
ReplyDeleteJenniger Schuessler says that teens nowadays do not relate to Holden Caulfield finding his language and actions "weird", "whiny", and "immature". She also argue that teens don't have sympathy for the alienated Holden and that, "...they are more focused on distinguishing themselves in society as it is presently constituted than in trying to change it." She also claims that teens are more enchanted by more nerdy, successful characters rather then the rejects. In my opinion I am not sure how anybody relates to Holden. I just found him annoying and whiny as the article says. It may be true that nowadays people are more relatable and look up to people that have great achievements and strive for greatness but I think that anybody in any time period would wish to look up to someone like that, not the poor rich boy who hates everything. I do have to say that I did enjoy Holden Caulfield but after a while of reading his stories just became boring and hard to handle. I do believe that this generation of teenagers is less sympathetic to people in general and more focused on high achievements and I guess relating to a boy who just doesn't even try in school is somewhat difficult. But I would say that some teenagers probably still can relate to Holden because teens still suffer from problems like Holden's
ReplyDeleteIn "Get a Life, Holden Caulfield," Jennifer Schuessler talks about how Holden Caulfield and "Catcher in the Rye" don't relate to teens and readers in the present time. The world was very different in the 1950s. Students find it hard to feel bad for the main character, who is able to be alone, spending money in New York City. Holden's strange actions and constant "goddamns" seem "weird, whiny, and immature" to students now-a-days. To sum it up, present-day teens are more focused on themselves and individual achievement. Also, they are more interested in stories of successful "Harry Potters" than in stories of "losers" for whom nothing seems to go right.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Jennifer Schuessler's article, Holden Caulfield is losing his popularity among teen readers. One thing wrong with Holden is the way he talks; his diction and frequent use of "goddam" causes him to lose favor among readers. The evolution and emergence of teen culture also plays a roll in his poor popularity. Currently, teens like characters and people who distinguish themselves form the norms of society while Holden tries his hardest to fit it. Holden is also seen by a failure by many of the book's readers who prefer to read about heros who accomplish things and achieve their goals and don't create a sob story about their deteriorating life. While I personally like Holden, I agree with the author's point that he is becoming less and less popular. Almost everyday in class someone yells out and asks why Holden is so annoying and proclaims that they hate him.
ReplyDeleteThe basic consensus of "Get a Life, Holden Caulfield" is that teenagers of today do not connect to Holden like they did back in the 60s. Schuessler suggests that a reason for this could be that the way we speak back then compared to now is different. We don't use words like "phony" and "goddam" as much anymore. Also we don't use the word "can" for the bathroom, so at times it is hard for students at this age to even understand Holden. I agree with the author's statement, because I myself have found it hard to connect with and understand Holden, myself. However, I disagree with the quoted statement the author added : '"I can't really feel bad for this rich kid with a weekend free in New York City."' I still have sympathy for him, even though he is wealthy and has a weekend to himself. Not to be cliche, but money cannot buy you happiness, and Holden is not happy. I do not understand why he is so angry and lonely, but i still feel bad for him.
ReplyDeleteIn the article, "Get a Life, Holden Caulfied," Jennifer Schuessler talks about why Holden is not understood by many of today’s teenagers. She says that students today find the language outdated, and "can’t really feel bad for this rich kid with a weekend free in New York City". I agree with Schussler's claim that Holden doesn't relate to teens the way he used to. Holden is used to the life back in the 1950s while teenagers now are used to today’s world. Jennifer Schuessler says, “ You can have a skating date, or you can have a prostitute come up to your hotel room.” She is stating that because they are two opposite ideas the Holden had within the story. His overthinking and overanalyzing of everything get kind of confusing after a while. She also says that a character that spends his time embarking on a lifelong quest to find identity and meaning is less appealing to today’s students, which is true. She makes a good point when proving the difference in diction used by the author than that of teenagers used today when she mentions, "phony, her hands were lousy with rocks, the relentless 'goddamns' - grating and dated."
ReplyDeleteI agree with the Jennifer Schuessler when she says that teens these days don't relate to Holden's experiences and his use of language. Today, very few people actually use the word "phonies" or use different cuss words than "goddam." I also agree with her about teens not being able to relate to Holden with the lifestyle he has. I don't think most kids are rich and can afford to fail and just move onto the next school. I think by the end of this book, the majority of kids are going to be telling Holden to quit complaining and to get help with his depression. He just another stereotypical teenager, which is why I think teens don't like him. I think teens have become more respectful and don't like how this Holden kid is reinforcing adult's beliefs about teens these days.
