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The Catcher In The Rye: Book Review
The Catcher In The Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, is a fictional novel
that was first published in 1965. The novel takes place in New York City and in
Pennsylvania over a duration of four days. This novel tells the story of an
emotionally disturbed teenager who has been kicked out of a boarding school. The
story is told from the point of view of a teenager who is the narrator of the
story.
The main character in this novel is Holden Caulfield. He is sixteen years
old and serves as the narrator of this novel. Holden does not like anybody or
anything around him. He is an emotionally troubled kid and has many problems
with his life. Phoebe is Holden's little sister. She is ten years old and
lives at home with their parents. Phoebe really admires and loves her big
brother, Holden.
This novel begins when Holden is in a mental hospital in California. The
novel is a flashback of the events over a time period of four days. The
flashback starts off when Holden gets kicked out of his boarding school, Pency
Prep, because he is failing most of his classes. Holden decides to go into New
York City for a couple of days until his parents will be expecting him home for
Christmas vacation. Holden goes to bars and meets with friends during this time.
On the third night, Holden decides to go and visit his sister, Phoebe. Phoebe
is one of the only people that Holden actually loves. Holden talks to Phoebe
about his life being a failure. He is trying to understand life and his place
in the world. Holden decides that he wants to go see Mr. Antolini, an old
teacher, to help him get a better understanding of his life. At Mr. Antolini's
home, Holden discusses many of the problems that he is facing. Mr. Antolini
tells Holden that he has to learn not to hate everyone around him. He has to
learn to love people. Holden is told that he has to think about his future. He
has to decide when he is going to start to take life seriously and apply himself
in school. Holden's conversation with Mr. Antolini is the climax of the novel.
This is the point of the novel when Holden starts to listen and understand his
problems. He realizes that it is time he put his life back on the right track.
The next day, Holden returns home to his family. Holden is taken directly to a
it is inevitable that he will grow up. Holden is put in a psychiatric hospital.
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
When in New York City, Holden reacquaints himself with an old friend: Carl Luce. Carl is attending school at Columbia University and is far more mature, emotionally, physically, and sexually than Holden. Carl even elucidates on Holden’s immaturity during the conversation they share over martinis; “‘same old Caulfield. When are you going to grow up?’” (Salinger 159). Holden refuses to acknowledge, let alone confront, his childish mind-set. However, when Carl, someone he respects, remarks upon his callowness it begins to sink in that remaining young forever is not the most desirable trait to have. Holden’s young and innocent nature is further revealed by his behaviour when he observes performances at Radio City. He recognises a drum player and explains that “[he has] watched that guy since [he] was about eight years old” (153). Holden, whilst attempting to be independent and grow up in New York City by himself, is still fascinated by the same thing he was when he was eight. He is still young and innocent despite his attempts to not be. Whilst attempting to grow up and mature, Holden actually remains young and innocent of the world throughout this
Holden Caufield is one example out of many troubled teenagers in the world and what they go through in life to make it. Not many people are willing to tell their life story in full detail and reveal all about themselves. It is personal and hard to tell someone. Holden has a hard time because his parents did not show a lot of affection due to their busy lives and their strive for perfection, which in turn does not allow Holden to listen carefully to their advice. He is also a spoiled child, which further deepens the problem. He does not see the real world and the real struggles in life to make him think twice. Instead he rides on other’s money and has his eyes blinded by it. Problems will always face him, but now he will tackle them with a matured mind.
gets beat up, goes through a breakdown, and gets very sick. Another trait Holden has is
Upon receiving a notice that he is being removed from his school, Pencey Prep, Holden makes the childish yet extreme decision to run away before his parents are notified of his removal. He feels if he can avoid going home until the beginning of winter break his problems will vanish. At the same time, Holden is trying to find who he is in life, however, he repeatedly ruins great opportunities that are presented to him. Much like Holden, young Chris Kyle, author and main character in American Sniper, is trying to find himself in Texas while living like a cowboy. (Quote about how Chris Kyle is not sure where to go in life)+
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.
