Jake Whitney Week 5

Holden is the ultimate rebel. First he rebels in school, always taking the hard route, never just doing what the teacher asks. This lands him in deep academic trouble and is expelled. Before this can happen he continues his rebellion by starting a fight with his roommate over a petty issue. Then on the train he rebels again, lying to another students mom. All these events are never really explained as to why, but if I had to guess I would say that he is very frustrated with the way he is treated by the school and his peers. He then goes to New York and drinks, clubs and smokes to excess. His message is never really clear, only that he craves interaction with others but then turns them away as soon as he receives it. His motives are never really clear throughout the whole novel, but only his deep frustration with anything that displeases him. He rebels against everything but his actions repeatedly land him in a deeper and deeper frustration, or possibly depression, with why society does not conform to his standards. Is it society's place to conform to one man or man's place to conform to society?