Holden Caulfield (born
c.1932) is the fictional teenage
protagonist and
narrator of author
J. D. Salinger's 1951 novel
The Catcher in the Rye. Since the book's publication, Holden has become an icon for teenage
rebellion and
angst, and now stands among the most important characters of 20th-century American literature. The name Holden Caulfield was used in an unpublished short story written in 1942 and first appeared in print in 1945.