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A essay examining how themes of isolation and alienation can be seen in novels Normal People by Sally Rooney and The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger.
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Discuss how isolation and loneliness in adolescence is presented in young adultfiction.
As an ever growing genre, young adult fiction attempts to address a multitude of
topics which can arguably be viewed as relatable for teenagers and young adults.
These narratives typically are categorised as either a coming of age novel, romance
fiction, or sometimes they can be set in a particular universe such as dystopian
literature. The purpose of these stories is to entice the readers into either realistic or
fantastical narratives, that can be relatable or even educational. J.D Salinger’s The
Catcher in the Rye and Sally Rooney’s Normal People both exemplify these tropes
of a YA novel throughout their novels, especially through the use of their
protagonists. When exploring isolation and loneliness in these novels, it is significant
to acknowledge aspects of mental health, education, and romantic and familial
relationships as they arguably all have an affect on these characters. Lisa Kazianka
understands that ‘adolescence is a period in which close friendships and romantic
relationships are assigned a particularly high value, but it is also a time of
experiencing loneliness and isolation.’ 1 Salinger and Rooney both use a male
protagonist that may emphasise loneliness so it may be salient to also explore a
crisis in masculinity. As YA fiction has become more increasingly popular over the
past couple of decades, it will be interesting to compare aspects of novels written at
the beginning of when this genre was first introduced and how it has changed over
the years.
The Catcher in the Rye is crucial when exploring themes of adolescence and how
some characters can have a negative experience growing up as a teenager and
Salinger creates the character of Holden Caulfield to demonstrate this. Holden
immediately evokes aspects of social anxiety and can be interpreted as ultimately
awkward and lonely in this novel and it is quickly noticeable in the first chapter; ‘it
was the Saturday of the football game. [...] I remember around three o’clock that
1 J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (London: Penguin Books, 2019) p. 2.
, afternoon I was standing way the hell up top of Thomsen Hill. [...] You could see the
whole field from there, and you could see the two teams bashing each other all over
the place. [...] You could hear them all yelling.’ 2 Instantly, Holden informs the reader
that he is isolated from the rest of the football game and is overlooking from
Thomsen Hill, segregated from the rest of his peers, highlighting his detachment
from socialising and feels more comfortable in his own company. Holden’s character
can be controversial at moments as he can be perceived as judgemental as he
repeatedly analyses others appearance but this may be due to his social anxiety as
he doesn’t understand how to communicate properly with his friends. It is salient to
acknowledge mental health in relation to Holden’s attitudes. For example, when
having an encounter with Ackley, Holden states ‘I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I
almost wished I was dead.’3 Holden isn’t physically alone in this moment as he is
with Ackley in his dorm room, however, he feels mentally lonely and despite having
this company, he is having suicidal thoughts due to this loneliness. Holden, despite
stating that he didn’t like Ackley that much, he still chooses to stay in the room with
him for some company so he didn’t feel completely alone; ‘he was also sort of a
nasty guy. I wasn’t too crazy about him, to tell you the truth.’ 4 Shiva Kheirkhah
argues that Holden alienates himself from others as a form of self protection and
states that ‘we begin to perceive that Holden’s alienation is his way of protecting
himself. [...] He uses his isolation as proof that he is better than everyone else
around him and therefore above interacting with them. The truth is that interactions
with other people usually confuse and overwhelm him, and his cynical sense of
superiority serves as a type of self protection.’ 5 This reinforces the ideas of Holden
being perceived as a controversial character as it is arguable that he believes he is
superior and it is why he distances himself from others as a form of protection.
However, interaction may be what Holden requires to prevent him from submerging
himself into a depressive state and Kheirkhah continues to understand that Holden is
very reserved with his emotions; ‘He never addresses his own emotions directly, nor
does he attempt to discover the source of his troubles. He desperately needs human
2 Lisa Kazianka, ‘Isolation, Participation and Communication in Young Adult Unidirectional Epistolary
Fiction’ in The Epistolary Renaissance: A Critical Approach to Contemporary Letter Narratives in
Anglophone Fiction (2018) pp 143-158 (p. 148).
3 Salinger, p. 51.
4 Salinger, p. 20.
5 Shiva Kheirkhah, ‘Alienation and Loneliness of American Postmodern Characters in Salinger’s
Masterpiece Catcher in The Rye’ in Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research (2018) pp.
28-41 (p. 38).
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