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Character analysis of holden caulfield catcher in the rye
Character analysis of holden caulfield catcher in the rye
Character analysis of holden caulfield catcher in the rye
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Catcher in The Rye Essay Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual”. In the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield’s lies become habitual throughout the book. Holden is a sixteen-year-old boy, who has been kicked out of several schools including, most recently, Pencey Prep. Holden’s younger brother, Allie, died when Holden was only thirteen and his older brother, D.B., is too busy working for Hollywood to care about Holden. Although his mother cares immensely for him, Holden saddens her by failing academically. The only motivator that Holden has to continue living is his younger sister, Phoebe, who …show more content…
He was depressed about the fact that his childhood friend, Jane Gallagher, went on a date with his roommate at Pencey, Stradlater. After their date, he got into a fight with Stradlater and it resulted in Holden getting a bloody nose and face. He stumbled into his friend Ackley’s room, who was right next door. When Ackley questioned him about his face he replied, “It’s a long story. I don’t wanna bore ya, Ackley. I’m thinking of your welfare” (53). One of the key indications that Holden is lying is when he is trying to change the subject. In this situation, Holden was reluctant to go into detail about what caused the fight, so he gave Ackley a deceptive response. Holden told Ackley that the fight was over Ackley and that he was defending him. This provoked Ackley, and he forgot about why Holden was all bloody. Holden was able to distract Ackley so that he wouldn’t need to go in detail about his fight with Stradlater. Similarly, Holden tried to keep the reason that he was kicked out of Pencey a secret. At the end of the novel, Holden goes home so that he can see his sister one last time before he leaves. Holden and Phoebe begin talking, but Phoebe suddenly becomes suspicious of the fact that Holden is home so early. She asks, “How come you're not home Wednesday?...You didn’t get kicked out or anything, did you?”(182). Holden responds with, “I told you. They let us out …show more content…
When Holden went to a bar and ordered a Scotch, for example, he “said it fast as hell” (78). Holden knew that the waiter would not provide him with an alcoholic beverage if he didn’t seem confident in ordering alcohol. Holden was depressed and wanted a drink as a way to cope. When the waiter asked Holden for his driver's license, he responded with, “Do I look like I’m under twenty-one?”(78). Holden tried to catch the waiter off guard by responding to the waiter’s question with a question of his own. Holden lied because he was desperate for a drink, but was not old enough to buy one. Similarly, Holden lied to the elevator boy at his apartment. When Holden was going to see Phoebe, he needed the elevator boy to bring him up. Holden told the elevator boy that he’s the nephew of the Dicksteins, one of Holden's neighbors. However, the elevator boy became suspicious because they weren't home, and tells Holden to wait in the lobby. Holden responded with, “But I have a bad leg. I have to hold it in a certain position. I think I’d better sit down in the chair outside their door”(174). Since Holden knew that the elevator boy was new, he claimed that there was a chair outside his neighbors’ apartment. The elevator boy had no idea what Holden was talking about and decided to let him up. Holden used the fact that the boy was new to his advantage. He could easily lie to him to achieve what he wanted. Holden tries to
Again, this is one of the few people that Holden likes and doesn’t consider a phony like everyone else. He talks highly of her and he sees himself in her in the way that she alternates between behaving like an adult and behaving like a child, the way he says he also does. It bothered him greatly when she asks him if he “got the ax again,” referring to his expulsion. She starts asking him questions about his future and what he likes (if he likes anything at all) and it forces him to wake up. Everyone has been telling Holden to realize his situation and put more effort into schoolwork and relationships and to start caring. Holden’s reality is very simple: he wants to be the catcher in the rye to protect children’s innocence and stop them from growing up because all adults are phonies. Again and again, being told that that isn’t plausible annoys him. He feels betrayed, when his own sister, someone who he thought would understand him, joins everyone else in telling him to put forth more
Holden reaches out to Mr. Spencer for empathy, but when they start talking Holden regrets his decision and refuses to open up about how he feels. Holden initially goes to his teacher's house to say a final goodbye. Holden points out that "He'd written me this note asking me to stop by and say good-bye before vacation started, on account of I wasn't coming back. I'd have come over to say good-bye
In the novel Holden is what you would call an unreliable narrator. The definition of unreliable is - a person or thing that cannot be counted on or trusted. You cannot trust Holden if you know that he lies all the time. Since the reader knows that he is a habitual liar you may never know the difference from when he is telling the truth or when he is telling another one of his stories. Holden goes in and out of mental lapses throughout the novel that affected his mind and psychological state greatly.
