![]() Holden is clearly confused about where he lands between these two opposing ends of the spectrum. On the other, he is upset by and quietly sensitive to sexual energy. On one hand Holden is excited, and at times overwhelmed, by sex. ![]() It stinks, if you analyze it,” (Salinger, 62). The thing is, though, I don't like the idea. Both perspectives are showcased as Holden reflects on an usual sexual scene observed outside his hotel room window “I can even see how it might be quite a lot of fun, in a crumby way, and if you were both sort of drunk and all, to get a girl and squirt water or something all over each other's face. But there is also an equally strong part of Holden that wants sex to be intimate and incredibly personal. A part of Holden does experience sexual excitement he goes on dates regularly, comments on girl’s appearances, and is jealous of his roommate Stradlater’s sexually adventurous ways (Salinger, 43). While all of Holden’s friends are making out with girls, and then vividly retelling stories about said making out sessions, Holden can’t quite assimilate into that culture. Holden tells his reader that at Pencey “all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day,” (Salinger, 131). We see this open sexual excitement in Holden’s private school, Pencey Prep. In a predictable reaction to this uptight sexual culture, the younger generation rebelled and embraced sex, which later partially motivated the sexual revolution. Only private, vanilla-no-sprinkles-please sex was acceptable, and even this ultrabland intercourse was never spoken about. The only officially endorsed sexual behavior was monogamous heterosexual marriage,” (Ferguson, 2). Even masturbation was despised and thought to be the source of many physical and psychological ills. For the older generation, which includes Holden’s distant parents, “most sex in America had been forced into the closet.
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