McGough 1

Anthony McGough
Marianne Ahokas
English 120
4/29/14
Rebellion
Coming out of World War II, America was one of, if not the most wealthy country in the
world. As reaffirmed by The American Adventure series, The Responsibilities of American
Citizenship and The Secret of American Production America was contributing 42% of the
worlds wealth and had twice the average living standards compared to most countries in Europe.
Both videos served as generous reminders to the American public of the 1950s just how good
they had it with the amount of production and economic success America was experiencing, and
that American citizenship was one of the most precious gifts on earth, all while projecting the
evils of communism. It also created a reassurance of the American way of life against the threat
of communism and socialism, as buying things like a suburban home or a dish washer while
people in communist countries couldnt, supported American ideals. In short, having money and
buying stuff was the best possible thing you could do. It was a form of propaganda that helped
mold the 50s ideology of white picket fenced houses and fancy dinner parties. The abundant
affluence of America changed the standard of living and with it, the ideas of what it meant to be
and act like an American citizen. Wealth could not only be seen as a sign of living status, but as a
sign of citizenship as well.

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Professor Ganus, noted young historian and at one time the history department chairmen
for Harding University, is the speaker for The American Adventure series, and teaches us that
capitalism and citizenship are inexplicably linked; that its our job as citizens to prosper under
the name of capitalism less we be influenced by communism and lose those principles with the
next generation. For the ideal American, money is the sole determinate of your standing as a
citizen. However, the 1950s, while being a time in America where people were proud to wear
their stars and stripes, many were feeling apathetic to ideas of capitalism and bourgeois
spending. Nancy Leskos chapter on containment cultures during the Cold War in her book, Act
Your Age!: A Cultural Construction of Adolescence, talks about adolescent teenagers who are
portrayed to rebel against some standard norm or social stigma. She cites Holden Caulfield from
The Catcher in the Rye as one of those rebellious teens.
Holden is an adolescent boy who seems to embody many of the rebellious traits
associated with teenagers in the 1950s. He hardly applies himself in schoolto the point of
being kicked out of manylies frequently to adults, and most notable of all, goes on a rather
reckless spending spree throughout the book, although it isnt to show off his social standpoint.
Holden is a curious case of how one fits into the affluent lifestyle of the time, while still
maintaining an indifferent attitude and rebelling against it. He falls in line with the discourse
Professor Ganus creates and simultaneously goes against it, agreeing with Leskos portrayal of
rebellious teenagers. Throughout the book, Holden spends the money given to him by his parents
on large amounts of liquor, a room at an upscale hotel and even a prostitute. These items alone
already show a contrast between what a responsible American would buy with his money
compared to someone like Holden. In contrast to his unsavory spending habits are his constant
observations of people less off than him. He isnt entirely snobbish about it, seeming to come off

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as nonchalant about his wealth, but his comments do carry a tone that reminds us of his upperclass heritage. One scene in particular shows us some of the thinking that goes on through the
mind of someone with a generous sum of money. Holden recalls one of his past roommates and
compares the suitcases each one of them brought:
It isnt important, I know, but I hate it when somebody has cheap suitcases. It sounds
terrible to say it, but I can even get to hate somebody, just looking at them, if they have
cheap suitcases with them I roomed with this boy, Dick Slagle, that had these very
inexpensive suitcases It depressed the holy hell out of me, and I kept wanting to throw
mine out or something, or even trade with him. Mine came from Mark Cross, and they
were genuine cowhide and all that crap, and I guess they cost quite a pretty penny (141).
Holden is able to channel the attitude of the affluent lifestyle many Americans had at the
time; being able to afford leather suitcases and feel more or less superior to those who couldnt.
Though, again, Holden still manages to do it without sounding like a complete snob, because he
himself ultimately doesnt want to live that life. As Lesko puts it, Holden recapitulated a more
principled American past, which could renew hope and self-creation by rejecting the conformist
phonies (126). Another way to look at it is that Holden is afraid of being absorbed into the
rich, capitalistic, phony America, where hell be forced to work in an office and make lots of
money, and ride cabs and buses, and go to the cinema: effectively, a slightly exaggerated day of a
50s middle-class American. Instead, Holden claims to want to live a simple life and build a
house somewhere in a remote location, away from the superfluous city life and the temptations
of money. In short, he doesnt want to be an American citizen.

