J. D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” is a timeless classic published on July 16, 1951, and was an instant classic coming-of-age novel. Today approximately over 65 million copies have been sold worldwide. “The Catcher in the Rye” is such a timeless story because it really shows the hard struggles of being a teen in society.

The story follows Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old boy just expelled from preparatory school. Holden talks about how he has doubts about the adult world and the way they go about life, believing that all adults are “phonies.” The book is narrated from Holden’s first-person perspective, which is usually very negative. Holden seems to struggle with finding the good things in life and wallows in the darkness of his past. The story begins in a mental institution in the present day where Holden prepares to replay all of the things in the past that had led to this point in his journey. His story begins after he is expelled from his school. In the first of a series of bad decisions, he decides to spend his money to go to New York City before returning home for Christmas break. In Holden’s time in New York City, he checks into a hotel where he has several poor encounters with women. He is disgusted with the tourists he dances with, freaked out and beaten up by a prostitute, and has a date with an old girlfriend that goes wrong. Holden also meets up with an old friend who finds him immature and tells him to grow up. With his friend’s somewhat hurtful words, he finds himself quite intoxicated but still unhappy. He begins to feel bad about everything and wants to see the person he is closest to, his younger sister Phoebe. She is happy to see him and later wants to run away with him.

After this much-needed visit, Holden finds himself having to leave and goes to an old teacher’s house. The teacher seems supportive of him, but after Holden falls asleep, he awakens to the teacher playing with his hair. He ends up sleeping in Grand Central Station. His story ends with Holden and his sister at the zoo, as he experiences happiness when seeing her child-like innocence on the carousel. However, the reader is not left with the confidence that Holden will be okay after he leaves the institution. J. D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” tells the classic story of a boy becoming a man following the main character, Holden, and his struggle with the corruption of adulthood and childhood innocence. His innocence was taken from him when his younger brother died from cancer and a classmate committed suicide.

Holden is thrust into the adult world but longs for the everlasting purity of childhood. In almost every encounter Holden has in his story, the reader can see this push and pull between innocence and corruption. His innocence was taken from him when his younger brother died from cancer and a classmate committed suicide. It is scary to outgrow your childhood and having to be aware of bigger problems, especially before you are ready. I can see why it is such a timeless story.