A Message that Never Dies

The ideals behind self-discovery have been around for years, but in the 1950’s and 60’s the philosophy turned into a movement. In Pre-WWII society, people were always told one way or another, you are whoever your parents have been. In other words, if your dad was a successful rich politician, you would also be a successful rich politician. Therefore, as time went on, social classes became more and more separated. Eventually, this way of life was abolished, thanks to a crowd of Post-WWII teenagers who wanted more out of life then the white picket fence their parents built. The teens saw that the culture they lived in only acknowledge people who were of communal importance and not by their ideas. This corruption, that took place in the 1950’s and 60’s, caused teenagers to want to be seen as individuals rather than being stereotyped by their social class, and they did this by separating themselves from the masses. This idea turned into a rebellion that consumed the hearts and minds of every youth who demanded to know the truth about themselves. The ideals and struggles that came along with disconnecting from the social classes to find oneself, can be seen in the critically acclaimed novels The Catcher in the Rye and The Warriors.
The cause of this rebellion all started when WWII ended. When the war ended, everything in America seemed to be getting better, and everyone seemed happy. The economy was finally recovering from years of wars and depression. People were buying and going out more, which in return also helped the economy improve. With the end of WWII, GI’s were coming back home to their families. Many of these veterans went back to their blue collar jobs, while other soldiers took advantage of the GI Bill, went off to college, and became white collar workers. The transformation from GI to business man helped give the Post-WWII era a different name, the Suburban Era (Behind the Picket Fences). Since, the GIs were now professional business men; they had more than enough money to support their families, which were becoming bigger. Soon, the common household had about 5 –10 children, and the little farm houses and apartments that many small families lived in, could not hold them all, causing the development of suburbs. Suburbs insured a bigger home, with a safe environment to raise a child. When a family reached the haven of the suburbs, everyone knew that they were now the iconic “white” American family.
However, not every GI that came home had the same optimism, like so many of their brothers in arms. These GIs lost everything in the war, such as their faith, friends, and their own identity; therefore, when these soldiers came home they felt lost and confused. Yet, this sense of feeling lost, forced them to see that the world they grew up in was a lie. They saw that the social classes were becoming more segregated than before, and the invention of suburbia helped enforce this division. The young veterans also witnessed the discrimination against the classes through TV which idolized the iconic “white” American family. Every show focused on a white collar male taking care of his family, while his wife took care of the house and kids, all of whom live in a perfect suburb. The soldiers saw how these shows affected the young; making them think that the world was perfect as long as they lived the way their parents did. The soldiers saw, “The darker forces of human nature” (Slawenski) in these shows, because they were making the country more separated than it was before. Some of the older youths saw this as well, and decided that they needed to rise up. Showing people that what their parents, social class, and TV told them was a myth. They could make their own future.
With this philosophy, the Beat Generation was born. In the 1950’s the Beat Generation made sure that this message was heard by everyone, even if they did not want to listen. The leaders of the Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg, and others (Watson) stated that one of the ways that a person can find themselves is by simply getting away from it all. By escaping from a person’s class, a person can see and make their own judgments about the world they thought they knew. The Beat Generation obtained this idea from one of their favorite authors, Thoreau, who did the same thing, but at an extreme level. Many of the adults asked the teens why would they want to leave the safety of home, and the only answer these rebels had; it was just something they had to do. Holden Caulfield (the main character in The Catcher in the Rye) escaped from his world by walking around NYC alone, allowing him to see the world he knew without someone influencing his decisions and thoughts. Every time he went in a cab or started a conversation, the older generation asked him where his family was and told him they would be worried if he was missing. They did not understand that Holden needed to be alone because everyone had a dream for him. His parents wanted him to go to Yale and get a good job, while his sister thought Holden would be a good lawyer. Holden does not want any of these futures, because they are not his dreams. Holden needed to runaway and discover who he was, before he decided what to do with his life.
One of the leaders of the Beats, William Burroughs said, “The only possible ethic is to do what one wants to do” (Watson), which stressed the idea to be your own person and not who your parents or society wanted you to be. The Beat Generation felt that when a person does what they want, they will further separate themselves from their social importance and become closer to who they really are. Sometimes this made life tough for the young rebels, because they were constantly criticized for doing what they wanted. The revolutionaries wore clothes and did things that seemed odd to the “Bigshot gangster football coaches” (Watson), which is what Jack Kerouac called the average American. For example, they listen to rock music, wore jeans and t-shirts, did not follow the rules and did drugs (occasionally), however, because the rebels liked it, they did not give in to society’s disapproval. An example of doing what feels right can be seen when Holden Caulfield states, “I put my red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked, and then I yelled, ‘Sleep tight, ya morons!’” (68, The Catcher in the Rye). Holden is saying that he is tired of people telling him how and what he should wear. However, because his will to separate himself from his class was strong, Holden did not care, and told everyone who was corrupted by their class, to just deal with it because, he was who he was.
