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The major theme in The Catcher in the Rye is that of alienation within a society that is increasingly sacrificing its value system for the sake of monetary gain. It is also that of alienation within a society that is conformist, where no one has the courage to be true, honest, and different. Holden Caulfield is a solitary rebel who is alienated because he cannot conform. Holden perceives his loneliness andisolation and wants to break the confines of his seclusion by making some form of human connection. Unfortunately, all the people he reaches out to are unable to accept him. Holden is faced with denial and rejection from all quarters. Throughout the book, Salinger stresses the need for interaction and communication, which seem to be disappearing in the post-war America. J. D. Salinger presents an image of an atypical adolescent boy in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is much more than a troubled teen going through "a phase." Indeed Holden is a very special boy with special needs. He doesn’t understand and doesn’t wish to understand the world around him. In fact most of the book details his guilty admissions of all the knowledge he knows but wishes he didn’t. Though his innocence regarding issues of school, money, and sexua