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day
-John X Potter
I agree with Jennifer Schuessler's and her article "Get a Life, Holden Caulfield," and her saying that kids are not relating to Holden as much as they used to. Mainly because the setting of the book has changed dramatically today. The situations that Holden finds himself in are not that common anymore in the modern life. I dont know many kids who are able to roam around New York City for 3 days by themselves, just as Schuessler claimed. And another thing I cannot relate to is hanging out in bars are getting drinks with people the way Holden did. The vision of the "Average teen" that Salinger had when he wrote the book is extremely different today. Holden would not be seen as an "average teen" in todays society. These are the main reasons I think it is harder for kids to relate to Catcher in the Rye today.
ReplyDeleteSchluessler makes several valid points in explaining her theory that Holden relates less with students today. Towards the beginning, she insinuates that perhaps today's students have trouble getting past the language used in narrating and wrongly arrive at the conclusion that Holden is just "whiny." She claims that cultural aspects of the novel separate Holden from today's readers because of the increased world competition and the adherence to the status quo rather than attempting creativity and success outside of this realm. Definite achievements and widespread recognition are valued more than self-realizations and rebellion. In my opinion, Schuessler is correct in her analysis of the causes of the decreasing popularity of Salinger's masterpiece. Youth has changed, not necessarily for the better. Today, how many teenagers would prefer to read or watch Twilight, the apex of meaningless literature, than read or reread Catcher in the Rye? I certainly had no trouble relating to Holden, though I would not classify myself as an underachiever, and the distinctive voice Salinger was able to achieve in Catcher in the Rye makes it one of my favorite books.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Schuessler believes that Holden doesn't appeal to many of today's High School students and that they can no longer relate to him. She mentions how high school students describe him generally as "weird," "whiny," and "immature." They can't seem to feel bad for him with respect to his situation through out the novel. She also writes how today's pop. culture leads people to idolize successful nerds then rejected losers. She ends by saying how people don't have any sympathy for what Holden goes through because of teens views today which contributes a lot to why he is liked by those who read Catcher. I agree with what she is saying in this novel, I feel like teens today might not understand the emotional turmoil that Holden goes through during the novel and therefore will have little like or interest in him. I also do believe that teens are more focused on achievement and again therefore can't relate to Holden's story of flunking out of Pencey.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the article. The article points out the generational differences between today's youth and the youth of the nineteen sixties. While kids today are concerned with achieving within the realms of conformity (ideal goals include getting into good colleges and finding a good job), the youth of the sixties was motivated to change the society around them and to completely disregard expectations. Holden appeals to this kind of mentality. Holden is not a success by any means and his value lies in the fact that he is totally comfortable with abandoning the societal norms around him. Thus, Holden would appeal much more to the Glenn Dorskind esque rebel of the nineteen sixties than he would to the conforming overachievers of today's world. Yet if there is one aspect of the book the article neglects to touch on, it is the fact that Holden very well may be mentally insane. Thus, in my opinion, it does not matter what societal norms exist if you look at Holden simply as a disturbed and ill boy. Yet we often judge Holden according to normal human standards, and through such standards Holden is a rebel and seems to not give a ****. Similarly, Holden's a loser, and while his neglect of normal goals may have appealed to the long haired wide eyed rebel of our parent's generation, Holden today does not even fit the standards of a twenty first century rebel. The rebels of today are rather teen vampires and suave badasses, something Holden most definatly is not. Thus, unless you view Holden as someone who is severely disturbed, it is extremely hard to relate to and even harder to admire the behaviors of Holden Caulfield.
ReplyDelete-CHRIS ROTHE
Jennifer Schuessler's article "Get a Life, Holden Caulfield" talks about how the influence Holden once had on kids is fading and the culture has changed since the 1950s. Flunking out of Pencey may have once seemed like a fun and cool idea but today, Kids strive for success and almost everyone wants to go to college. I agree with her because I cannot relate to Holden Caulfield at any time throughout the book. Kids today would never be able to go out to a wicker bar or hire a prostitue. I also cannot relate to him because his use of language saying goddamn every single chance he gets can be very irritating. Overall, I don't think I, or anyone else for that matter, can relate to Holden Caulfield in today's world.