With the end of the 50’s, the adults felt a “brisk feeling of hope” (LIFE) because they believed that the chaos that the Beat Generation brought would be finally over. However, they had no idea what was brewing in the souls of the new generation. When the new decade arrived, so did the new revolutionaries. These new rebels, who were strongly influenced by the Beats, fought harder for the things they believed in. They demanded, “Immediate change…over, youth, violence, (and) lifestyles” (LIFE), causing more trouble than the Beats ever caused. These youths fought for individualism, by expending the ideals of the Beat Generation, such as separate from society, however instead of doing the journey of self discovery alone, a person should find a group, which would help them in the long run. The Hippies (which is the name society gave to these young freedom fighters) thought of this because they secretly knew that the journey of self enlightenment was a scary one, and no one should do it alone. A situation of how scary a journey like this can be can be seen when Hinton a character from The Warriors, is separated from his gang, and is alone in a subway tunnel. During this time, Hinton is scared and starts to think and question things that cannot be answered without the aid of someone else being there. These questions cause him to curse his fellow brothers and rethink about all his beliefs, which cause him to fall into a quick and dark depression. However, he eventually is reunited with his group and his sadness seems to melt away. This fear that caused Hinton so much pain and confusion is what influenced the Hippies to form groups; therefore no one is left alone like Hinton. The Hippies felt that the journey to self discovery is a road that people should travel together. And as time went on the Hippies eventually became bigger due to this ideal.
Overtime the groups eventually came together as one; leaving all the revolutionists to have the same idea, which was that everyone should live similar to this. This lifestyle that the Hippies were talking about was a society in which there was no social class to judge anyone on, everyone was an individual and were judged be their ideas, not their status in society. The Hippies spread this word all over the country; their message was even enforced by some iconic song writers (bands) from that time, such as, The Beatles, The Who, Bob Dylan, Janice Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, and others. All these artists helped spread the word about how important it was to separate from social classes and their corruption because they also saw what was wrong with the world that they all inhabited. However, it was hard to motivate people to do something that no one else had done. Therefore, the musicians of this time focused on telling the public that they can accept these new ideals because it is a free country and a person can do whatever they want to. As a result, The Beatles stated, “I know you, you know me. One thing I can tell you is you got to be free. Come together” (Lyrics.com). The Beatles were saying to the older generations; do not let other people influence your life. By ignoring the people from a person’s social class, that person can make their own decisions, which would cause them to join the Hippies and fight for the belief they all believe in. Some adults were open to these new ethics, but they did not want to express it. They were afraid their peers would abandon them, making these adults ignored the teens. This made the rebels feel betrayed by their own countrymen, causing them anger and frustration. Ismael, a respected gang leader in The Warriors, felt the same betrayal caused by his brothers’ fear of change. Ismael wanted change by combining all the gangs together as one (similar to the Hippies view on how society should be). Unfortunately, his comrades did not feel the same way, “They aimed their guns at the circle of light” (42 The Warriors) where Ismael was speaking, and “They fired” (42 The Warriors), killing him. His fellow gang members did not want to change their ways, and the only way they knew how to ignore Ismael was to get rid of him. However, this caused Ismael followers to continue his efforts in unifying everyone, by showing the people who caused this division that they were not going to go away easily. The gang members fought the police because they were the ones that made them all hate each other. The Hippies marched to Capitol Hill because that was the place that was making the public reject their ideals.
From 1967 to 1969, the youth rebels stormed Capitol Hill. The Hippies knew that the government controlled the general public. Therefore, if they wanted to change society, the Hippies had to convince the leaders that their choices were wrong due to the fact that they limited people from trying to break away from their social class. For example, during this time the Vietnam War was at it highest point. The government did not have enough willing soldiers to go over and fight, and as a result the President and his followers agreed upon a forced draft. Many people disagreed with this idea because it was wrong. Most people did not want to go over and fight in a war they did not believe in, however if a person had the money to buy his way out of the war, then they did not have to go. For that reason people joined the Hippies, because they finally understood what these teens were talking about. The adults now understood what the Hippies meant about classes and their corruption. This law doomed the lower class, but favored the higher class, making it hard for a person of the lower class to try and make their own life. In October 1967 at the Pentagon, 70,000 protesters tried to invade the building. They wanted to show the government that this draft was unconstitutional, and that the government could not make them do anything they did not want to do. Even though many of the rebels were beaten up, the others did not leave. They stayed outside the Pentagon, yelling, “Hell, no, we won’t go” (LIFE), along with burning their draft cards. This event caused even more protests in Washington DC, showing the government that these motivated youths were never going to give up, until their voices were heard. In The Warriors, Hinton faced authority with the same determination, by never giving up against The Sheriff. Even though it was an arcade game, Hinton felt that if he gave up, than he would be letting down his gang and the philosophies they were fighting for. Hinton made himself keep fighting “For his Family… (and) for himself” (164 The Warriors). Eventually Hinton won, which made him, feel that he finally beat the lawmakers at their own game. For years they wanted to stop Hinton’s lifestyle because it was “destructive”, when in reality there was nothing wrong with it. The Hippies acted the same way, stating the same message at every protest, until they were heard. Eventually they were acknowledged, because the government finally started to pull troops out of Vietnam, causing the forced draft to be terminated, leaving many protesters pleased. The Hippies saw that these acts happened because the leaders of their country finally listened to them and their principles. Now, the government was finally thinking as individuals rather than their political party (social class for politicians). The teens’ message about separating from ones class had finally taken effect at the top of society, leaving the Hippies to believe that their fight was over.
