Holden's is the story of many young people on the margins. His deviant behavior is not wanton evildoing, but rather arises mostly out of inexperience, from a series of hardships and failures, or from the evils of the world around him.
霍頓的故事正是許多邊緣少年的心聲，他們的偏差行為並非十惡不赦，多半是懵懂無知，或是來自於太多挫敗經驗，甚至是受大人世界的醜惡污染。