ReplyDelete-James Passarelle
“Get a Life, Holden Caulfield,” by Jennifer Schuessler is an article that discusses the novel, “the Catcher in the Rye,” and how teens have felt about it throughout the years. She talks about how teens today have less in common with the character and do not enjoy the book as much as the generations in the past such as their teachers. Now, some young readers may even label him as “weird” or “immature.” She states that the students today are more interested in heroes and not so much a wealthy kid who gets kicked out of school. I can agree with her article and the examples she uses of how teens today are not able to connect with Holden. He deals with a lot of issues that are specific to the 1950s decade and I am neither a boarding school student nor a person that fails my classes because I don’t care. I feel that maybe kids who grew up during or close to his time period would have a lot more to compare themselves with. This would be the same as if a teen from the 50s read a book about a teens’ life from the present day.
ReplyDeleteIn her article, "Get a Life, Holden Caulfield," Jennifer Schuessler makes many relevant points concerning the lack of relatibility of Holden's "alienated" and "lonely" self to today's teenagers. Rather than being an innocent boy who is trying to find purity in a place of phonies and evil people, Holden is considered a boy who is whiny, annoying, immature, and curses and complains too much about every little possible detail. In today's era, teenagers favor those who are on top of society instead of those who reject it and highlight its negatives. Schuessler further discusses that it is difficult for teenagers to relate to the culture and language throughout the book. Things like a Wicker Bar, for example, are no longer popular in modern society, as well as words like "yellow" and "sore." These kinds of words might even confuse readers and make the story more difficult to comprehend. I agree with most of her points because people, especially young adults, have the tendency to bias their own current statuses and ignore those of the past, and even think negatively about them. However, I also think that students should still respect his problems because there actually are people who might relate to him, and those people should not be criticized for it. Also, people get easily bored of books such as Catcher In The Rye because they compare it to other pieces of literature that might have a denser plot, so automatically they fail to appreciate how good and intelligent it can actually be.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Schuessler says that today's teens don't understand Holden's activities, or the reasoning behind his hatred. She says that most teens that read Catcher in the Rye today find Holden "Weird" instead of being a special individual, who should be looked up to. The author of the article says that most teen cannot relate to the culture that is described in the book. I do agree with Schuessler because when I read Catcher in the Rye I felt out of time, and didn't understand Holden. As i got further into the book Holden started to actually annoy me. I usually don't get emotionally attached to a book, but this book really dragged me in. So even though I didn't like Holden, and was annoyed by him, his role of a protagonist was accomplished. His character interested me to reading the book, and that is a very big accomplishment for a writer/character.
ReplyDeleteThe author of the article "Get a Life, Holden Caulfield" believes that teenagers are no longer able to relate to Holden the way used to be able to. She says it seems that "readers just don't like Holden as much as they used to." Kids no longer talk the way that Holden talks, which makes him seem "weird, whiny, and immature." Also, the culture of today is different from in the 50's. Today, our culture is more competitive and kids see heroes as "the nerds who conquer the world, not the beautiful losers who reject it." I agree with her on these points because it is true that our culture has changed. Also, often during the book we weren't even able to understand what Holden was saying half of the time. His terminology and cursing was very outdated and annoying.