Even though the Youth Movement ended, their ideas about class and individualism still needed to be enforced in the years to come. In the 1970’s and 1990’s these philosophies started to reappear, however, the teens of these decades used their own versions. In the 70’s, teens believed that if a person did whatever they wanted, then they would find themselves. This eventually turned into the philosophy of anarchy. These Punk-Rockers or Anarchists (which where the teens nicknames), felt that a person needed to separate from their government and then demolish it. It was the government who was stopping people from finding their own identities. One of the most popular punk-rock bands, the Sex Pistols stated this generations ideals by shouting, “God save the Queen, the fascist regime, they made you a moron” (Lyrics.com). The Pistols were saying that because the British government had control over the society, which made self-discovery limited, every person was slowly becoming a moron. This song was telling the general public to make sure a person does not become an idiot; they have to go against their government, insuring that they would have the freedom to search for their identity. In the 90’s however, the youths of the X Generation, mostly showed their anger with the world in their music. Throughout the years, teens were always protesting and fighting with the police and government for change, but during this time, youths just said it all in songs. In these songs, bands would talk about how it is them against the world. In a way, it seem like they were agreeing with what the older generation thought of them, lazy and unmotivated. Kurt Cobain, the songwriter and front man of Nirvana, simply sang, “I’m worse at what I do best, and for this gift I feel blessed, our little group has always been, and will until the end” (Lyrics.com) Kurt is saying what every teen felt at that time, which was that they are who they are. If the older generation thought they were unmotivated and lazy then, they were. At least they knew who they were and that they were making their own lives, because they broke away from their parents shadows. These youths saw where they stood in the world and did not care what the adults called them, because that was who they were, and no one could change that.
When the war in the Middle East erupted in the 2000’s, everything in society took a turn for the worse. The economy was plummeting, the richer were getting richer once more, and the government was supporting only itself again. The country seemed to be going backwards. People were judging people by class more frequently than usual. The teens of this generation felt lost and confused, not knowing which side to chose or whether or not to support the War on Terror. Suddenly, the ideals mentioned in The Catcher in the Rye and The Warriors, started to come back, and teens were starting to follow them just like the Beats and the Hippies used to. Rock music became main stream again, expressing the importance of individualism by separating oneself from ones social class, and even from the government. The rock band Green Day, were one of many bands who took the oath to show the world these themes in their music. Green Day’s American Idiot did exactly that by making these struggles be seen not only in their lyrics, but also in the Broadway play American Idiot. The Broadway play interpreted these subjects by making the three main characters face them. The three main characters planned to go away from home (only two went), similar to Holden Caulfield, but unfortunately they split up from there, and experienced what Hinton did in the subway tunnel. In the song Jesus of Suburbia, the three characters (and Billie Joe Armstrong the front man and song writer for Green Day) state their pain about not knowing who they were by proclaiming, “To live and not to breath, is to die in tragedy. So I run, I run away. To find what I believe” (Lyrics.com). These lyrics were what the Beat Generation and the Hippies were telling people along, and here they are being brought up again. It refers to the Beats idea about finding oneself, because it refers to just getting away from the world a person once knew. It explains the Hippies philosophy of individualism since it mentions the pain there is when a person is tethered by their social class, because they are unable to make their own choices, for the reason that they are afraid of what other people will think.
Throughout the decades, teens have fought for their right to be themselves. It started with the Beat Generation who planted the idea that in order to find oneself, a person needs to separate from their social class. In the 60’s the Hippies took this philosophy and brought it up to The White House because the government controls society, and they cause the social classes to become more distant from each other. The Hippies knew that if they wanted to change society they had to show the government what their flaws were. These youths did not stop until the government heard their voices, which helped end the Vietnam War. After these events, future generations used these examples to remind people the importance of being your own person. Today, these ideals of separating from ones class, is more mainstream than ever, due to the war in the Middle East. This war caused people to re-think who they were, making these people rediscover the works of The Catcher in the Rye and The Warriors. These texts reminded the youths of today what happened all those years ago, the message those generations fought for, and the philosophy that should never be forgotten.