I think the book does a pretty good job at showing some of the history of the time period even though the main focus is on the theme. The book takes place in about the 1940’s and 1950’s. Even though that does not seem like very long ago, our generation now has become way more advanced then they were in the book. The main transportation was a train or a cab. I did not really hear about anyone driving in the story. The schools are a lot different. Most of the schools were private schools. There were all-boys schools and there were all-girls schools. Even though Holden is only a teenager, he is basically attending a university. He is away from his parents at school with people his age and older. Money could get a person a lot further back then than it could now (Salinger 179). Holden did not have a ton of money but he had enough to get a hotel room for a couple nights, go to see a movie, eat his meals, pay a stripper, pay for cabs, and pay for the various drinks he bought. If a person were to do all that today, they would have to have a large sum of money. People were more lenient back then. Holden could go in to some places and they would easily serve him scotch and soda even though he was too young to drink (Salinger 85). Holden could basically sleep wherever he wanted, go to wherever he wanted, and see whoever he wanted on his own time. Family was also very different. I expected Holden’s family to be closer, but when I was reading I kind of felt like they were all independent and not really together as a whole. The book did not go in depth about his mother or father really. So overall, I can find many differences between modern day and back then. The symbolic significance is the journey in finding yourself and what it really takes to do so.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye
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