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The catcher in the rye overview essay
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In The Catcher In The Rye, J.D. Salinger utilizes flashback and allusion to Robert Burns’ poem “Comin’ Thro The Rye” to illustrate Holden’s dream of preserving the innocence of children, “Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules”. Holden’s love for the innocence of childhood makes him very hesitant in the transition of being an adult. Usually, Holden finds children to be straightforward and easy going. This is because they always say what they mean, and never try to sugarcoat anything just to try and fit into society. He uses his younger sister Phoebe as an example of this innocence when he says, “I mean if you tell old Phoebe something, she knows exactly what the hell you’re talking about. I mean you can even take her anywhere with …show more content…
Holden’s description of his sister represents her as a child who is always willing to speak her mind and not say certain things just to fit in with everyone else. He feels this way about most children in general, not just his sister Phoebe. He loves all of the personalities of an average child and is not willing to give all of that up just to become an adult. Holden though thinks he can find relief by saving the innocence of others, especially children. When Holden talks about children and fearing them of becoming adults, he says that "I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff…. I just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy but that's the only thing I'd really like to be" (Salinger 173). It seems like the only thing he wants to do right now is to save children from taking a terrible fall into an abyss known as adulthood. Holden would try to keep Phoebe as clean as possible on anything inappropriate that could affect her. One example is when Holden saw swearing words on walls at Phoebe’s elementary school, he tried to erase them out of disbelief, “I saw something that drove me
This metaphorically explains how he feels about Allie. Holden wishes he could somehow save him from leukemia, even though it is uncontrollable. Also, when his sister, Phoebe, rides the carousel Holden thinks about telling her to be careful and not fall, but he refrains because he realizes if she falls, she falls; there is nothing he can do about it. This is significant because it shows how he is learning to understand that he has to let children live their lives and grow on their own. Holden initially wants to be a guardian for all children protecting them from pain, but he later learns that his approach of being overprotective is not
Unlike other protagonists with amazing superpowers or cunning wits, the characters from the film Rushmore, and the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” share many of the same characteristics. In Wes Anderson’s film, Rushmore, the main character, Max Fischer, played by Jason Schwartzman has an unprecedented amount of similarities to J.D Salinger’s character Holden Caulfield from “The Catcher in the Rye”. Both stories focus on the idea of children wanting to grow up quickly whilst still being too immature to do so. The similarities include their personality traits, and the relationships they have, but the characters also differ in one major way, their views on sex. These similarities create a feel of familiarity in the reader or viewer allowing them
Innocence and kindheartedness is displayed in the novel through Holden's young sister, Phoebe. Whenever Holden is depressed about being alone he thinks of memories with his younger sister Phoebe and feels completely better. Phoebe is always there for her brother to listen to his stories and complaints.
Holden is intelligent and sensitive, but his thoughts and feelings are full of cynicism and negativity. He sounds bored and tired with almost everybody and everything. Holden constantly focuses on the hypocrisy and social rules of the world around him, and judges them to be oppressive and phony. Holden uses his cynicism and negativity to distance himself from almost everyone. However, Holden has good memories and thoughts about his younger sister, Phoebe, and of his younger brother Allie, who died a couple of years ago.
...oes want them to turn into “phonies.” Holden seeks for a peaceful and uncorrupt world but he cannot obtain that due to the actions of others. Despite Holden’s attitude and outlook on life, he is quite passionate. Although he is a firm pessimist, calling every person he comes across a “phony,” there is an alternate side to him. In his interaction with Phoebe and the other children in the book, he tries to protect them from the rest of society, since children are still naïve and pure. It is justifiable why Holden craves to preserve the innocence of others. For most of us, growing up, we begin to understand more. We start to look at life in a different perspective, different from the one we did when we were young, but as a person who has seen and experienced more in life.
This reveals Holden’s fantasy of an idealistic childhood and his role as the guardian of innocence. Preventing children from “going over the cliff” and losing their innocence is his way of vicariously protecting himself from growing up as well. Holden acknowledges that this is “crazy,” yet he cannot come up with a different lifestyle because he struggles to see the world for how it truly is, and fears not knowing what might happen next. Holden’s “catcher in the rye” fantasy reflects his innocence, his belief in a pure, uncorrupted youth, and his desire to protect it. This fantasy also represents his disconnection from reality, as he thinks he can stop the process of growing up, yet
A scene where she shows her influence over Holden is where Holden states, “I kept thinking about old Phoebe going to that museum on Saturdays the way I used to see, I thought how she’d see the same stuff I used to see, and how she’d be different every time she saw it… Certain thing is they should stay the way they are… I know that’s impossible, but it’s too bad anyway.” Holden shows his fear of change. He also demonstrates that he does not want to change, and does not want to grow up, but to stay as a kid.
