Themes of Society and Growing Up in The Catcher in the Rye
In reading J.D. Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, one is compelled to have a very strong reaction to the contents of the book. Whether that reaction is negative or positive, it is unquestionable that the reader will give the novel a second thought after reading it. There could be many reasons why this novel has such an impact on the readers. It may be the use of Salinger's catchy slang phrases, bitingly sarcastic and usually negative, grabbing the attention of the reader. Another possibility is Holden, the novel's subject and lead character. "He describes everything as 'phony', is constantly in search of sincerity, and represents the first hero of adolescent angst"(Belcher). Or, it could be the originality of the perspective the book takes on the popular theme of the right of passage and the experience of growing up. Most likely, it was the overall tone of the book that incorporated all of these factors and combined them to form an inventive story line with a believable plot.
Holden Caulfield, described in the book as around age sixteen, is a classic antihero type: full of negative opinions, rarely a gentleman, not exactly the best looking boy in his prep school, yet somehow deserving of some sympathy. Holden is a character who is said to be motivated by his hormones and his own personal opinions alone. Unfortunately for him, both of these aspects of his character often get him into trouble. However despite all of this, Holden is a character that most teenagers relate to in many ways because his feelings are genuine and problems easy to relate to.
When studying a piece of literature, it is meaningful ...
... middle of paper ...
...d he was confused like everybody else. There is a line in the book where Holden actually says "I don't exactly know what I mean by that, but I mean it." One wonders how the author could get away with saying something like that, but then one realizes that in actuality it is refreshingly different and almost a relief. The theme of the novel was a message about society and growing up. For Holden and for many others, it is too much to ask to live in a world where you have to catch yourself before you fall.
Works Cited
Belcher, William F., and Lee, James E. J.D. Salinger and the Critics. 20th Sept. 1999
http://kirjasto.scifi/salinger.htm.
Davis, Robert Con, ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 56. Detroit: Gail Research Inc., 1989.
Stevenson, David. "J.D. Salinger: The Mirror of Crisis." The Nation, Vol. 184, No. 10, March 1957, 215-17.
J.D Salinger gives his personal vision of the world successfully through his persona Holden Caulfield in the ‘Catcher in the Rye’. Caulfield struggles with the background of New York to portray Salinger’s theme – you must live the world as it is, not as you would like it to be. There by exposing Salinger’s vision on the world.
3) This quote reflects the overall theme of the book because it shows what kind of person Holden is. Considering, he didn't want to introduce himself.
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily link him to the typical teenager living today. The fact that the book was written many years ago clearly exemplifies the timeless nature of this work. Holden's actions are those that any teenager can clearly relate with. The desire for independence, the sexually related encounters, and the questioning of ones religion are issues that almost all teens have had or will have to deal with in their adolescent years. The novel and its main character's experiences can easily be related to and will forever link Holden with every member of society, because everyone in the world was or will be a teen sometime in their life.
Salinger, J. D.. The Catcher in the Rye. [1st ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 19511945. Print.
Since there was speculation concerning the reasons Stevens was sent to the islands, many people belie...
Holden is a pessimistic, remote, and miserable character and he expresses this attitude through dialogue, tone, and diction. Throughout the book he has remained to be a liar, a failure, a loner, and lastly, a suicidal guy who feels like he has no purpose in life. Perhaps Salinger expressed his perceptions and emotions of his teen years in this book and it was a form of conveying his deep inner feelings of his childhood. Readers can see this clearly shown in The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger.
The main conflict is Holden Caulfield versus his fear of growing up and becoming an adult. This fear of maturing started when his parent’s “star” child died. His brother, Allie, dies as a child and this is how Holden remembers him. This results in Holden wanting to stay a child, which develops his fear of growing up. We see an example of this by Holden’s view of the process of maturity, he feels like he is being plunged into strange world where everything will become complex. Many have a hard time with accepting that they are no longer children and that they have been plunged into adulthood, this is exactly what Holden is struggling with. Instead of accepting this step Holden resists it as he notices the world of adults as being insincere
One case that I monitored was of a fifty year old male who was suffering from alcohol withdrawal. Prior to my arrival the man was falling off of the hospital bed, leaving his room and was completely unaware of his dangerous actions. I volunteered to monitor the man in order to make sure assist him and make sure his heart rate was under control. I took a seat along side of his hospital bed and watched him doze off into a deep sleep. The room was filled with an overwhelming smell of dirt and bodily fluids. The edges around his cracked lips were full of dried blood and his gums were peaking out of his mouth. His arms were full of scabs and marks; most likely from drug injections. The nurse came into the room to tell me that he was in fact a substance abuser and he was currently experiencing alcohol
Anne Robert Jaques Turgot, baron l' Aulne, was born in Paris on May 10, 1727 to a noble French family of Normandy. Following in the footsteps of his ancestors, who had furnished the state with numerous public officials, Turgot would achieve public renown as Intendent of Limoges and later as Controller General of all France. Although Turgot ended his public career in unfortunate circumstances, being dismissed by Louis XVI for ineffectiveness, his political theories became a major influence in the remaining years of the Old Regime. The depth of Turgot’s economic thought was not recognized at the time because it largely went against what the ruling aristocracy wanted to hear. His clairvoyance is much more fully noted in light of the last two centuries. Furthermore, Turgot was one of the King’s last controller-generals before the French Revolution ended the monarchy. When his political and economic ideals are considered against this backdrop their importance as well as their contradictory nature become apparent.
