The 1950s was a decade filled with turmoil, confusion, and hypocrisy. Holden can be seen as a by-product of that, not as the classic "oddball" he is depicted as. This is Salinger's way of critiquing the culture. The time period in which Holden grew up was full of hypocrisy and phoniness, which Holden saw right through. He didn't but into this theory, and thus, it made him different. Thus, the hypocritical society Holden grew up …showed first 75 words of 786 total…

…showed last 75 words of 786 total…would have bee much different, stemming from him being able to express himself the way he liked. People now are much more open and accepting than those in his generation. Holden's personality would lend itself much more readily to today's liberal society than that closed uptight 1950s culture he just couldn't find a niche in. In conclusion, Holden and his problems were just a casualty of the fraudulent social system in place at the time.