Narrators are essential to any artistic story. Having a person frame and tell the story to the audience is a necessity. There are some standard expectations that arise when a narrator enters the fold of a story. Unreliable narrators are a fun subversion of this tried and true formula. This is a narrator that tells the story in a way that is false or untrustworthy to varying degrees. Why do I love them? A well-written unreliable narrator can elevate a compelling story — especially in comparison to a standard narrator — by giving the audience a new perspective as well as unexpected plot twists.

Most people read J.D. Salinger’s classic “The Catcher in the Rye” in high school. I did not. My English teacher was more of a “The Great Gatsby” kind of person, but that’s an article for another day. Funnily enough, I only got to read Salinger’s novel in college and I loved it. Shockingly though, I told many people about it in my life and they all apparently hated it. My friends in my English class and — hell — even my professor, who, in my eyes, could do no wrong (she gave me an A for the class and didn’t assign any papers) hated it. When I asked all these people why they hated the book, it all came back to one complaint — Holden Caulfield, the main character and subsequent narrator just being unlikeable as hell.

I don’t care what the naysayers bemoan. I love Holden. At his core, he’s an incredibly flawed character. He’s selfish, quick to anger and has a chip on his shoulder the size of Manhattan, but damn it all if he isn’t just one of the rawest characters I’ve ever read. What I mean by raw here is the fact that the entire book is told through his perspective, and there is just so much personality here. I’ve heard some academics say that, when writing narrations, using personal pronouns as little as possible is recommended because it may give the reader a reminder that they’re reading a book. Salinger says screw that. Holden says “I” so many times it feels like it’s going out of style. But, instead of making the reader less immersed, it does the opposite.

The reader feels so attached to Holden, for better or worse. This insight into his headspace affects how the audience views the story. Holden can be very hypocritical in his actions, mostly due to his naivety and interesting mental condition. While I was reading, I had myself asking the same question. What exactly is Holden’s deal? What is he suffering from? He lies a lot, to both himself and to people in his life that he cares about. At the heart of Holden’s anguish, lies the passing of his brother, Allie. This is an event that gives the reader ample subtext into why Holden is the way he is in terms of his delusions.

Allie died of leukemia. He was 11 and Holden was 13. Holden felt responsible for his death, which shows how selfless this poor kid is. Holden can’t help but feel like he should have saved his brother from a disease he had nothing to do with. This traumatic event alters how Holden sees the world and recounts his story to us. Holden isn’t unreliable in the sense that what he recounts is fantasy, but that he acts in opposition to what he says and supposedly believes. Why does he hate movies, yet is always going out to see them? Why does he act either incredibly kind or stand-offish to random strangers he runs into? Holden isn’t a standard unreliable narrator who gets facts wrong intentionally, but his characterization speaks volumes here. Holden’s trauma from his brother’s passing informs the audience of his unreliability.

When I consume stories, I put myself in direct comparison to the protagonist. Reading this novel as an adult, I view Holden not as a gaslighting twerp, but as a troubled boy. I can’t help but want to do something to take care of this poor kid because he’s just so damn all over the place. He’s constantly lying to himself, he gaslights the people closest to him and he sometimes breaks down and fantasizes about death. I read this boy’s story, and it just breaks my damn heart.

I see a kid who is marred by the negativity of life, and that seeps into every aspect of his existence. Holden is a great narrator because he subverts audience expectations. He’s very untraditional when it comes to narrators since he doesn’t necessarily lie to the audience — he just sees things in such an off and skewed way that anyone can tell is wrong. This doesn’t mean he’s a bad person. He’s just a flawed and deeply unsettled boy, and that’s why I love the story. Holden is a human. He has insecurities and doubts and is kind of a little shit. But, he has a heart of gold deep down, and the audience can see this in how he talks to his sister, some of his friends and the audience themselves.

Nicolas Scagnelli is a senior majoring in English.

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