J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is a remarkable book that gives readers a unique and perhaps gloomy perspective of the 1950's through Holden Caulfield, a cynical and peculiar teenager. Through The Catcher in the Rye Salinger describes important aspects of the 1950's. Salinger emphasizes several key characteristics of the 50's and criticizes them through Holden. In addition, Holden Caulfield is a very interesting character with several traits that put him at odds with society.
Holden Caulfield can be analyzed through his thoughts, actions and circumstances which surround his everyday life. Holden acts like a careless teenager. Holden has been to several prep-schools, all of which he got kicked out of for failing classes. After being kicked out of the latest, Pency Prep, he went off to New York on his own. Holden seems to have a motivation problem which apparently affects his reasoning. The basis of his reasoning comes from his thoughts. Holden thinks the world is full of a bunch of phonies. All his toughs about people he meets are negative. The only good thoughts he has are about his sister Phoebe and his dead brother Alley. Holden, perhaps, wishes that everyone, including himself, should be like his brother and sister. That is to be intelligent, real and loving. Holden’s problem is with his heart. It was broken when his brother died. Now Holden goes around the world as his fake self, wearing his mask. Holden is looking for love, peace and understanding. He is scared to love because he is afraid he might lose it like he did with his brother. That is the reason for Holden's love of the museum, he feels safe because it never changes it always stays the same. Holden is troubled with the pain of death, it effects every aspect of his life causing him to not care about the future, himself or anyone, except Phoebe and Alley.
Over the years, members of the literary community have critiqued just about every author they could get their pen on. One of the most popular novels to be critiqued has been J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. In favorable critiques, Holden Caulfield is a good guy stuck in a bad world. He is trying to make the best of his life, though ultimately losing that battle. Whereas he aims at stability and truth, the adult world cannot survive without suspense and lies. It is a testament to his innocence and decent spirit that Holden would place the safety of children as a goal in his lifetime. This serves to only re-iterate the fact that Holden is a sympathetic character, a person of high moral values who is too weak to pick himself up from a difficult situation.
He complains about his school, saying that it is just like any other school and uses language that makes him sound very obnoxious. Holden seems to focus on girls quite a bit, just like any other teenage boy. He seems to focus on one girl in particular, a girl named Jane. We soon learn that Holden’s personality is not your average personality. Holden does seem to have some friends but he does not fall into many peer groups with the type of personality he has. Holden isn’t able to read social cues like most teenagers learn to do. For this reason, he seems to play around a lot in the wrong situations. Even his friends have matured enough to recognise that Holden needs to ‘grow up’. Holden’s resistance to emerging adulthood is the cause of many of the problems he is faced with during the
The United States at present has the highest incarceration rate that costs taxpayers millions of dollars and continually has our county jails operating over their rated capacities.(Hess 2008). A significant number of the jails in the United States are overcrowded, and this has been a management issue which has been in existence for years. Jail overcrowding has become one of the major financial and controversial problem in the United States. The jail population is increasing rapidly, which has caused a lot of tension on the management team to be able to perform their duties efficiently and has raised a lot question by The increase population of inmates in many county jails has raised a lot
Morality involves what we ought to do regarding right and wrong and/or good and bad based on our values, virtues and principles (Gray, JW). Something is moral if it is the right thing to do or rational thing to do based on the facts presented in a situation. Objectivity is the state or quality of being true even outside of one’s individual biases, interpretations, and feelings (Wikipedia). Objective decisions are ones that are not based on personal feelings or opinions, but instead it is based on the circumstances and facts presented when considering a particular decision. I shall argue that morality that is case-by-case or situational can still be objective without universal or general rules.