the Catcher in the Rye 

                                                    by J.D. Salinger                  Hannah Wehrle 809

              In the spectacular classic the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the author shows us readers that even when life gives you troubles you have to push through and find that light at the end of the tunnel because you know that will make life all worthwhile and one action can completely ruin your reputation when that person who commited the action really isn't who you are on the inside.

               The main character, Holden Caulfield is determined to find happiness and a place where he fits in and belongs. In the beginning, he drops out of school and gets addicted to cigarettes. He wants to go on a journey to find himself, because his expensive, preppy, boarding school isn't exactly the right place to do that. An example from the book is when he leaves school and takes a train to New York City, far away from everything involving the kids form the boarding school. He only has a limited amount of money, yet he gives a majority of it to a couple of poor women struggling to pay for a breakfast, this shows that even though he smokes bad things and dropped out of school, he's still a good hearted person on the inside when it comes to giving and caring.

              At the end of the book, when he's rejoined with his little sister, Phoebe, he takes her to the park and walks around with her. He isn't exactly ecstatic but he's happier then before at boarding school. Suddenly she's urging him to the carousel and he laughs and happily agrees. As he watches her glide in circles he realizes how special moments like these are and how happy he is when he's with his family and the people that care most about him. This also shows that no matter what he did in the past he's still a sweet kid and that this was the light at the end of the tunnel. He made it finally to the other side of it, where happiness is the only emotion you can feel.

           As you can see, after reading this book I realized no matter how bad a situation is and how badly you mess up, there is still that wonderful moment that we all experience in the right context. My examples described prove my claim that no matter how hard things are you will make it through with the people you love and care about by your side.