Throughout the whole novel Holden has always been in denial of everything. As stated by Freud, denial is the “Refusal to recognize a threatening impulse or desire” (Sigmund Freud). When he visited his ten year old sister Phoebe, she was trying to communicate with Holden but she was nervous that it would displease him. She stated “Because you don't. You don’t like schools. You don't like a million things. You don't…Why the hell do you have to say that?” I said. Boy was depressing me” (Salinger 169). Even though Holden is very fond of Phoebe he didn't bother to listen to what she had to say, this demonstrates that Holden is very in denial because he got very upset when Phoebe said that he dislikes everything. Which furthers shows how he is unable to recognize that what Phoebe is
...’s habitual lying relates back to times where he is hypocritical about his environment being full of phonies. Salinger provides these small details of deceitfulness in order to further advance Holden’s character and the work as a whole.
After spending some time at Mr. Spencer, his history teacher's house and getting lectured regarding his poor efforts in school, Holden fabricates a story to leave his teacher’s house without seeming rude. On his way to his dormitory at Pencey, Holden claims that he is an exceptional liar, and would lie even about the most insignificant facts, such as where he is going. He then goes into detail about whom his dormitory is named after, and how much of a phony the man is.
that he is trying to hide his true identity. He does not want people to know who he really is or that he was kicked out of his fourth school. Holden is always using fake names and tries speaking in a tone to persuade someone to think a cretin way. He does this when he talks to women. While he is talking to the psychiatrist he explains peoples reactions to his lies like they really believe him, when it is very possible that he is a horrible liar and they are looking at him with a “what are you talking a bout?” expression. Holden often lies to the point where he is lying to him self.
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.
Because when he feels something, he’s sad and depressed and feels as if he wants to die. “ I wasn’t sleepy or anything but I was feeling sort of lousy, depressed and all, i wish i was dead” (Salinger 118). He lies to everyone he knows to be able to steer away from situations he doesn’t want to be in. or to make himself seem more interesting. For example, when Holden was on the train talking with one of his prior Pency classmate's mother, he lied about his name, why he wasn't at school, and about the woman's son. Holden did this and felt guilty afterwards because he found that she was a caring person and wanted her to be able to trust
... has to go away. He runs to Phoebe’s school to leave her a note to meet him. While he’s waiting he notices “Fuck you” (201) on the wall. “It drove me damn near crazy,” he thought. Holden sees Phoebe with her suitcase as she tells him, “I’m going with you. Can I? Okay?” (206) Holden’s response was “No. Shut up”. Phoebe got angry and didn’t let up until Holden agreed that he wouldn’t leave. She went on the carrousel in the park and while she was going around and around, Holden felt so happy that, “[he] was damn near bawling”. (213)
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.
In this chapter Phoebe catches Holden in the biggest lie yet. She was listening to Holden about school and was sick of hearing that he didn’t like the people there. So she finally said it. She gave Holden a piece of his own medicine. She had said, “You don’t like anything that’s happening” (Salinger 187). Of course he went straight to lying to try to defend himself. He kept trying to say he did like things, but he couldn’t come up with one thing he likes a lot. After a while he used his age old excuse, as Phoebe told us. “I like Allie” (Salinger 189). The only thing that Holden could think of was Allie because Holden does not like anything in the world. He is just too stubborn to admit that Phoebe is right and he is
He also adds, "I wasn’t feeling sleepy or anything, but I was feeling sort of lousy. Depressed and all, I almost wished I was dead," (90). Holden states this during one of the first nights that he is staying in New York. Holden expresses many thoughts of depression. Compulsive lying is another characteristic that Holden exhibits.
Honesty/Dishonesty: pg 16, “So when I told old Spencer I had to go to the gym to get my equipment and stuff, that was a sheer lie. I don’t even keep my goddam equipment in the gym.” (Holden) Holden tends to lie a lot to everybody he talks to. Even though his lies are awful, as said earlier in the chapter, he still manages to make them believable and gets past it.
Which is the kind of world he wants to live in. Holden expresses his desire to preserve the innocence of others when his sister Phoebe tells Holden that he doesn't like anything, and that he has no ambitions of what he wants to be when he is older. Holden then explains that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. He says that he imagines little children playing on top of a hill and that his job is to protect children from falling of the hill. This symbolizes catching children from losing their innocence and falling into the adult world. Holden tells Phoebe, “I know it crazy, but that is the only thing I’d like to be” (172). This unrealistic desire is contributes to why Holden is struggling to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Critics of the novel have said Holden would like to suspend time stating, “Holden's desire to protect children shows his desire for suspending time, for inhabiting a space of young people conserved endlessly” (Yahya 3). Not letting go of childhood memories or accepting the harsh realities of adulthood are damaging when transitioning from