Yes, that Holden, and that Naruto. Because I can.

For any of you not all that in with the world of anime blogs, the latest craze is trying to compare The Catcher in the Rye to anime stuff.

Catcher is about this guy Holden, and when I heard the people talk about it (and boy did I hear them talk), I heard a lot of this “Holden” talk. First name terms, our mate Holden. Generations of youths relating to him, an enduring friend to the adolsecent. Of course, when I finally read it, it was the authority of the literary cannon more than this idea of this “Holden” which prompted me. But I still expected to in some way relate.

And so I started the book, and boy did he piss me off. Maybe I was a few years too old to be meeting him, but I was overcome with a sense of surprise that so many people could actually sympathise with this vile little tosspot. That this was the 50s countercultural icon, the outsider as teenager. And then, because he actually was (is?) a good writer, Salinger won me round, and got me in touch with the humanity of his creation.

That’s my enduring memory of the book – being made to feel like I understood a wanker, and maybe not wanting to call him names so much. And being made to do so by being given a guided tour of his dealings which showed what he was like behind the bullshit. Because really, most people are wankers, but that doesn’t mean we have to hate everybody.

So, why fucking Naruto. Just because I woke up feeling like a wanker today? Well, yes. But anyway. Naruto (the show) also succeeds in making me fond of a guy I didn’t exactly feel drawn to. So let’s just go over the obvious faults. He’s dumb, loud, obnoxious, naive.

And how do we come to like him? Well, for a start, he’s an underdog, a contrast to smug Sasuke. He also doesn’t get the girl, which can only help. If I was irritated, I didn’t feel at all revolted, the plot made this loudmouth as sympathetic as it could.

But he also turns out to be heroic. Like most people who enjoyed the show, I feel fondly for the period when Naruto was above all an inspiration. When he wasn’t the super-powerhouse type, when he was a promising kid with the right attitude. He did the right thing, never gave up and all that – and merely doing that made the world better, made him a hero. And it’s this understanding on the part of the audience which sees us forgive Naruto his loudness, because we see that it’s just a part of how he becomes a hero to his friends.

My comparison is based in two stories which set out to reveal protagonists, and so change our views of them. Salinger did it by trying to show us Holden’s, for want of a better word, soul. That feeling of getting to see the heart of a person kind of parallels the role of Naruto as hero. We see a “true” person beneath the façade, the bit of the character that matters. But what we see in a person’s soul, what it is that matters in these two worlds, is very different.

Thing is, the boy Holden has his little dream – and it’s vague, impossible. It’s egotistical (who catches the catchmen?) but basically kind, a very human combination. It doesn’t make him a good person, but it puts us in touch with him. Naruto’s dream is completely egotistical (perhaps excusably so). But it’s also concrete, and in seeking it he takes on a way of living which genuinely does make him a good person.

Thing is, being so amazing, Naruto’s inner life is incredible. Revealing the mind of Holden above all means making him more human. Revealing Naruto pulls us away from his foibles, and makes him extraordinary.

You get two different sorts of soul. Salinger’s soul is a deep rooted common humanity. In Naruto it’s an equally deep rooted capacity for a person to become almost mythically immense. Relating to people who share a mental core, or relating to those who share a great potential. Somehow I’m able to feel for both views of humanity. Perhaps the key to the view of the soul is the starting position. If a person is a wanker it matters that we can come and see them as kind. If a person is a fool it matters that we can come to see them as incredible. When we say we “relate” perhaps we just accept that a person is more than the simple picture in our heads.

To wrap it up. Holden is always going to be a wanker, but Catcher lets us accept people despite their faults. Naruto was never a wanker, but his show invites us to overlook his irritations because of his virtues. Coburn may well be a wanker, but wait till you see his phony bunshin no jutsu human pyramid cannon – you won’t relate, but it sure is impressive.