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Holden caulfield conflicts
Internal and external conflict of holden caulfield
Holden caulfield conflicts
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What do you believe is the truth about why people lie? Many would believe there are many different ways and reasons to lie. In J.D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye, and Jenna McCarthy’s nonfiction article, “The Truth About Lying”, it is shown that one will lie to others to avoid confrontation and unwanted questions.
In the article, “The Truth About Lying” author Jenna McCarthy reveals that people lie to avoid confrontation, much like Holden Caulfield lies to Mrs.Morrow about how her son is a liked and successful person in the school when he encounters her on the train headed to New York City in J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Stated by McCarthy, people will lie “to avoid confrontation” (3). It is mentioned that “a believable excuse may help someone avoid an uncomfortable talk
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When one lies this way, they ruin their relationship with the one being lied to, whether if they’re close or not. The Liar then also has to keep track of the lies they’ve told, and possibly live by the consequences. On the train, Holden Caulfield lies to Mrs.Morrow similarly. After Holden leaves Pencey Prep and boards the train heading northbound towards New York, He encounters Mrs.Morrow, the mother of Ernest Morrow. She notices that Holden goes to Pencey and starts to talk to him. During their conversation, Holden decides to “Shoot the Bull” and lie to her several many times. In the beginning of their conversation, Mrs.Morrow asks Holden what her son is like at the school. Holden proceeds to say that “he adapts himself very well to things” and how Ernest is “too shy and modest” (Salinger 55 & 57). Holden tries to avoid the confrontation of talking about Ernest because
he says, “Allie was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent” (38). Holden’s remark can be interpreted as an honorary way to bring up Allie, but also a way to shame himself by comparing his intelligence to that of a little kid. Holden also says, “ He was terrifically intelligent. His teachers were always writing letters to my mother, telling her what a pleasure it was having a boy like Allie in their class. And they weren't just shooting the crap” (38). Although Holden generally associates pleasantries with phoniness, he sees these pleasantries on Allie in a sincere manner, demonstrating Holden’s high regard for Allie. Likewise, both Holden and Allie’s teacher’s sincere compliments emphasize Allie’s remarkable intelligence. While Allie received compliments from his school teachers, Holden was getting kicked out of various boarding schools, highlighting the substantial difference in educational intelligence. “Shooting the bull” is
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.
First, he goes to Mr. Spencer, his history teacher, who provides advice for his life and his future and even says “I’m trying to help you, if I can” (Salinger, 18). Because Mr. Spencer gives realistic advice to Holden to prepare him for his future even though it is not obligated, Mr. Spencer can be considered a mentor for Holden. Before Holden packs and leaves, he says “I was sort of crying” and “then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, ‘Sleep tight, ya morons!’” (Salinger, 59). Although he becomes emotional when he realizes the company he is going to miss by leaving Pencey, he still acts immaturely as a result of an adolescent pitfall called invulnerability, when adolescents makes decisions without proper regard for their consequences (Adolescent Pitfalls). Holden finally leaves to take a train and reveals his love for riding trains at night (Salinger, 60). He is setting out on an adult journey by leaving Pencey, but he is still grasping to child interests by usually becoming excited to ride trains. Concluding sentence
In Psychology Today, Dr. Alex Lickerman asserts that there numerous reasons and implications that cause us to lie in his article, “Why We Lie.” Dr. Lickerman infers that the most common motive to lie is to protect ourselves. He claims that we lie often in order to “avoid suffering painful consequences, shame, embarrassment, or conflict.” Holden admits to being a compulsive liar early on in the book. Salinger includes several instances of Holden lying, including when he speaks with Mrs. Morrow on the train while speaking about her son (54), and also while Holden converses with the nuns at the station, claiming that he had plenty of money to donate (110). However, what stands out is when he attempts to lie to Phoebe about being kicked out of Pencey. Phoebe knew him too well and was able to force the truth out of her brother. While Holden lied to Mrs. Morrow and the nuns in order for them to not get involved in his personal issues, as well as boost their self-esteem, he lied to Phoebe so she would not be disappointed. Phoebe’s opinion is one of the few that Holden cares about. Hall also points out that individuals even lie to themselves about fears and desires (106). As mentioned earlier, Holden has been lying to himself by trying to avoid adulthood as he is starting to believe he does not need to grow up. Holden fears that my growing up, he will be leaving Allie behind, even
From the very beginning of the novel, Holden decides what you want to hear, and what he's going to tell you. He refuses to talk about his parents' past because 'that stuff bores me', and his parents 'would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them.'(page 1) Throughout the novel, he avoids telling the truth about anything too "personal" or "boring." This suggests he thinks nothing of being economical with the truth for his own convenience. He certainly seems eager to decide for himself how much he's going to tell you. 'I'm not going to tell you my whole goddamn autobiography or anything. I'll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me.'(page 1) He also informs us that he hasn't told his own brother anymore than that. From this introduction, it may seem that the truth isn't very important to Holden. But let us consider this further.