Holden is afraid to leave his precious/innocent childhood behind and enter the corrupted, evil society adults and ha trouble accepting adults and society. Mr. Antolini basically is saying He’s falling down the rye, and still hasn’t hit rock bottom because he can’t fully understand adults and society. Everything doesn’t make sense to him, from adults being complete phonies to sex. He can’t understand adults which is why his transition from childhood and adulthood is very difficult and complex for him. His own actions and decisions often contradict itself due to, to opposing “worlds” of Holden. Childhood and
Holden cannot accept the loss of innocence as a step into the growing up process. The ones that he loves most, are those who are younger to him, they are innocent, and untouched by society’s truths. Holden says, “…I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around-nobody big. I mean – except me.
...'s cowardice progressing in his adolescence and seem to exclaim against the intricate of life. Although Holden dislikes adulthood, he ordinarily tries to act and behave at an older age when talking to women. Conceivably, Holden feels he cannot be a successful adult because he abhors adulthood and wants people to empathize him and listen to his story.
Another poignant example of Holden’s penchant for stagnation is when he sits on the museum steps and two kids ask him for help to find the mummy exhibit. Strangely enough, he is able to find it quickly regardless of the fact that he hadn’t been there in years. The boys are driven away by fear of the dead bodies that hadn’t decayed and Holden is left alone with the preserved corpses. He experiences a moment of peace there, possibly due to the silence and being encompassed by humans whose bodies are frozen in
His professor, Mr. Antolini, accepts Holden’s request and even invites him to dinner and some drinks afterword. When Holden arrives, Mr. Antolini and his wife seem happy to see Holden, so the three of them share many drinks together. Holden then decides that he needs to get some sleep, so Mr. Antolini leaves Holden to fall asleep on his couch. Holden wakes up the next morning to the feeling of something on his hand, it turns out to be Mr. Antolini caressing Holden’s hair while he was sleeping. Holden did not know what to do after Mr. antolini’s actions, so Holden left their house. Before going to Antolini’s home, Holden was at his house house talking to his little sister
Holden returns to school and goes to his bedroom in the dorm. In his room quietly reading, his neighbor Robert Ackley came in. Holden describes him as a pimply, insecure, annoying boy with a bad dental hygiene. When Holden’s roommate Stradlater who was “madly in love with himself” (27) arrived home after the football game, Ackley abruptly left. Stradlater tells him that he has a date with a friend of his, Jane Gallagher. Jane is someone that Holden really cares for and because he knows the way Stradlater is, Holden became worried for her. “It just drove me stark raving mad when I thought about her and Stradlater parked somewhere in that fat-assed Ed Banky’s car”. (48) Holden became depressed and lonely, so out of the blue Holden decides to pack his things and leave for New York a few days earlier. On the train to New York, Holden meets the mother of one of his schoolmates. Not wanting to tell his whole life story, he told her his name was “Rudolf Schmidt”, the name of th...
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.
Holden drops out of school and wanders the streets of New York alone at a young age, causing trouble both for himself and to his family since they worry about him. After all the trouble he caused Holden realizes that he should go back home. He finds out that his sister considers him as her role model and therefore, might follow his footsteps, dropping out of school and moving somewhere else with her beloved brother. That idea disturbs Holden because he knows he is responsible for his sister’s actions and he wants her to have a great, joyful life unlike his depressing life: “My clothes she said I’m going with you. I’m going with you. Can I? Okay?, What? I said. I almost fell over when she said that. I swear to god I did. I got sort of dizzy and I thought I was going to pass out or something” (Speaker: Holden, Pg num: 226). “No shut up. I thought I was going to pass out cold. I mean I didn’t mean to tell her to shut up and all, but I thought I was going to pass out again.” (Speaker: Holden,Pg num: