A student from Carnegie Mellon University once said, “Life is all about finding our identity.” While this statement holds true for many people, the definition of ‘identity’ may vary for each individual. A former tutor of mine suggested the idea that an identity is made up of a series of competing discourses acting against each other. A discourse, in the simplest of definitions is a written or spoken thought exchanged in the community. Over the history of sociology and philosophy, the term ‘discourse’ has come to describe the conversations of a group of people who have certain ideals in common. A more expansive definition of a discourse, based on the theories of renown philosopher Michel Foucault, is the form of representation or conventions …show more content…
This theory of competing discourses can be used to analyze Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old boy who is the protagonist of the novel The Catcher In The Rye, by Jerome David Salinger. The battling discourses are primarily Holden’s growing sexuality and his want for a romantic relationship, his craving to be independent coexisting with his yearning for companionship, and the battle of Holden’s idealistic world versus his perceived phoniness of the adult world. Throughout the course of the story, Holden is on a journey to find his identity amidst the contradicting discourses brewing a hefty storm within, while interacting with the people around him in the outside world. In the end, Holden’s fruitful journey leads him to succeed in finding his …show more content…
The primary example of this struggle is in his meeting with Sally Hayes. While staying in New York, Holden is rather isolated as he stays in the hotel; although he has his much wanted independence, his want for companionship propels him to ask Sally out on a date even though he openly admits he isn’t “too crazy about her”. As Holden kills time before his date, he looks around for Phoebe, and goes to the Museum of Natural History that Phoebe previously visited. This shows that while he does not want to go home and face his parents, a large part of him is reminiscent of his sister and her company, further revealing his struggle between independence and companionship. When Holden arrives at the museum, he recalls his experiences as a child of visiting the museum with his class. This memory contrasts to his current disposition in regards to his state of companionship, or rather the lack thereof. The contributing factor of loneliness perhaps plays a large role in his abrupt decision to not go in the museum despite already standing on the steps of the entrance. Later, as Holden is out on his date with Sally, his need for companionship is gradually sated and wanes, and his want for independence breaks through the surface as he pushes her away by calling her “a royal pain”. This results a role reversal between the two forces, as independence becomes the predominant one.
J.D. Salinger, the author of The Catcher in the Rye, uses the behaviour of protagonist Holden Caulfield to shape his personality in the way he alienates himself from the rest of the world. Holden alienates himself from the society he lives in, his relationships with others and also the relationships he has with himself. Holden struggles to cope with the fact that eventually he will have to grow up, and so will everyone around him. Holden see’s the world not being perfect as a huge problem that he alone has to fix because everyone else is too much of a ‘phony’ to do it. The novel explores Holden’s weekend after he got kicked out of his fourth school, Pency Prep, and the struggles he faces with alienating himself.
Holden struggles to make connections with other people, and usually resorts to calling them phonies whenever they upset him. He finds natural human flaws in people and runs away from connection immediately. His date with Sally shows this. Near the end of the date, Holden tells Sally about his plans to run away from life. When Sally gives him practical advice, Holden is quick to escape connection by calling her “a pain”. Sally’s advice would definitely guide Holden in a more realistic direction, but that is not what he wants to hear. Conflict always arises in his mind even if there is little in reality. His struggles with finding connection also make him too apprehensive to call his old friend Jane. Holden likes to think of Jane as a pure and perfect girl that he can
Holden experiences both alienation and disillusionment when meeting with people like Sally Hayes, Sunny and Ackley. Holden is so desperate to have human connection yet, when he starts to talk to them, he experiences them as ‘phonies’. This makes him more depressed, continuing his downward spiral. Holden is caught in a trap of his own making.
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is seen by some critics a a drop out student destined for failure in life, but I see him as a symbol of an adolescent who struggles to adapt to the reality of adulthood.
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.
