The Catcher in the Rye

1550 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Growing up holden caulfield conflict and challenge in catcher in the rye

Americans today tend to believe that normalcy is expected, while individuality is often rejected. Throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. by J.D. Salinger, the author exposes the reader to the character Holden and his tale of coming of age. Holden wants to keep his life simple with his own individuality by not conforming to what society considers normal. Even though society expects people to behave in a "correct way", personality and individuality play an important role in allowing oneself to learn from the decisions and actions one may make in life.
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, conformity means the actions that replicate the acts of the majority of people in a society or group; the condition of obeying or agreeing with. Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden faces situations that force him to make his own decisions. He often rejects making a decision based off what others believe is correct. For example, Holden buys a hat but does not wear it the way someone would usually wear one. In chapter three, Holden states, “The way I wore it, I swung the old peak way around to the back—very corny, I’ll admit it, but I liked it that way. I looked good in it that way” (Salinger 17-18). This is one of the many times Holden decides to do something because he enjoys it a certain way, instead of the conforming to society’s standards.
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word individualism means the desires of each person appear more significant than the desires of every person in a society or a group. Holden exemplifies the idea of individualism with his judgments towards the previous prep schools he attended and the people who went there. In chapter four Holden states, “Pencey was full of crooks. Quite a few...

... middle of paper ...

...lity and individuality play an important role in allowing oneself to learn from all decisions and actions one may make in life.

Works Cited

Bloom, Leonard. Some Comments Upon Recent Trends in Social Psychology. N.p.: Journal of Social Phycology, Apr. 1961. PDF.

Haun, Daniel B. M., and Michael Tomasello. Conformity to Peer Pressure in Preschool Children. N.p.: Society for Research in Child Development, Inc., 2011. Pdf.

Lucibella, Katie. Consequences of Conformity. N.p.: Young Authors Foundation, Inc., n.d. PDF.

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

Twain, Mark, Sculley Bradley, Richmond Croom Beatty, E. Hudson Long, and Thomas Cooley. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism. New York: Norton, 1977. Print.

Show More
Related

  • The Immature Huck Finn in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    1726 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ke."  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  An Authoritative Text Backgrounds and Sources Criticism.  Ed. Sculley Bradley, et al.  2nd ed.  New York:  Norton, 1977.  421-22.

    Read More

  • Hyperboles In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel written by Mark Twain during the late 1800’s (Mintz). The book brought major controversy over the plot, as well as the fact that it was a spin-off to his previous story, Adventures of Tom Sawyer. This book has remained a success due to Twain’s interesting techniques of keeping the audience’s attention. Chapters eleven and twelve of “Huckleberry Finn,” uses a first person limited point of view to take advantage of the use of dialogue while using many hyperboles to add drama to entertain the reader by creating description within the story without needing to pause and explain.

    Read More

  • Catcher and the Rye

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thesis statement:     The relationship Holden and Blanche have between family and people in society leads them to an inner turmoil, which eventually results in their psychological breakdowns.

    Read More

  • Holden Caulfield Compassion Essay

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger depicts a journey of a young man named Holden Caulfield where he encounters many of life’s challenges. As Holden has been bouncing between schools all his life, he just recently got kicked out of his current one: Pencey Prep. He has trouble focusing in school and has experienced many traumatic events in his life, like the death of his little brother Allie. Many believe the novel should be banned, but there is an underlying message Holden is trying to communicate. Throughout Holden's journey many feel that there were ban-worthy moments, but the traits he demonstrates are most powerful: compassion, maturity/coming of age and intelligence.

    Read More

  • Catcher in the Rye

    329 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Societal and Individual Interdependency in Salinger's Catcher in the Rye

    2001 Words  | 5 Pages

    In a perfect world, everyone would be happy with the way they are and everyone would accept the differences of others. Unfortunately, the world we live in is not perfect and not everyone accepts who they are . Is there a reason why people cannot be content with their lives or with the differences of other people? The answer is yes, and the reason for the discontent is society. With society telling the masses what is, and is not acceptable, it is no wonder that people seem “lost”, and are desperately searching out their place in the sun. This search for identity seems to be the case in JD Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Through settings in the novel and symbolism, Salinger illustrates that while the main character, Holden Caulfield, needs the support of the environment around him, the environment also needs Holden as a person. Holden Caulfield is out of place in any environment in which he is placed. At Pencey, his school, Holden gets excluded from the activities of his classmates. At the very beginning of the novel, Holden becomes expelled because his grades are not up to Pencey’s standards and also because he does not feel like he belongs there. Holden separates himself from his classmates for the most part by not becoming involved in the school. Although Holden is the equipment manager of the fencing team, he distances himself from his companions by losing the equipment, showing that he does not fit in, and he really does not want to. As he reflects back on his final day at Pencey he says: “ They kicked me out. ...I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself at all. They gave me frequent warnings to start applying myself...but I didn’t do it” (Salinger 4). The school is throwing Holden out because he is not what they want to represent to potential students. They want to show examples of fine, upstanding young men, instead of giving off the image of the failing, confused young man. Salinger uses Pencey as a mock society of some sorts. Holden does not fit in at Pencey, and he most definitely does not fit in as seen in the later settings of the novel. A second example of Holden’s isolation from his classmates can also be seen when he stands alone on the top of the hill during the “big game”.

