‘Too Different’ 3. As of this moment, there are 7,476,047,627 people alive in the world. With each and every second, this number only grows and what is truly fascinating about this is that each person is completely different from the last. 7.5 billion people; 7.5 billion different personalities and lives. Like snowflakes, each is unique and beautiful in it’s own way. In today’s society, differences are encouraged; praised even. What sets a person apart from the rest often lets them shine in their own spotlight. However, these differences can cause a person to be labeled as an outcast (someone who has been rejected by their community or a social group because they are ‘too different’ from everyone else). Holden, from The Catcher in the Rye, …show more content…
Holden failed his classes at Pencey, was kicked out, and had no ambition to return to a different institution. It’s no secret that Holden was depressed, so he was detached and didn’t care enough to do any school work. His situation is like the snowball effect; starting out as small and having just a couple of missing assignments to growing in size by failing on purpose and being kicked out of Pencey Prep. This novel focuses so heavily focuses on Holden being an outcast that it seems like readers forget that Holden is just like everyone else. Struggling with grief, rebelling against what is expected of him, and getting overwhelmed with responsibilities. Teenagers should especially relate to Holden. High school is tough, and sometimes it seems easier to quit than have to deal with all the stress of getting good grades. Being said outcast didn’t help in Holden’s decision to leave; no friends equals no reason to stay. Holden also wasn’t receiving any support for his education from home; his parents sent him off to boarding schools as soon as they could after Allie’s death There really is no question as to why Holden never wished to call his parents while away at
Holden choices to seclude himself rather than face potential disappointment in relationships. The death of Allie deeply affected Holden and his view of the world. The pain of Allie’s death forced Holden to cut off emotional ties with others for self-preservation. In the opening chapters of the novel, Holden detached himself from his peers at the football game stating, “I was standing way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill”(1.3). Holden isolated himself from others instead of bonding with his friends and peers. Holden saw and heard his classmates, but they were unable to see him. This disconnect protected Holden from forming a bond that would ultimately have to be broken when Holden left Pencey Prep.
The overwhelming pain that Holden had suffered during the past was nonetheless an impact, which stained his future life. Some evidence that implies Holden’s characteristic is how he grudgingly criticizes and scorns at almost everyone he knows. After he leaves Pencey Prep School, he falls into a dilemma where he faces loneliness and depression. More so, he desperately seeks company from clubs, bars, and hotels to have someone to accompany him. The factors that affect this isolation of him are mostly because of the tragic death of his younger brother Allie and the life he has in school. He was an important person to Holden. He mentions how great and smart Allie was out of the entire family. When Stradlater told Holden to write an essay for him Holden decided that he wanted to write a paper about Allies baseball mitt, which had poems written on it and Holden still carries with him the mitt at school (38). The life he has in school is very miserable to him because he has already failed two other schools and it is happening to him again. He says that he did not mean to disappoint and hurt his parents’ feelings so he takes a few days out to Edmont Hotel (59).
To elaborate, one of the reasons Holden is unfit for sympathy is his personality. Throughout his coming of age, he often gives up and is lazy, tells lies or makes excuses. To begin with the former, Holden gives up on his schooling. Pencey Prep is “the fourth school [he's] gone to” (9). “[He] was flunking four subjects and not applying himself and all” (4) so “they kicked [him] out” (4). Holden though, does not feel bad about failing school, but for the pain he causes his teacher in doing so. His teacher, Mr. Spencer, “[feels] pretty lousy about flunking him” (12) and when he asks Holden if he opened his textbook once the whole term, Holden lies and replies with “Well, I sort of glanced through it a couple of times” (11). He tells this lie because “[he] didn't want to hurt [Mr. Spencer’s] feelings” (11). Since Holden respects Mr. Spencer, he regrets making his teacher feel bad about failing him. Although he is regretful, he did not even attempt to pass...
Holden does not try at all in school. Holden also said he was flunking four out of his five classes. The only reason he was passing English is because he is learning the same concepts as the ones he learned at the last school he flunked out of. The same night he talked to Mr. Spencer, he also got into a fight over a girl with his roommate, Stradlater. After this fight, Holden packed up his most valuable belongings and headed into the city.
Throughout the novel, Holden leaves hints insinuating that he is distancing himself from people and society through his actions and decisions. Holden shows his hate towards the adult world by mentioning “phoniness” throughout the book, insinuating that he will never be like this, even though it’s impossible. His constant failing at school evidences that he isn’t planning to have a common future by having a job like most people would. It was evidently explained that Holden doesn’t fit in because he doesn’t want to be part of humans’ corrupted society. Regardless of how one feels about society, it is evident that its flaws made a teenager retract from accepting humans’ adult world, and instead negated to be a part of it.
Not only does he feel alienated from the other kids at school, he also doesn’t get along with people in his family. The only person that Holden gets along with in his family is his sister. Throughout the novel Holden has a relationship with his sister. As shown in this quote from chapter ten. “But I certainly wouldn't have minded shooting the crap with old Phoebe for a while”(). Phoebe is the only person that Holden ever reaches out to in the novel. Holden likes and connects to Phoebe because of her innocence. Holden feels like he doesn’t belong when he gets to Penn Station. When Holden arrives to Penn Station he wants to call a family member or friend but he feel likes he has no one to call. For an example when Holden says “The first thing I did when I got off at Penn Station, I went into this phone booth. I felt like giving somebody a buzz … but as soon as I was inside, I couldn't think of anybody to call up”(). Holden doesn’t feel close to any friends or family members to give them a call. Holden feels this way a lot thought the story. Not belonging is a big theme in Catcher in the
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger has many different possibilities when discussing possibilities for theme. Salinger focuses heavily on innocence in this novel this leading us to the theme loss of innocence. The Catcher in the Rye is a bildungsroman and Holden Caulfield is a teenager looking for his identity therefore we can conclude that searching for identity could be a theme in this story. Holden has suffered a death already and it has affected him greatly coping with death is another possible theme for this story. Salinger left many possible themes for this story.
Throughout the novel, Holden is facing a big problem that many teenagers have to face eventually (their coming of age) and the setting that he is in makes his problem worse. His biggest conflict is that he internally doesn’t want to grow up. The 40s/50s was a very turbulent time period. Teenagers during that time liked to venture into adult like behaviors. They smoked, drank, and partied. Holden described how some wild things happened at Pencey Prep, a s...
Holden is not just abnormal, he has problems that other teenagers, including the students at Pencey, experience going through adolescence. An example of this is Holden's jealousy towards Stradlater when he finds out he is going on a date with Jane Gallagher, “Boy,was I getting nervous” (42). Every teenager has bouts of jealously especially about the opposite sex, and Holden is no different. Holden's rebellious nature, to an extent, is typical for a teenage boy. His rebellious nature of smoking when it is not allowed, “You weren't allowed to smoke in the dorm...I went right on smoking like a madman.” (41-42). Holden is also anxious about change, which again to an extent is normal, “Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks...”(60), and he has the right to be; change,especially during adolescence, is a terrifying but exciting ride into the unknown, and similar to other adolescents Holden is afraid but intrigued about the unknown.
Holden, the main character in the story, attends a prep school called Pencey Prep. He really dislikes the school and even says that it’s full of crook, although it’s mostly a wealthy school. Holden is very hot headed and seems a bit reckless, in the sense that he doesn’t care the consequences of his actions, or at least think them through. He also looks to be depressed or just jumpy in general. Despite being an
In the book, The Catcher in The Rye, Holden is portrayed as a misfit who doesn’t want to be introduced to the horrors of the adult world. He fails all of his classes except for English at Pencey and is being kicked out of the school. He then decides to lay low in New York City while his parents digest him being kicked out . In addition, he experiences many adventures and learns about himself along the way. Holden refuses responsibilities and avoids the consequences of his actions, his problems, and remains like this throughout the whole book.
Holden assumes that he would get kicked out of Pencey Preparatory School, and before that could happen, he decided to leave the school. He had been kicked out of two schools before attending Pencey Prep. One can only assume that the reasons why he had been kicked out of the schools had been the same, due to the fact that he is very fond of his childhood and is immature. Primarily, Holden tells the reader that he is failing four classes, this could be one possibility. Another possibility could be the fact that he gets into many verbal and physical fights with others, simply because he does not get along with people in general. Holden has many chances at having a true friendship with people his age, but he usually speaks highly young children and believes they are smarter than adults, like his sister, Phoebe. It is easy to tell when he says, “You should see her. You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole life... I mean she's had all A's ever since she started school...You'd like her. I mean if you tell old Phoebe something, she knows exactly what the hell you're talking about.” (Put page number) When it comes to people his age, Holden tends to feel lonely because he thinks they are phony. His definition of phony is when someone does not fit into his perception of normal, which is usually when people show off, he believes it is unnatural to not act like themselves. Holden’s loneliness can be compared to the event at the beginning of the novel when the Pencey Prep students were watching the football game from the stands and he was watching it from Thomsen Hill, separating himself from everyone. Holden has tries to be friends with Ackley and Stradlater. Holden tries to get Stradlater to like him by complementing him by calling him a “very sexy bastard” (32) or a “handsome, charming bastard” (34), doing his homework, and letting him borrow his hound’s tooth jacket to wear on his date with Jane.
Holden lacks the essential ability to motivate himself, which he needs to survive in the 'real' world. He continues to be kicked out of every school he attends because he fails to apply himself, his simple reasoning being 'How do you know what you're going to do till you do it? The answer is, you don't' (213). Everybody else in his life tries to encourage him to care about school and his grades but it doesn?t make any difference. From the start of the novel Holden?s history teacher at Pencey tells him ?I?d like to put some sense in that head of yours, boy. I?m trying to help you. I?m trying to help you, if I can? (14). But the fact of the matter is he can?t help him, Holden has to help himself. The drive to succeed has to come from within him, ?I mean you can?t hardly ever do something just because somebody wants you to? (185). In order for Holden to succeed he has to want it for himself. The only problem being Holden is unable to will him into doing anything he is not genuinely interested in, therefore missing out on further knowledge he could acquire that would truly entice him. Holden gives up on school because he fears if ...
Parents are the most important support system in their children’s lives. There is a breakdown in this support system for Holden. His relationship with his parents is very dysfunctional; he rarely talks to them and avoids seeing them in person. Mr. and Mrs. Caulfield have their own life agenda, which doesn’t include Holden as a priority. Their obligation is mainly to pay for the various boarding schools he attends. Holden’s parenting comes mostly from these boarding schools. Holden even feared returning home or was ambivalent about seeing his parents. When he did return home to visit his sister, Phoebe, he avoided his parents as much as possible. “It was a helluva lot easier getting out of the house than in, for some reason. For one thing, I didn’t give much of a damn anymore if they caught me. I really didn’t.” (p. 180) Any person that has a good relationship with their parents would certainly try go to them for help especially if they were in a difficult time in their life. Holden was undergoing a very difficult time in his life; he was lonely and desperate for someone to talk to. Instead of seeking his parents, he chose to avoid them. This portrays the lack of the primary support system in Holden’s life, his parents.
He complains about his school, saying that it is just like any other school and uses language that makes him sound very obnoxious. Holden seems to focus on girls quite a bit, just like any other teenage boy. He seems to focus on one girl in particular, a girl named Jane. We soon learn that Holden’s personality is not your average personality. Holden does seem to have some friends but he does not fall into many peer groups with the type of personality he has. Holden isn’t able to read social cues like most teenagers learn to do. For this reason, he seems to play around a lot in the wrong situations. Even his friends have matured enough to recognise that Holden needs to ‘grow up’. Holden’s resistance to emerging adulthood is the cause of many of the problems he is faced with during the