Despite many challenges to the claim that people are the cause of their own social rejection, inevitable facts reveal that people are indeed the cause of their own social rejection. Throughout Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield, does many things to cause his social rejection. Researchers on the topic have also found substantial information to defend the claim. There are a plethora of facts to defend the fact that people are the cause of their own social rejection and they are undeniable.
In Catcher and the Rye, J.D. Salinger, Holden has several traits which help to cause his own social rejection, one of which is his over-persistence. At the Lavender Room, Holden spots three somewhat attractive older women. He decides that he wants to dance with the most attractive, blonde one, so he goes over to talk to them. The girls are too busy searching for celebrities to really pay attention to the minor trying to ask them to dance. They don’t want to dance with just a kid, so they don’t pay too much attention to him. His persistence keeps him going until finally they dance with him. After he has several dances with the three girls, they tell him they must leave, even though it is not late and they have not been there long. His persistence annoyed the three girls in the Lavender Room, causing them to leave; he caused his own social rejection.
B. Bradford Brown, an educational psychologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, has researched causes of social rejection and his findings also defend the claim that people bring the harassment on themselves. He found that, “They become outcasts by virtue of their personality or their interests or activities” (2). He also believes that “Some teens have poor social skills or their peers view them as immature. They may [also] say inappropriate things or act in an aggressive or disruptive way” (2). When people do awkward things or things that people consider ‘weird’, it makes sense that they are socially rejected. If people controlled these actions, they may not be as rejected because not as many people would consider them ‘weird’.
From personal experience, I know first-hand that people are the cause of their social rejection. When one socially rejects another person, they in turn get socially rejected. My friends and I socially reject many people to be honest. I feel bad doing so sometimes because I feel guilty, but what goes around comes around. When a time came for me to work in the same group as one of the kids we often rejected, I was rejected. This kid had friends in the group and I did not. Him and his friends rejected me the entire class period and I had trouble doing the assignment because I could not work well with my peers. I socially rejected this kid and in turn, I was socially rejected.
In conclusion, it is undeniable that people are the cause of their own social rejection. Holden in Catcher in the Rye helps to defend this claim as do educational psychologists’ studies. I have caused my own social rejection which is even further assurance that people cause their own rejection. If one wants to steer clear of being socially rejected, it makes sense that one thinks about their actions and whether or not they can lead to social rejection.