Holden’s preference of a simplistic lifestyle is evident throughout the novel, but stands out especially when he visits the Museum of Natural History. He explains that. Holden loves this museum because it is still, silent, and always the same, which is a version of life he likes and understands. He fears dealing with conflict, uncertainty, and change, which he thinks comes with being an adult. It
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caufield believes that innocence is corrupted by society. He exposes his self-inflicted emotional struggles as he is reminiscing the past. For Holden, teenage adolescence is a complicated time for him, his teenage mentality in allows him to transition from the teenage era to the reality of an adult in the real world. As he is struggling to find his own meaning of life, he cares less about others and worries about how he can be a hero not only to himself but also to the innocent youth. As Holden is grasping the idea of growing up, he sets his priorities of where he belongs and how to establish it. As he talks about how ‘phony’ the outside world is, he has specific recollections that signify importance to his life and he uses these time and time again because these memories are ones that he wont ever let go of. The death of his younger brother Allie has had a major impact on him emotionally and mentally. The freedom of the ducks in Central Park symbolize his ‘get away’ from reality into his own world. His ideology of letting kids grow up and breaking the chain loose to discover for themselves portrays the carrousel and the gold ring. These are three major moments that will be explored to understand the life of Holden Caufield and his significant personal encounters as he transitions from adolescence into manhood.
The world today is very deceptive and phony. J.D. Salinger’s well known novels, The Catcher in the Rye and Franny and Zooey attack this fake and superficial society which is evident through the lives, ideas, actions, and words expressed by the characters in these literary pieces. The transition from childhood, through adolescence and into adulthood is inevitable. The protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield goes through this stage and finds himself in a crisis. He alienates himself from everyone who is around him and tries his best not to grow up. Holden often dwells upon his childhood and the life he had with his family. Franny in Franny and Zooey has already passed this stage but finds it difficult to live in a world where everyone she is surrounded by is only concerned with outward appearances. In these worlds, both characters, Holden and Franny, reveal their struggle of growing up and trying to live as an adult in a world full of deception and shallow-minded people who only care about appearances.
Some people feel all alone in this world, with no direction to follow but their empty loneliness. The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, follows a sixteen-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield, who despises society and calls everyone a “phony.” Holden can be seen as a delinquent who smokes tobacco, drinks alcohol, and gets expelled from a prestigious boarding school. This coming-of-age book follows the themes of isolation, innocence, and corrupted maturity which is influenced from the author's life and modernism, and is shown through the setting, symbolism, and diction.
In the novel, Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is an example of a prosaic rich adolescent boy,with a pedestrian set of problems, but a psychoanalysis reveals that Holden has a plethora of atypical internal conflicts. Internal conflicts that other students at Pencey, such as Stradlater and Ackley, would not normally experience.
“The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was” (121). Salinger portrays Holden’s view on how he would like the world to be simple and innocent. “The only thing that would be different would be different would be you” (121). With change comes growth. The beginning of Holden’s realization begins when he views himself as a mentally different person. “If Phoebe's been there, I probably would have, but she wasn’t” (122). Holden has a sudden loss in interest to enter the museum. He realizes that there is a contrast between Phoebe and himself. He continues to lose innocence and childing meaning as more symbols continue to appear that lead him to reveal
The symbol I chose was Allie’s Baseball Mitt. Allie’s mitt is a meaningful object because it helps remind Holden of Allie and all the good times they had with each other.
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.
Holden tries to preserve his own innocence, and the innocence of others by not letting go of childhood memories and through his desire to suspend time. Holden views the adult world as corrupt and full of phonies. He admires childhood because of how it is free of corruption, and untouched by the adult world. IN order to preserve his own innocence Holden often attaches himself to childhood memories. The Museum of NAtural History is one of Holden’s favourite places . He mentions that his grade one teacher Miss. Aigletinger used to take his class there every saturday. While writing about the museum he says, “The best thing, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was” (121). This shows how Holden wants to preserve his innocence because he expresses how he likes how everything stayed the
J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in The Rye illustrates Holden Caulfield 's life, and his rough transition from an innocent child to a young adult. Caulfields past experiences with death, and his resentment towards others proves that he is no longer a pure, angelic child, but is now a depressed teen who sees no bliss in the daunting life he lives, and wants to shield himself from all of the “phonies” surrounding him. Holden has a dilemma with the fact that things are constantly changing in his life, and despises the fact that there are fast paced, challenging obstacles that come with being an adult. One thing that Holden admits to loving is something that never changes, the Museum of Natural History. He says, “The best thing, though, in that museum