Holden Caulfield is a whiny little brat who’s more of a punk than he is a literary hero … this according to Jahkara Smith, who’s got one helluva hot take that’s got Twitter fired up.
The “NOS4A2” star posted a video this week that analyzes the lead character from J.D. Salinger‘s “Catcher in the Rye” — honing in on one scene in particular, where she says HC got what he deserved … and that the kid actually sucks if you look at him big picture.
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Jahkara explains Holden has idealistic views of women, but when it comes to getting busy, he’s not actually up for it — evidenced by an encounter with a prostitute, which he ends up paying for. JS POV … serves him right, as he was wasting that working woman’s time.
She goes on to suggest that he’s actually the blueprint of a modern-day school shooter … because as soon as he gets roughed up, he has visions of killing the hooker/pimp.
1) I will not apologize for Catcher in the Rye being ass
2) if Holden HAD been a murderer by the end, your “but he was in the war/depressed/his brother died-” tweets would sound a lot like the news after an American school situation. And that would be my entire point. Lmao.
— Jahkara🌻 (@SlaylerJ) August 20, 2022
@SlaylerJ
There’s a lot more to her book review, so watch for yourself — but let’s just say, a handful on the bird app aren’t taking too kindly to her analysis of what’s considered an American classic. We’ll spare you all the tweets, but basically … some argue she’s being simplistic in her breakdown of the character, and dissecting him without some much-needed context.
For starters, people are in her mentions defending Holden … saying that he’s obviously a troubled youth who’s dealing with major trauma (death of brother) and likely sexual abuse.
ok I am muting this friends but more than anything I’m glad this started a conversation because I am GENUINELY surprised by the amount of people defending his weird ass behavior but not at all surprised by the demographic doing so. This was a great topic 🥹💕 any suggestions?
— Jahkara🌻 (@SlaylerJ) August 20, 2022
@SlaylerJ
Unclear if Jahkara processed that, but in any case … she seems to think the novel just isn’t all that it’s made out to be. In fact, there are a decent amount of folks who actually agree with her — saying the premise of this teen trying to preserve innocence is … kinda lame.
The book has fallen under a lot of scrutiny in recent years — with a lot of people claiming ‘Catcher’ is problematic at its core. That might be true … under a 21st century lens, that is. Remember, this thing was published in the ’50s … a very different time in America.
Per usual, eye of the (phony) beholder.