Holden's Depressing Finish

I was left feeling like the story was unresolved. The focus is so intensely on describing Holden’s feelings which are only beginning to change at the end of the story. Our society is enamored with coming-of-age stories because they provide hope. We can relate to the characters as misfits and as they grow, we’re able to aspire to be them, restoring our faith in coming-of-age. The Catcher in the Rye does not offer this experience to us.

Being able to relate to a character is invaluable and Holden acts as this character for many. However, a particularly powerful narrative is one where that relatable character makes it out the other side, something we don’t have the chance to see Holden do fully. I think this fact changes the effectiveness of his story. I won’t deny that The Catcher in the Rye is a coming-of-age narrative. It details Holden’s own feelings of distaste of coming-of-age in general that I believe many are able to relate to. That relatability of a character struggling with their place in the world is one of the most important identifying features of a coming-of-age story. Something I believe is just as important, though, is that character providing a sense of hope for the reader. In any coming-of-age story I can think of (except The Catcher in the Rye), the character starts like Holden, unsure or uncomfortable with where they fit in but as the story progresses, they grow and mature till those feelings diminish or go away altogether. Holden starts the book complaining, complains in the middle, and continues all the way to the end where we start to see him forced to make change in his psych ward. This doesn’t offer any hope for the readers. I was only left more depressed.

Though The Catcher in the Rye is a compelling and relatable narrative for many, it fails to truly resolve its story leaving many wondering what to take from this reading.


Comments

  1. erin's blogFebruary 12, 2021 at 9:55 PM

    I don't know I thought the ending was kind of fun. Maybe it's because Holden set such low standards for his own growth, but just him feeling happy at the end kind of gave me hope for him, especially after pages and pages of him feeling "depressed". It definitely ends on an uncertain note, but maybe the fact that Holden decided to write a book at all is a sign that he's ready to start self reflecting?

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  2. AndrewFebruary 13, 2021 at 7:14 PM

    I totally agree! The ending just felt super unsatisfying, not only as a coming-of-age novel, but also as a narrative in general. I feel like there were so many things that were left unanswered and not really explained like the actual reasoning behind Mr. Antolini patting Holden's head, as well as how Holden never even called Jane even though he talked about her so much. I guess it kinda makes sense that Holden doesn't change drastically given the fact that we really only read about like 2-ish days in his life but the ambiguous ending kinda makes me question why I read this book.

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  3. ArianaFebruary 14, 2021 at 11:27 AM

    Yeah I think the ending was kind of sad, because we don't know if Holden "will make it out". We don't know if Holden ever learned anything from his experiences (he probably did, but we still don't truly know because of the ambiguous ending). When he says he misses Stradlater and the other guys, this might suggest that he has learned to value other people. However, even then, he has said that he misses people (even the people he hated) throughout the book several times. So I don't think that quote denotes a substantial change.

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  4. Katya S.February 14, 2021 at 4:26 PM

    I actually really liked the ending of the story. I feel like it leaves hope for him to change since he admits that he misses his former classmates and that he might apply himself in school. Given that he was depressed for pretty much all of this book, this definitely is a sign of hope that he could improve. However, I think it's unrealistic to expect him to change much in the span of two days. Coming of age is a process, and I feel like the point of this book was just to show the first step in a long, long journey that Holden might endure.

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  5. EssraaFebruary 18, 2021 at 10:02 AM

    To an extent I do agree, the ending of the novel was pretty undermined, as there was still a lot of uncertainty to do with Holden at that point, however I do think there's hope for Holden. He definitely could grow as a person and begin to realize that not every change is associated with becoming a phony person all in all, but in two days it is unrealistic. Still, there is a lot of hope for Holden and how he will take on the rest of his life someday.

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  6. LaraFebruary 19, 2021 at 5:05 PM

    The ending also left me unsatisfied to some degree. I felt that Holden was still pessimistic and immature, but I guess I took comfort in knowing that at least he is getting another chance to become a better person. It's good that he decided to go home in the first place rather than trying to run away (that definitely would have ended badly) and it was comforting for me to hear that he was enrolled in another school and that he's receiving help. Although Holden might not be happy about these outcomes, maybe together they will help him realize the errors of his ways and help him to change for the better.

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  7. JonathanFebruary 19, 2021 at 7:09 PM

    I think it had hints of everything that could leave us satisfied, but I see where you're coming from. I think his arrogant, complaining attitude is an important part of him, and if he were to lose that side of him in the coming-of-age process I would feel like he turned into one of the phony adults that aren't true to themselves like he talked about. He ends the book doing what he wants (not telling us what's in store for him just because he "don't feel like it," and complaining again), which kind of comforts me, knowing that after all this, however annoying it is, he's still true to himself. At the same time, he ends the story with hope, telling us he's going to go back to school, which might begin to hint at a change in his attitude that will lead him to a healthier future. It could have been more thorough, but I take some comfort in his resilience to the end of the book, even if it's still annoying.

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  8. Isabel DennisonFebruary 19, 2021 at 9:16 PM

    I was both unsatisfied and satisfied by the way the book ended. For one, I was disappointed that I wasn't able to see any concrete signs of Holden attempting to grow and change, because that's what I really wanted from the ending. But on the other hand, I feel like I can be secure in the knowledge that Holden has started on his path to change, and will become a better person; just, unfortunately, not where us readers can see it.

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  9. Literature with LexyFebruary 21, 2021 at 7:26 PM

    I also felt like the ending was unresolved. But at the same time, I kind of liked how it was left up to out own interpretation. The scene at the carousel was a sign of Holden attempting to change, and this felt hopeful to me. I also felt unsatisfied, but I like how it was different from a typical coming of age novel. It felt more realistic to me.

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  10. ElijahMarch 11, 2021 at 2:16 PM

    Yeah I felt really empty at the end of the book. I would have like a happy ending, but even a definite sad ending would have been better than the open-ended conclusion. I didn't expect everything to be 100% better, but I wanted to see some personal growth from Holden, which we largely didn't get to see. Then again, if Salinger had put a definite ending to the novel, readers would also probably be disappointed in a different way.

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  11. FarahMarch 28, 2021 at 7:41 PM

    I definitely agree that the ending wasn't exactly inspiring, but I honestly didn't expect better from Holden in the first place. To borrow Holden's phrase, I feel that a more uplifting ending would have been felt very phony, which is actually something interesting to think about! If the ending had been "phony", then the book would have quickly turned into coming-of-age = becoming a phony adult. Since that is clearly not the ending nor the message, it kind of inversely is a sign of growth for Holden. I don't know how much sense this actually makes, but I'm kind of saying that Holden not saying that comin-of-age = phony adult is a sign of growth in him (which is kind of reaching). I guess it shows you how low my standards are for Holden :)

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