Nostalgia and the Catcher in the Rye

"The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move... I mean, you'd be different in some way - I can't explain what I mean. And even if I could, I'm not sure I'd feel like it."

At first glance, it may seem that nostalgia has nothing to do with happiness; after all, most would not describe the feeling of nostalgia as a happy one. However, upon further introspection, we realize that it is only possible for us to be nostalgic about the things that made us happy, and so the objects of our nostalgia actually point us towards the constitution of our happiness. The Catcher in the Rye (CR) is one of my favorite books, it is a comfort book, and one that I like to reread. Incidentally, it is also a book about nostalgia, and one of the reasons that I love CR so much is because it presents profound insights about the nature of nostalgia, and therefore happiness, through simple yet elegant prose. 

Before diving deep into specific examples, let us first set up the general framework with which we will think about CR's discussion of nostalgia. The central focus of the novel is Salinger's portrayal of Holden (our protagonist) as a passionate rebel against the very concept of maturity" Holden is terrified of entering the adult world, which he views with cynicism as one filled with “phonies.” While the most direct interpretation of Holden's fears, and the one often taught in classrooms, is that he fears the inauthenticity of the adult world, I would like to offer an alternative interpretation for the purpose of the present analysis. I would like to argue that Holden's fear of the adult world stems fundamentally from the fear of complexity, that the problem of complexity is the fundamental problem that we all face, and the greatest obstacle we have on our pursuit of happiness. In this sense, it is not "phony" people that Holden fears per se, but rather his fears are based on his inability to successfully deal with "phony" people and to navigate a world filled with them.

For example, Holden says that “the best thing, though in [the museum of natural history] was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move."Holden loves the museum for how static it is and acquires feelings of stability and certainty from the fact that he remembers where all of the exhibits. Symbolically, the museum embodies the world Holden wishes he lives in, a place where everything is forever frozen in time, because he is terrified by unpredictability and change. I argue that we are all like Holden, that we are all deeply terrified by unpredictability and change. Indeed, we reminisce about the past precisely because the past is by definition contained in our comfort zones, and contain all the things that we knew had made us happy. 

In contrast, the present, particularly in the context of the pandemic, is highly uncertain period. As a result, we are forced to constantly take risks that we may not be completely comfortable with. This is not to say that we cannot be happy while embracing change, I am not denying that a significant number, or indeed a majority of people, prefer change from time to time; what I am arguing is that there is a limit to each individual on how much change and uncertainty they can handle in their lives, and that when this limit is breached, it is natural to turn towards the past. 

A further example of Holden’s fear of change and desire to cling to the past is also shown when he describes to Phoebe his dream to be the catcher in the rye. He wishes to stand in a field of rye where children play besides the daunting cliff of maturity. But whenever one of the children is about to go over the cliff, he would catch them. The metaphor of the cliff is fitting since the transition to the adult world represents the death of innocence and simplicity (and perhaps the birth of maturity and complexity). Indeed, when we feel nostalgic about the past, we may start to conceptualize it as "simpler times" where we were free (and indeed, carefree) from the knowledge of the present, and the complexities of life which accompany that knowledge.  

We have now described two of the things in life that generally keeps people happy: a certain degree of stability and a lack of overwhelming complexity. However, there is a third element to happiness: stable and well-defined relationships. For many, relationships are the means by which we situate ourselves in the world, and in them, we discover meaning for the lives that we live. In a way, situating ourselves with respect to other people is one of the best ways to solve the complex problem of finding a place for ourselves in the world. Indeed, we are uncertain if there exist any other way. In media, we see that reminiscing about past friends and spouses is a common theme when depicting senior citizens or those who have lost someone important to them. The very fact that people are often at the center of nostalgic feelings shows that relationships between people have the potential to create happiness. 

In CR, Holden remains so fixated on the material object of Allie's glove because to him, it represents some connection to the spirit of Allie. Holden wrote Stradlater’s essay on the glove, and was understandably offended when Stradlater did not properly appreciate his work. For Holden, the glove is the piece of Allie that he carries around, and helps to bring about feelings of love and nostalgia. 

In summary, nostalgia can be interpreted as an introspective experience where we remind ourselves of the things in our past that made us happy. CR offers perceptive insights into the type of things that we generally reminisce about: points in our lives where we experience greater stability, times where we felt the world was simpler, and people in our past who offered us a reference point for our place in the world. These types of experiences can genererally help make people happy and satisfied since they help us solve the problem of complexity in our lives. When faced with overwhelming complexity in one form or another, we turn towards our past to help us. In this sense, nostalgia can be understood not as a mere waste of time, but also as a natural reaction that is necessary for our well being as we deal with the problems of every day life. 

"My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder's mitt. He was left-handed. The thing that was descriptive about it, though, was that he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere. In green ink. He wrote them on it so that he'd have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat. He's dead now."