How does J.D Salinger use the character of Holden Caulfield to explore :: English Literature

How does J.D Salinger use the character of Holden Caulfield to explore the issues related to growing up? ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ was written in the late 1940’s and first published in a magazine in 1947. The novel is like a bildungsroman but only consists of two and a half days in the life of a 17 year old boy called Holden Caulfield, although he argues that the book is not about his â€Å"lousy childhood†. Holden seems to be very conscious of this and doesn’t want it to be â€Å"all that David Copperfield kind of crap†. Nevertheless the book is an insight into a young man’s mind. Salinger creates Holden Caulfield’s idiolect with all the colloquialisms and swearing, which resulted in the book being banned in many states of America. Holden is very open and does not refrain from sharing some of his views on society and the war. At the time of publishing, America was experiencing very rich, prosperous, affluent years. Hollywood was the worlds best film industry and something America was very proud of and enjoyed, â€Å"Everybody was on their way to the movies† but Holden â€Å"couldn’t stand looking at them†, this was a big dig at American society and became very controversial. Holden doesn’t hold back his political views either, â€Å"I’m sort of glad they’ve got the atomic bomb invented. If there’s another war, I’m going to sit right the hell on top of it†. Due to the contextual time of post WW2 this was deeply shocking and disturbed many people, the atomic bomb had killed millions of innocent people and thousands had relatives lost in the war. At this time America was very anti-communism but Holden hints anti-capitalist views, â€Å"Goddamn money. It always ends up making you feel blue as hell†, and he often wears a â€Å"red hunting hat† which could have easily symbolized a communist. This was also a contributing factor to the shock this gave American society. However these are just the views of a teenager and all is part of J.D Salinger exploring the confused, rebellious thoughts of someone growing up. Salinger explores the issues of growing up in many different ways. Most of them contradict themselves at some point as well, portraying the confusion and unsettled mind of an adolescence. One of these main issues is Holden’s longing to gain independence. This is seen from early on in the book and is carried on throughout. The first main example of Holden wanting to move freely with independence is when he decides he’d â€Å"get the hell out of Pency...not wait till Wednesday† when he is supposed to break up from his boarding school.