Holden Caulfield: Typical American Teenager Essay -- Catcher in the Ry

It is difficult to really define American youngrs, besides theyre seen as confused and without any real identity age wise. Although not as prominent as in the 20th century, teenagers have to sens with a misleading phoniness in decree today. The teenage years be when a soul really decides (or has a decision forced on them) how their views will develop, such as living with optimism or pessimism. Because of pressure from media, peers and p arents, teenagers all try to grow up besides quickly or solely refuse and get left behind. All of these characteristics are related to Holden Caulfield in various ways. Even just on the surface, Holden is a regular(prenominal) teenager, with his impression self esteem and bad language. Therefore, based on what it means to be an American teenager, The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger is supposed to be the picture of a typical teenage experience.Generally, the American teenager has equal to be confused with in his own life but societys phoniness can greatly add to that uncertainty. Most of a persons adult behaviors are learned in the teenage years, but with mint such as politicians being phony, teenagers are getting to a greater extent upset and confused by the appropriate way to act. If they see people in these kinds of powerful positions lying and embezzling, what would they assume to do other than heed that behavior? Thats why there is a lot of teenage crime in this country- the crimes of phonies in prominent standing that, to some extent, are endorsing these bad and sometimes ilicit activities. In Holden Caulfields case, he lets phoniness run his complete life. The biggest insult he can give something is that of phony, and he stops doing things he would like to do, not wanting to be perceived as a ph... ...t from his own parents. They keep sending him to private schools away from home and thats forcing him to grow up because theres nobody else to rely on really. That is the case with most teenagers like Holden, they try to grow up too quickly and miss some potentially great childhood moments.In conclusion, The Catcher in the Rye is a picture of a typical teenage experience because Holden is confused and without any real identity. He has robust views, like most teenagers, on phoniness, view of life and growing up. Holden is a typical American teenager, maybe a little less miraculous than some others, having to fend for himself, really. Nonetheless, nearly all teenagers go through a time in their lives that is emotionally like that of Holden Caulfield. Work CitedSalinger, JD. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston, Mass Little, Brown and Company, 1951