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The various aspects of coming of age that the main character experiences in The Catcher in the Rye
An Analysis of Holden's Image in the Catcher in the Rye
An Analysis of Holden's Image in the Catcher in the Rye
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Recommended: The various aspects of coming of age that the main character experiences in The Catcher in the Rye
Holden Caulfield is a teenager filled with many irregular thoughts and ideas for his age. He is dissimilar in the way that his actions and reactions to different situations happen to be so controversial that it is difficult to relate to him. However, he just happens to be the protagonist of our novel. The Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. Salinger, revolves around the mysterious world Holden sees. He is introduced in a mental ward, and he begins to tell his story. After Holden was done with his story, it becomes clear that he was looking for something. His actions towards his acquaintances justified that his desired “something” was one of the strongest human drives everyone has: love and acceptance in this world. On the other hand, a fence was blocking him from reaching his goal. His separation from …show more content…
Holden liked to act as a mature adult, thinking deeply into the background of the ducks of lagoon, and he probably thinks it makes him look like a self-sufficient individual. Nevertheless other people still view him as a child – one acting silly and annoying. This can be demonstrated on his cab rides. When Holden was in a cab with a driver named Horowitz, Holden asked about the ducks in the lagoon. Horowitz thought he was acting dumb, and he responded saying, “’How the hell should I know?’ he said. ‘How the hell should I know’ . . . with him, if he was going to get so damn touchy about it” (Salinger 82). In addition to his false mindset, he also seems to criticize the ones who are against him. When Holden disagrees with another person, he acts as if the whole world is against him. When a bus driver told Holden to throw away snowball, he said to himself, “I told him I wasn’t going to chuck . . . People never believe you” (37). His immaturity led him to deceive his perception of others which forced himself to separate himself and lose a chance of
Holden’s immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is physically mature, he acts more like a child. “All of a sudden I started to cry. I’d give anything if I hadn’t, but I did” (p. 103). This occurs when Maurice argues with Holden about money that Holden owes to a prostitute. The situation becomes too much for Holden to handle, and he breaks down like a child. Holden also tries to have immature conversations with people who have become adults. Another example of imma...
Catcher in the Rye is one of the most famous books in American literature. Written by J. D. Salinger, it captures the epitome of adolescence through Salinger’s infamous anti-hero, Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield learns about himself and his negative tendencies, and realizes that if he does not do something to change his perspective, he may end up like his acquaintance James Castle whom he met at Elkton Hills. Holden tries to find help to mend his outlook on life through Mr. Antolini so he does not end up like James, who did not want to face the problems he created for himself. This is proven by the similarities between James Castle and Holden, Mr. Antolini’s willingness to try and help Holden, and Holden’s future being forecasted by James.
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.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is an enthralling and captivating novel about a boy and his struggle with life. The teenage boy ,Holden, is in turmoil with school, loneliness, and finding his place in the world. The author J.D. Salinger examines the many sides of behavior and moral dilemma of many characters throughout the novel. The author develops three distinct character types for Holden the confused and struggling teenage boy, Ackley, a peculiar boy without many friends, and Phoebe, a funny and kindhearted young girl.
J. D. Salinger's notable and esteemed novel, Catcher in the Rye, reflects the hypercritical views of a troubled teenager, Holden Caulfield, towards everyone around him and society itself. This character has a distinguished vision of a world where morality, principles, intelligence, purity, and naivety should override money, sex, and power, but clearly in the world he inhabits these qualities have been exiled. Holder desperately clings to and regards innocence as one of the most important virtues a person can have. However, he son becomes a misfit since society is corrupted and he yearns for companionship, any kind of connection with another to feel whole and understood again. Ironically, despite his persistent belittling and denouncing of others, he does not apply the same critical and harsh views on 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.
Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he expresses this attitude through his dialogue, tone, and diction.
In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger there were alot of themes in fact, i chose growing up , and in addition to i will be specifically focusing on Holden Caulfied .Holden is the narrator and the protagonist of the novel. He 16 and got kicked out of high school. Holden was expelled from failing at Pency Prep . He is resentful of the adult world and doesn’t ever want to grow up . He likes places that stay the same for years .
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.
J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye portrays the story of a teenage boy, Holden Caulfield, growing up in the decadent world of New York. Holden fears adulthood. He is afraid of abandoning his youthful qualities as he steps into the mature world, in which he perceives as full of superficiality and hypocrisy, or “phoniness.” When in fact, he is oversimplifying adulthood with his cynical, black-and-white views. His judgement serves as a form of protection, allowing him to self-isolate from reality. He chooses to avoid his inner troubles about change and responsibility instead
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.
J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye successful in many respects, from its popularity among adolescent readers, to its 29 weeks spent on the New York Times Bestseller List. One part of The Catcher in the Rye that was not successful is its main character, Holden Caulfield. Holden mentions at a certain point in the novel that he aspires to be a “Catcher in the Rye”. Whether he achieved his goal is controversial amongst many readers. I believe that in the end, Holden was not successful in becoming, the “Catcher in the Rye” because he cannot change the the lives of others by protecting their innocence.
Many young people often find themselves struggling to find their own identity and place in society. This search for self worth often leaves these young people feeling lonely and isolated because they are unsure of themselves. Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger's main character in the book The Catcher In the Rye, is young man on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. One contributor to this breakdown, is the loneliness that Holden experiences. His loneliness is apparent through many ways including: his lack of friends, his longing for his dead brother, and the way he attempts to gain acceptance from others.
Holden Caulfield, a charismatic teenager from New York City, recounts his excursion in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye. After fleeing from Pencey Prep boarding school as a result of his expulsion, Holden commences his lonely three-day journey into New York City. Holden’s brother and best friend, Allie, died of leukemia in the Caulfield’s summer home in Maine. This heartrending event emotionally obliterates Holden at a young age. Because he feels adulthood taints purity and leads to death, Holden becomes the catcher in the rye, saving all children from the cruelness of adulthood. “A point central to the novel is that Holden is the innocent youth in a world of cruel and hypocritical adults” (Bloom 21). To aspire to stay young forever renders
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