History - The Catcher in the Rye

After reading The Catcher in the Rye, I was very shocked at how things have changed to the time period that we live in today.  This book took place sixty years ago in the fifties, but when I saw (I mean read) some of the things that Holden did, I was absolutely shocked of how he acted and composed himself, to what most people do now.  Holden did whatever he wanted, after he was kicked out of school and on his own for those three days.  He walked out in the streets of New York City very late.  Sure New York is probably a lot different now than what it was then, but still, having a teenaged boy walking down the streets of a big city, all alone is very seldom to see now.  Holden would also go into clubs and get alcoholic beverages, usually without being asked to see any identification (Salinger, 185).  I am pretty sure everywhere you go now, you have to show identification, in order to get alcohol.  I just found it very weird that a boy of his age, would be walking down the streets of a big city, going to clubs and purchasing drinks, and also stay in a hotel by himself.  I really do not know if people did that back then, but you will most likely never see anything like that, in the world that we live in.
Like I have said, I think in every question about this book, the thematic significance is how hard it is to grow up.  That is what I got out of this book, and I believe is the dominant message that most people get out of reading this book.  It is not easy to grow up from a child to an adult, and the book really portrays that very well.  So far the questions have been very hard to answer.  I think that the book makes it this way because it is more like an autobiography than anything else, and it is difficult to find out of what most people were like during this time period.

Bibliography

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.