Theme Of Alienation In Holden Caulfye

Alienation is the isolation for your indifferences. The main character, Holden Caulfield isolates himself from society and those in it, especially adults who he describes to all be ‘phony.’ Although his isolation, Holden is on a constant search for companionship, but his indifference deprives him of this. Through his alienation, we are shown Holden’s perception of the characters in the text, and this is how we perceive them. This ultimately helps the author, J.D. Salinger to shape the characters using Holden’s social status. This illustrates the importance of Holden’s alienation within the text.

One iconic symbol of the text, which simply demons trates Holden’s unique personality and alienation, is his red hunting hat. The hat is isolated for its indifference in society, as is Holden, because of its bright colour and the fact that it’s out of its usual environment, as a hunting hat isn’t worn in the city, but in the country. The hat symbolises Holden’s standout and isolated personality, but also his immaturity as he is on the verge of adulthood, yet wears a bright red hat used for hunting. When wearing the hat, Holden feels that he can be as insular and as tough as he likes, just like his brother Allie, and sister Phoebe, who have red hair and are both younger than him. He describes it as a people shooting hat, it simply means that when he wears the hat, he feels superior to others, indifferent to others, symbolising his alienation.

The first character to be shaped by Salinger’s use of Holden’s alienation is Holden himself. Through his alienation, we can see that Holden is depressed and lonely searching for a companion. The constant tying of the words depressed and lonesome together in the text create this aspect of Holden. “I was...

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...ally Phoebe. The effect this has on the reader is a lasting one, the reader realises the extent of Holden’s alienation of adults and how they’re phony and perceives Phoebe as one of Holden’s only possible companion, which is recognised as a feeling of content that Holden has someone to call a friend.

Through Holden’s alienation of adults being ‘phony’ it helps shapes the characters Holden, Ackley, Sally and Phoebe. This is done using Holden’s perception of Ackley, Sally through his attempt at developing a relationship with them yet failing because they aren’t the nicest of people, also his perception of Phoebe who is not a ‘phony’. Finally, Holden’s alienation leads to a perspective of him quite obviously being lonely and depressed. Through Holden’s alienation of the adult world, the reader certainly perceives that adults are indeed phonies, and the children aren’t.