But there is also an equally strong part of Holden that wants sex to be intimate and incredibly personal. A part of Holden does experience sexual excitement he goes on dates regularly, comments on girl’s appearances, and is jealous of his roommate Stradlater’s sexually adventurous ways (Salinger, 43). While all of Holden’s friends are making out with girls, and then vividly retelling stories about said making out sessions, Holden can’t quite assimilate into that culture. Holden tells his reader that at Pencey “all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day,” (Salinger, 131). We see this open sexual excitement in Holden’s private school, Pencey Prep. In a predictable reaction to this uptight sexual culture, the younger generation rebelled and embraced sex, which later partially motivated the sexual revolution. Only private, vanilla-no-sprinkles-please sex was acceptable, and even this ultrabland intercourse was never spoken about. The only officially endorsed sexual behavior was monogamous heterosexual marriage,” (Ferguson, 2). Even masturbation was despised and thought to be the source of many physical and psychological ills. America during this time features contrasting beliefs surrounding sex.įor the older generation, which includes Holden’s distant parents, “most sex in America had been forced into the closet. Certainly the broadest cause of sexual issues in The Catcher in The Rye is Holden’s relationship to societal sexual expectations. Holden Caulfield’s disconnection from his sexuality is a notable contributor to his social difficulties. All of these emotions are difficult, and are a pressing internal struggle for Holden. Holden experiences a constant string of emotions concerning sexuality, spanning from excitement to guilt. Stemming from the dichotomy of sexual openness in America, underlined by an immense sensitivity, and sprinkled with teenage confusion, Holden’s relationship with his sexuality is a turbulent one. Salinger’s famous novel The Catcher in The Rye. It might take Holden Caulfield nine chapters to admit to this, but his sexual confusion is present from the first pages of J.D. “Sex is something I just don’t understand.
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