The Catcher in the... Salt?

In reading The Price of Salt, I can’t help but draw many connections to the The Cather in the Rye. The character(s) in both works just seem to have so much in common: unlimited time and financial means, and a love of coffee, cigarettes, and booze. Yes, I do admit these observations are merely superficial, but they’ve lead me to take a closer look at the works’ similarities in a more serious manner. In doing so, I think I’ve found more than merely superficial similarities between the texts.

While The Price of Salt and The Catcher in the Rye differ dramatically in style, I find that, in content, the main characters share much in common. Just like Houldin, Therese is young and disenfranchised. While not as outspoken, Therese is obviously in conflict with the status quo, and one can further argue that both are guilty of over analyzing nearly everything. However, the similarities do not stop here, but are rooted more deeply in the narrative.

Although the narration styles of The Price of Salt and The Catcher and the Rye differ drastically, I view both and possessing, at least potentially, an “unreliable narrator.” While this claim main seem ludicrous as The Price of Salt is set in 3rd person, the limited rather than omniscient style allows for this possibility. As I mentioned before, both Houldin and Therese seem to “over analyze” and thus we can never be quite sure if they are providing us a “true” account of events. I would argue that Therese’s seemingly imaginative conflict with Abby supports this claim.