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dream and sacrifices all his talents and gifts to pursue material satisfaction. Holden is disgusted with his elder brother’s degeneration, for he can’t accept the fact that D.B gives up his love for art. D.B. is once the model for Holden and he is the very person that Holden wants to be, but his later degeneration casts a negative influence on Holden.

On the surface, Holden has an enviable family. Grandmother sends him money four times as birthday gifts within one year. However, in a deeper sense, his parents and grandmother only serve as an “ATM” for Holden during his process of growing up. All of them ignore his spiritual needs. He needs parents to give him spiritual understanding and caring. He needs parents to give him guidance to solve the problems. But he gets no help from his family.
 
2.3 Conflicts with the social reality of that time
After World War Two, the United States rose to be the most powerful in the world. The post-war boom of industry and economy brought America boundless wealth and unprecedented prosperity. The living standards in the United States went up with the number of middle-class families rising. 

Most people had an American dream which played a significant role in Americans’ life. It described an attitude of hope and faith that looked forward to the fulfillment of human wishes and desires, especially the desires for the material. For most people, American Dream meant to pursue their material success and made great fortunes. In order to get a good job, they had to go to the college and get a degree. To most Americans, their life goals were to have a good job, earn more money and drive a Cadillac. Owning a car became the sign of American dream. But some people were so disgusted with the misguided dream that they chose to rebel against it. 

In the 1950s, J. D. Salinger exposed the corruption of the American Dream in The Catcher in the Rye. The protagonist Holden is the typical person who can’t adjust himself to the society. He begins to reject the American Dream’s requirement. In the beginning, Holden is expelled from the schools because he has flunked four subjects. Actually, Holden is an intelligent student. He has read a lot of books. He is good at English and writing. He has his own ideas and thought patterns. But he is kicked out of the school for he is against the school education and educational system. After wandering in the New York streets, he does not want to live in the naked material reality of the American dream. 

His brother D.B. used to be a promising writer, but now he has become a Hollywood scenarist. In most people’s eyes, his job represents the typical American success story and a good example to follow. Even the little sister Phoebe asks Holden to be a lawyer like his father. But Holden dreams to be a catcher in the rye, a career the mainstream society can not imagine.

Holden is full of profound wisdom, abundant imagination, the fervency to explore the unknown and the eagerness for love and understanding. To search for beauty and chastity in a world full of vulgarity and preciosity—this is where his tragedy lies in. ( Peter 178)
  
3. Conclusion

Holden’s case is not an accidental phenomenon. His family, school, teachers and the whole society should be sensitive and responsive to his psychological change during the puberty a本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。