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What makes Holden a unique and sometimes polarizing character is the contrast between
his words and actions. Deep down, Holden resents the affluent lifestyle, but doesnt discount the
amount of money he has. He takes part in the 50s culture of enjoying material goods, but has a
very critical mindset that is constantly analyzing and criticizing things, stopping him from being
a phony. Not to mention his constant remarks on the phonies around him making him resent not
so much the idea of wealth, but the phoniness it creates from people. He comments on how his
old headmaster at a previous school, Mr. Haas, would spend hours talking to the more well-off
parents, but if someone had little old funny-looking parents he would just barely shake their
hands and walk away. Later in the book, Holden would mention the bartender at a ritzy hotel that
would only talk to you if you were celebrity. Holden hates the full on snobbery people let off
when theyre trying to make an impression with influential or upper-class people. Its a cycle
created by the rising economic and social standard created by Americas new wealth. The
underlying context in both Mr. Hass interaction with below middle-class parents and Ganus
praise of the American capitalist system is that both fail to mention the lower-class or those
living on the poverty line. It isnt outright stated in The Catcher in the Rye either, but Holden
could be seen as a defender or advocate for the less wealthy with his scathing comments on the
phonies surrounding him.
Despite his rich background, Holden isnt fake with his money. He casuallyand
irresponsiblyspends it on alcohol and cigarettes in an attempt to treat himself to a good time
while avoiding his problems of flunking out of school. His spending habits come from a more
adolescent line of thinking and would later create a new demographic businesses would cater to
as shown by Leskos reports on market researcher Eugene Gilbert. Like Ganus, Gilbert believed
in the spirit of capitalism, and affirmed that the most important duty of a good American citizen

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was the skilled consumption of goods (125). He and many others would steer the market to fit
the teenagers interest, especially when their weekly income had increased from $2.50 to $10 by
1958 (125). Holdens spending could also be seen as part of his search for identity throughout the
book. Hes caught between not really knowing who he is, but knowing he doesnt want to be a
part of a consumer society. He wants things to stay the same; how they were when he was a kid.
When he goes to his old school to give a message to his younger sister Phoebe, he notes
everything about his school and how it hasnt changed from when he attended:
It was exactly the same as it was when I went there. They had the same big yard inside,
that was always sort of dark... They had those same white circles painted all over the
floor, for games and stuff. And those same old basketball rings without any netsjust the
backboards and the rings (259).
There are seldom times during the course of the story where Holden is truly happy, and
its during this moment of nostalgia we can see at least some sort of peace and contentment from
him at the sight of so many familiar things, which is why he grows upset at seeing the profanity
scribbled in various places. Holden holds contempt for things that change into something theyre
not and enjoys things that arent corrupted by money, like his old school, the museum, the
carousel in the park, and kids. He wants to escape somewhere where he wont have to deal with
all of the phoniness affluent society has to offer.
Ultimately, Holden disagrees with Professor Ganus discourse of a proud, wealthy
America and aligns himself with Leskos outlook on the rise of the adolescent. Holden has
money, plenty of it, but it didnt buy him happiness in the end. He is a rebel, an odd one to be
sure, but a rebel nonetheless He didnt want to be absorbed by the rise of consumer America and

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make it his sole purpose in life to try and make more money to spend it on material items; an
attitude that many would take in the 1960s during the Beat culture movement. One could look at
his spending habits as a wealthy someone with loose money burning a hole in their pocket, but
they reflect more of someone lost in a culture they dont like or understand. Holden himself even
admits that the beer and cigarettes he buys are bad for him, removing any ability to discredit his
statement on phonies. Either way, in todays America, you wouldnt find a college student
spending like that if they wanted to eat next week.

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Works Cited
Lesko, Nancy. Chapter 5: Cold War Containments: Freedom, Youth, and Identity in the 1950s.
Act Your Age!: A Cultural Construction of Adolescence. Second edition. New York:
Routledge 2012. Print: Taylor & Francis. Abingdon, UK.
Responsibilities of American Citizenship. Dir. Dr. George S. Benson. Perf. Professor Clifton L.
Ganus Jr. National Education Program, 1955. Sd, B&W.
Secret of American Production. Dir. Dr. George S. Benson. Perf. Professor Clifton L. Ganus Jr.
National Education Program, 1955. Sd, B&W.