I don't even know what I was running for - I guess I just felt like it

People rarely enjoy a book with perfect characters (one exception would be Twilight, of course, but I'll save that rant for a rainy day,) but most people do expect some kind of hidden chivalry from a story's protagonist. I think that is why many people claim to either love or hate A Catcher in the Rye; Holden is the furthest thing from perfection, but he does not appear to be any kind of hero in the story, even half-way through it. 

Though, that does not necessarily mean that I personally do not like him. I find myself somewhere between indifferent and empathetic. Holden is not unlike so many teenagers today. During the time the book was published, it appears, from everything that Holden says, that most teenagers were more social, and they did not seem to express their problems as so many adolescents to today (really though, pouring out your 'shattered and disembodied, tormented' soul on MySpace is not much healthier). 

Or is it that that was just what Holden saw happening? He is certainly not too extroverted; he does not really seem to have a good grasp on what others are feeling. Normally he talks about what he is feeling, and how his feelings are more 'real' and thought-provoking than those belong to the people around him. 

It is probably here where readers will start to dislike Holden. Who wants to read about a kid who does nothing but whine? 

Yet, I think that his caring nature is overlooked by many. His constantly somber or sarcastic remarks about the world around sometimes irk people too much for them to find the kindness embedded in his thoughts. Holden constantly finds that while something may bother him, he also feels sorry for being bothered about it. Normally, he has trouble identifying why he is sorry and so suddenly empathetic, yes, but the fact still remains that within him there is kindness and potential for branching out to others.  

I won't say that we all have a little bit of Holden within us, because not everyone does. Chapter 17 touched me personally, but I know of many others who have rolled their eyes at Holden throughout the entire novel. If I want to get into an elitist thing here, I'll go as far as to say that those who do not connect with him on any level--the way he speaks, his thought patterns, his relationships with others--are less psychologically minded than those who can find a piece of him that they relate to. But, then, is it fair to assume others' feelings are less developed than mine based on this novel? 

It does seem that I am quite a bit like Holden, hmm? Although I think it is safe to say that I am more eloquent in my speech and writing than he is.