Holden is a pathological liar. He lies, some times for no reason. Holden says his name is Rudolf Schmidt, who is acutely the janitor, to Mrs. Morrow on the train. He continues to lie throughout the conversation and avoids getting together by saying he has a tumor in his brain. This is the type of lies Holden tells. One reason for this might be
The people who claim that they do not lie are probably lying when they say it. Whether it is to deceive authority or just to play a joke on a friend, it is part of human nature to lie. In the novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby takes on a character of wealth and luxury. Gatsby wants to win back his love interest from five years ago, so he secretly becomes wealthy through owning an illegal drug business, using his abundance of money to impress her. In contrast, in Tobias Wolff’s “The Liar,” he tells a story of teenage James as he lies about his life to appear more fascinating. He lies not because he wants to, but because it comes naturally to him. Both stories convey people struggling to find the purpose of their
Richard Gunderman asks the question, "Isn 't there something inherently wrong with lying, and “in his article” Is Lying Bad for Us?" Similarly, Stephanie Ericsson states, "Sure I lie, but it doesn 't hurt anything. Or does it?" in her essay, "The Ways We Lie.” Both Gunderman and Ericsson hold strong opinions in regards to lying and they appeal to their audience by incorporating personal experiences as well as references to answer the questions that so many long to confirm.
Morrow because he likes to remain mysterious and also because he didn’t want to disappoint Mrs. Morrow telling the truth about her son. Holden was sitting next to a woman on a train, whose son goes to Pency. He was lying throughout the whole conversation saying his name was something else and that her son is a nice guy even though he’s a pain. He claims his name to be, “Rudolf Schmidt” (Salinger, 30) He lied to the lady and made up a name, he really doesn’t allow himself to be himself to get close to people. He tries to say positive things about her son. The stuff he was saying to her about her son had her glued to her seat about the wonderful things about the son even though the things he was saying wasn’t actually true. It corresponds, “He’s a funny guy. A strange guy, in lots of ways.” (Salinger, 31). He lies to her because he didn’t want her to be disappointed in her son even though he dislikes
The skill of misleading others by lying is something Holden is very comfortable with. For example, when Holden was on the train with the mother of a boy who went to Pencey school with Holden, he started the conversation with a lie about his name, using the name of a
Morrow’s innocence through deceit. As Holden strikes up a conversation with the woman beside him on the train, he discovers that she is the mother of “the biggest b****** that ever went to Pencey”(Salinger 61). Yet, instead of revealing his true feelings about her son, Holden tells Mrs. Morrow that everyone adores her son. Though Holden blatantly deceives Mrs. Morrow, he does so to shield her innocence and ignorance. By telling her lies about her son, Holden believes that she can live on happily, though she may be living lies.
Stephanie Ericsson’s The Ways We Lie, analyzes and reflects on how lying has simply become the norm in our society. We all lie, there is not one person in the world that does not lie. Most people lie because they are afraid of telling the truth, however what they do not know is telling a lie can lead them in the wrong direction because many things can happen when lying to a person. The person can find out when everything unravels that person will not have trust in you and you would be known as a liar. To every action there is a consequence, so why not deal with just one consequence when telling the
Telling the truth can have some consequences, but a lie can cause more damage in a relationship once it has been figured out. People believe that by just lying, a problem is solved, but problems start when lies are told. Lying destroys relationships and truth builds honest relationships which, can last forever. In both F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Rob Marshall’s Chicago, characters lie because they feel that it is easier. However, lying leads to a downward- spiral. The society we live in can either lead us to a complicated relationship with the truth or easygoing. The problem with constantly telling lies is that it starts off with one, then leads to another until everything you say is a lie. Being truthful
He does not remain untouched by the pretensions he thus rails at. He is agitated by Ackley's intrusion into his own personal space, and himself violates the same when he wakes Ackley in the middle of the night and demands to sleep in his roommate's bed. The fact that he claims to be a good liar affords Salinger the scope to disclose the character's pretensions. The incident wherein he meets Mrs Morrow is marked by impersonation on Holden's part and as he is "shooting the bull" about her son's exploits, who happens to be Caulfield's
Telling the truth teaches one person self- respect for themselves and others as well. Telling the truth also sets a good example for others to do the same thing and make a “chain reaction”. People can make a “chain reaction” by passing on what they have done from one person to another, and before you know it, everyone is changing greatly, and the world is progressing tremendously. Lies are told all around the world, and they are told every day. One lie can often lead to another lie and cause you to be caught up in one big lie that will be hard to get out of if people do not tell the truth. If a person thinks that is okay to lie, they better think again, the truth always comes out no matter how hard a person tries to keep it in, or how much someone thinks that they can get away with lying. No person can keep in or hold a grudge with what they have done. After all, telling the truth is the right thing to do, and everyone should do it. Telling the truth is always much easier than the trouble of a