Holden Caulfield objectifies and makes jokes out of many female characters in The Catcher in the Rye, but there are still moments in which he really respects and appreciates women. I think that Holden has the potential to be a feminist if he becomes educated. He naturally wants to respect and listen to women, he has just been dramatically affected by the only environment that he has been in -- an all boys prep school.
The book The Catcher in the Rye as a whole is definitely not feminist. There are no female leads and the only female character close to being depicted as intelligent is Phoebe, Holden’s younger sister. Most of the women are portrayed as weak or dependent -- Jane who goes out with boys who don't care about her personality or the girls at the motel who are dumb enough to think that Holden sees a celebrity. Even though I don’t think the book is necessarily feminist, one could argue that the view through Holden’s eyes has the potential to be. Despite Holden’s environment, he has the natural instinct to treat women respectfully and actually enjoys talking to them intellectually with no expected sexual benefit.
On page 103, Holden describes why he can’t keep going with girls who don’t want to: “The thing is, most of the time when you're coming pretty close to doing it with a girl - a girl that isn't a prostitute or anything, I mean - she keeps telling you to stop. The trouble with me is, I stop. Most guys don’t. I can’t help it.” The fact that this is Holden’s natural response is really promising, considering that he grew up in an all boys boarding school with influences like Stradlater who would hook up with different girls all the time and make no big deal out of it. He also enjoys talking to girls, and does not just use them for sexual pleasure. There are many examples of this including Selma Thurmer, the nuns, and even the prostitute that he paid. This evidence makes me think that if Holden became educated in an environment outside the prep school, he could have the potential to be a feminist character.
And I think Holden's description of what he loves in Jane (young-Jane) is also really important: it is not about her looks or what he "gets out of their relationship" but seems to really really respect her as a friend and interesting character which he admires and loves.
ReplyDeleteI like your point that Holden really just loves talking to people, women included. I think you're right. Holden is clearly someone who values compassion. He was uncomfortable when Stradlater began treating someone he cared about (Jane) with his usual disrespect, so he does understand that "locker room talk" is demeaning. His thing about not being comfortable raping or assaulting women was a decent start to thinking of women as human. You're very right that he has a ways to go.
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