The First Cry Of The Beat Generation

70 years ago ‘The Catcher In The Rye’ was first published in novel form. 700 copies are sold each day. Since its publication, over 65 million copies have sold worldwide. Why is it such an iconic novel? How does it stand the test of time? The book captures the spirit of the existentialist movement in its dying days. Whereas the typical existential crisis may lead to death, Salinger confronts the death of the existentialist, and atonement with the wild spirit of youth.

The Odyssey Of The Existentialist

It’s a commentary on the post-modern conformism of America viewed through the lens of a sixteen-year-old who’s confounded by the rejection of his innocence. Judged for his protest to conformity, he’s alienated and lost, and abandoned in a familiar yet unnavigable world. His frustration and defensive postures increase as he reaches out to his peers, hoping to find some connection. The more he faces the conformity in them, the more isolated and alone he feels. In the end, he, at last, attains brief happiness in a vicarious re-connection with innocence, upon which no standard or expectation is applied, but only for innocence to exist of its own accord without judgment. In this swansong of his youth, he surrenders to the very conformity he resisted.

Lighting The Way

Salinger, just as his protagonist, rebels and offends through his narrative, holding a mirror to a society ill-prepared for the mocking visage he portrays. For over twenty years, ‘The Catcher In The Rye’ was the most censored and banned book of the USA. This singular piece of literature heralded the first cry of the beat movement, which continues to define generations. Perhaps the existential crisis of Salinger is one so many still identify with today because the terrain has yet no other guide to help navigate and carry the lost through the no-man’s-land of rejected innocence and identity’s doom.