Holden wants to shelter children from the adult world (Chen). In Chapter 16, the catcher in the rye finally appears. This is also a symbol for what Holden would like to be when he grows older. He pictures a group of many kids playing in a field of rye, where it is his job to catch them from falling off the cliff. This shows Holden’s love for childhood and his need to preserve it in any way he can. According to Alsen, “The way Holden explains why he wants to be the catcher in the rye shows the kindness and unselfishness of his character. However, the surreal nature of the metaphor also reveals his unwillingness to face the real life choices he needs to make now that he is approaching adulthood.” By the end of the book, Holden realizes in order for kids to grow, there can’t be protection from all of potential harm. “He therefore gives up his dream of being the catcher in the rye and is ready to make a realistic choice of what he wants to do with his life” (Alsen). Holden’s dream world, that doesn’t involve change, is unrealistic. He is terrified by the unpredictable changes of the adult world, but there is no way for Holden to avoid the experiences and changes that the
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s outlook in life is either the innocence of childhood or the cruelty of adulthood. He believes that the innocence of childhood is very valuable and it should be protected from the cruelty and phoniness of the adult world. Therefore Holden has a desire and is compelled to protect a child’s innocence at all costs. This is revealed when Holden tells Phoebe that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. Holden says to Phoebe, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they’re ru...
He has nothing but nice things to say about her and wants to protect her. She makes many adult observations that you would not expect a ten year old to notice, yet still acts like a ten year old. She realizes that Holden got kicked out of school, and then responds by repeating, “Daddy’ll kill you!”(214). She corrects Holden about the words in a Robert Burns poem and realizes that Holden does not like anything, yet at the same time acts like a ten year old. She resembles Holden in the way she goes between adulthood and childhood. She is like a younger version of Holden. Holden wants to protect her and keep her from ending up like him. Holden gives his hunting hat to Phoebe, this shows how much he cares about her. He is able to give up the symbol of his independence and accept that he has ties to his family. The only time Holden is happy during his trip is when he takes Phoebe to the carousel. After deciding not to run away Holden realizes, “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off,” (274). At this point he realizes that growing up might not be the worst thing in the world and that even if he gets hurt in the process it is something he needs to
Holden doesn’t like the complexity of life and relationships. This is why he distances himself from his family and friends. After Holden is expelled from his school, he tries to stay away from his parents for fear of their reaction, even though learning of his expulsion is inevitable. He visits his sister Phoebe in their home multiple times throughout the novel because due to her young age, his sister and his relationship is simple. "For instance, within Holden, the desire to reject others conflicts with the desire to be accepted by others: he doesn't want to lend Stradlater his coat, but his overt actions belie this covert, warring want: he despises Ackley, but he invites him to see a movie; he hates movies, believing them to foster phoniness in society” (Mitchell). Holden struggles to “catch” others because he believes he is not accepted by others.
Holden shows a particular liking towards children over adults. He values the innocence and authenticity of children and he tries to protect them from the phoniness and evil of the world. When he goes back to his old school at the end of the novel to give a note to Phoebe, he sees an obscenity on the wall that infuriates him. He says, "Somebody'd written `F*** you' on the wall. It drove me near damn crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them-all cockeyed, about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days. I kept wanting to kill whoever'd written it" (201). When Holden's sister Phoebe demands that he tell her one thing that he really likes, Holden's responds saying, "I like Allie...And I like doing what I'm doing right now. Sitting here with you, and talking and thinking about stuff..." (171), showing that he's most content in the simple and innocent world of his childhood.
J. D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye explores the ambiguity of the adult world Holden must eventually learn to accept. Throughout the novel, Holden resists the society grownups represent, coloring his childlike dreams with innocence and naivety. He only wants to protect those he loves, but he cannot do it the way he desires. As he watches Phoebe on the carousel, he begins to understand certain aspects of truth. He writes:
His mentality is similar to that of dying nobly rather than living humbly, because of his desire to be different and escape his past life. He soon, however, realizes that his mentality is being transferred to his younger sister, Phoebe, who wants to leave with him. A mixture of frustration and protectiveness overwhelms Holden when he finds this out, having to finally control his emotional
The two worlds of childhood and adulthood are not as separate as Holden thinks they are. He cuts himself off from the rest of the world by judging others around him, mostly adults. In the book it says, “ What I liked about her, she didn’t give you a lot of horse manure about what a great guy her father was. She probably knew what a phony slob he was.” (Pg 3). The book starts off with him judging an adult that he barely knows. Holden is physically an adult, but in his mind, he is only a child. He can relate to a child better than he can with an