    Read More

  • Catcher In The Rye

    1225 Words  | 3 Pages

    In JD Salingers' Catcher in the Rye, a troubled teenager named Holden Caufield struggles with the fact that everyone has to grow up. The book gets its title from Holden's constant concern with the loss of innocence. He did not want children to grow up because he felt that adults are corrupt. This is seen when Holden tries to erase naughty words from the walls of an elementary school where his younger sister Phoebe attended. "While I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy.

    Read More

  • Essay On Holden Caulfield Fit Into Society

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    A human society is often described as a group of people involved in persistent personal relationships, or as a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or social territory. People tend to believe that doing what everyone else does, is the only correct path for life. If someone dares to break the pattern, does what he wants, or wears different clothes from what everybody else wear, he would frequently be seen as a strange or weird person. This is not it, every little thing someone does that differs from what it is “normal”, is seen as bad or bizarre. Holden Caulfield, of “Catcher in the Rye” is a character who stands out from common people. Holden doesn’t believe that he needs to follow what everyone else does. Contrary to that, Holden does what he wants and acts how he likes. By acting like this, Holden is not considered as a normal teenager, but as a unique one. Caulfield has often trouble fitting in society. Holden won’t fit into society because he doesn’t want to be a part of it. Hints displaying Holden not wanting to be part of society are his constant failing at school, his powerful revulsion for “phony” qualities, and his distancing himself from people.

    Read More

  • The Catcher In The Rye

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1950 J.D. Salenger captures one of society’s tragedies, the breakdown of a teenager, when he wrote The Catcher In The Rye. Holden Caulfield, a fickle “man” is not even a man at all. His unnecessary urge to lie to avoid confrontation defeats manhood. Holden has not matured and is unable to deal with the responsibility of living on his owe. He childishly uses a hunter’s hat to disguise him self from others. The truth of his life is sad and soon leads to his being institutionalized. He tries to escape the truth with his criticisms. Knowing he will never meet his parents’ expectations, his only true friend is his eight-year-old sister Phoebe, to whom Holden tells that he really wants to be ‘the catcher in the rye”. Holden admits his only truth and shows that Phoebe is his only friend. Another form of escape for Holden is his acting, which he uses to excuse the past. Holden has tried to lie, hide, and blame his way through life; when he finds that it is not the answer he collapses.

    Read More

  • The Catcher In The Rye

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    In a novel, the theme is the insight of real life. J.D. Salinger’s initiation novel, The Catcher In The Rye, describes the adventures of 16-year old Holden Caulfield, the protagonist and first person narrator, who refuses to grow up and enter manhood. The most important theme developed by Salinger is Holden’s problem of dealing with change; he has trouble dealing with death, he refuses to accept children’s loss of innocence as a necessary step in the growing-up process, and has difficulties with growing up.

    Read More

  • Catcher In The Rye

    1349 Words  | 3 Pages

    The book, Catcher in the Rye, has been steeped in controversy since it was banned in America after its first publication. John Lennon’s assassin Mark Chapman, asked the former Beatle to sign a copy of the book earlier in the morning of the day he murdered Lennon. Police found the book in his possession upon apprehending the psychologically disturbed Chapman. However, the book itself contains nothing that might have lead Chapman to act as he did. It could have been just any book that he was reading the day he decided to kill John Lennon and as a result, it was the Catcher in the Rye, a book describing a nervous breakdown, that caused the media to speculate widely about the possible connection. This gave the book even more recognition. The character Holden Caulfield ponders the thoughts of death, accuses ordinary people of being phonies, and expresses his love for his sister through out the novel. So what is the book Catcher in the Rye really about?

    Read More

  • Catcher in the Rye

    1243 Words  | 3 Pages

    He even condemns people he doesn’t know as phonies, such as the man that his

    Read More

  • “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    Myers, David G. “Chapter 14: Social Psychology.” Psychology. 10th ed. New York, NY US: Worth

    Read More

  • Catcher In The Rye Selfish Quotes

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    At first glance, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye simply tells the story of Holden Caulfield, who is often characterized as annoying and whiny by the people around him. The anti-hero frequently speaks on impulse, making quick and often inaccurate observations of others. Holden’s immature and overly critical attitude turns off those he encounters, who are displeased with how callow he is. However, what these characters fail to understand is that there is actually a sort of sophistication behind Holden’s reasoning. In fact, throughout the novel, Holden disguises his maturity through outward displays of childishness.

    Read More

  • Comparing Ideology in Emerson's Self Reliance and Catcher in the Rye

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye portrays Holden as a character who views conformity as evil. Conformist is a word associated with people who dismiss their own ideas and opinions and act the way most others do. In doing so, they believe others will respect them more because they are more like the majority of the population, Holden saw all those who tried to conform to society as `phonies'. He stated, "At the end of the first act, we went out with all the other jerks for a cigarette. What a deal that was. You never saw so many phonies in all your life, everybody smoking their ears off and talking about the play so that everybody could hear how sharp they were." (Salinger 126) Almost everyone in the novel acted as phonies according to Holde...

    Read More

More about The Catcher in the Rye

Open Document