Lessons Learned from "The Catcher in the Rye"

The Cather in the Rye is not a very long book, but it still has lessons that everyone should learn. The book shows that bullying is bad, and that people need to work hard in school if they want to go far and do well in life. The Catcher in the Rye describes how bullying took the life of a young boy at the Pencey boarding school. There was a small young boy who was constantly bullied and picked on by two older, bigger boys who thought that they ruled the school. They thought making fun of others made them appear cooler. They consistently bothered this boy until he was finally ready to snap. One night, the bullies went into this boy's room. They tried to force this boy to give them what they wanted. They yelled and screamed at him, but tonight, unlike the other nights, the boy screamed back. He threatened to kill himself, but like most other people, the older two boys did not believe him. He did follow through on his threat, though, and when they would not stop making fun of him, the boy jumped out of a high window. He was killed on impact, and everyone was shocked. There were many witnesses to his fall and death, and for quite a while, no one moved. A teacher finally came and picked up the body. The bullying from the older boys caused that one young boy to take his own life. People should not bully others, because they do not know the affect that their words and their actions will have on others. People should also work hard at school; Holden provides a great example of why. Holden Caulfield did not work hard in school, and had flunked out of numerous schools. His old professor told him that he would make nothing of himself if he did not work hard in school. This has been proved true through many life situations. Bullying and slacking off in school are bad, as is shown in The Catcher in the Rye.