ReplyDeleteIn Jennifer Schuessler's article "Get a Life, Holden Caulfield", she talks about kids point of view and how their relations have changed of not only the book "Catcher in the Rye", but the main character Holden Caulfield. The article talks about how life has changed for kids from advancements in technology to different social ways. "These days, teenagers seem more interested in getting into Harvard than in flunking out of Pencey Prep. Young people with their compulsive text-messaging and hyperactive pop culture metabolism". Kids of this generation become less and less similar to Holden, because of the change in life itself; from where to go as a teenager; stated by Stephanie Savage, to the feelings that teenagers feel towards him, as stated by a 15-year old boy from Long Island. Overall the gap between Holden and today's teenagers have increased because of the changes of life and all its inhabitants
ReplyDeleteIn the article "Get a Life, Holden" Jennifer says that Holden cant really relate to kids growing up in the current century. She says that many of Holden's behaviors differ from the modern generation. Today many students that read "The Catcher in the Rye" believe Holden is just whiny, weird, and immature. Jennifer goes on to say that her students have a hard time felling bad for a kid who seems to have no parental supervision and tons of cash. I agree with a lot of her argument because in my mind Holden doesn't seem like a "beautiful loser" but rather a teenager who keeps looking past the good in his life and focusing on problems. If he took half the amount of time he spends on deciphering phonies to worry about more important problems, like his poor grades or alcohol/ drug addiction, i think he would be fine. It seems like Holden only identifies his problems rather then fixing them. That's why this book doesn't appeal the new generation of high schoolers who feel no pity towards kids who have the opportunity to succeed but would rather complain of their failures.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Schuessler's argument that kids today cannot relate to Cather in the Rye is accurate. This article points out how the different generations relate to this book. In the 1960s kids were less motivated and could be considered more lost and confused in the world just like Holden was. While kids today are very focused on their future and encouraged to strive for Harvard rather than "flunking out of Pencey Prep." However teachers still continue to teach this novel in English classes. I loved this book and thought Holden was one of the most interesting characters to read about, I could not relate to his problems and life. His short temper, constantly changing mood and wishes, and not having a clue of what he will do next was completely opposite of me and probably most of the other students that read this book.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Catcher in the Rye, Holden tends to be losing sanity as the novel continues. Holden's problems and concerns isn't related to the problems of today's youth. Holden's worries compared to teenagers are considered "whiny" and "immature" and the last thing kids are trying to do is flunk out of an ambitious boarding school. Society today encourages applying yourself. Peers are very competitive and all have the same goal in mind. Holden's depression isn't relatable which causes a lack of sympathy from the 21st century teenagers.
ReplyDeleteNot only that, but publishers complained that the plot of "The Catcher in the Rye" is unclear and many students in my class complained that the ending didn't meet up to their standards and there was no climax at all. I think students in my class found this problem because what was important to Holden wasn't important to us so we found no point in what he was writing.
I personally agree with critics from Jennifer Schuessler's article that the book in general was hard to relate to and shouldn't be a top book on reading lists all over the country. I believe that we should be reading pieces of literature that are easier to relate to and encourages us to push ourselves.
In the article “Get a life, Holden Caulfied” by Jennifer Schuessler, many statements where said about the loss of reliability between the readers and Holden Caulfied. Many of Schuesslers main points where that many kids think that Holden is weird kid and that the things he says in the novel doesn’t relate to their lives today. I agree with the different points in which Schuessler says, and think the same ways as some of the other students who dislike the book because of Holden. One example was how the language was gound to be “Phony.” Another example is when the students say “I can’t really feel bad for this rich kid with a weekend free in New York City.” Also Holden has a shallowness and unrelatability in many eyes of students today.
ReplyDeleteIn her article, "Get a Life, Holden Caulfied," Jennifer Schuessler talks about how students view on Holden throughout the years has changed. When the novel first came out teens could relate to Holden and they loved the book and Holden because of it. Now a days teen just don't relate to Holden. Schuessler says that teenagers just don't understand the language Holden uses. The teens don't relate to the language, they find it dated and weird. The mentality of teenagers has changed so that when it was once relatable to reject society, now teenagers are more concerned with fitting into society. Teens are more likely to relate to heroes they can look up to and love, like Harry Potter, than the "alienated antiheroe" Holden Claufied. Teens want to read about role models, heroes they can look up to, who have accomplished something, not characters who whine and complain the entire novel.
ReplyDelete-Megan Bernth
In her article, "Get a Life, Holden Caulfied," Jennifer Schuessler talks about how students view on Holden throughout the years has changed. When the novel first came out teens could relate to Holden and they loved the book and Holden because of it. Now a days teen just don't relate to Holden. Schuessler says that teenagers just don't understand the language Holden uses. The teens don't relate to the language, they find it dated and weird. The mentality of teenagers has changed so that when it was once relatable to reject society, now teenagers are more concerned with fitting into society. Teens are more likely to relate to heroes they can look up to and love, like Harry Potter, than the "alienated antiheroe" Holden Claufied. Teens want to read about role models, heroes they can look up to, who have accomplished something, not characters who whine and complain the entire novel.
ReplyDelete