These thoughts were eloquent descriptions of uncensored opinions and judgments that Holden had. However, what was interesting, not once in the book did he display or act on these feelings, opinions or judgments publicly. For example, on page 71 of the book, Holden comes across a woman that happens to be the mother of a “the biggest bastard in all of Pensey”. Holden then described to the reader a detailed depiction of this character and why he used these words to describe him. After the reader is given a short summary on Ernest Morrow (the lady’s son), Holden stated that because he could hear the desperation in the woman’s voice he decided not to offend her and proceeded to tell her that her son was a lovely, well adapted student at Pensey, instead of telling her his opinion which Holden believed in his own mind to be the truth. Another admirable quality of Holden is his idealistic personality. In chapter 16 Holden travels to the Museum of Natural History, a place he had extremely fond memories from his frequent visits during his time in grade school. While walking down the street he proceeds to explain why he loves it so much. Holden, like many people, is unable to deal with conflict and change. The Museum represents an idealistic world, frozen in time and silent. Certain artifacts found in the Museum, such as an Eskimo, demonstrate a simple, controllable, image of life that Holden wishes he
He hated the world for taking away his role model and he felt desolate even though he was surrounded by people who cared about his well-being. The immense buildup of emotions only precipitated him to become abrasive to others instead of passive. “I took the bag off of her. I was almost all set to hit her. I thought I was going to smack her for a second. I really did” (Salinger). Holden loved his sister, however the powerful urge he has to hit her is uncharacteristic for him. Before he wasn’t one to lash out on others, except when things went out of his control. When he was no longer in control he lashed out, for example, after Allie died, Holden broke the garage window in resentment. These abrasive outbreaks only cause Holden to hurt those around him and force his estrangement from others as well as society even worse. As most readers notice when the story continues, Holden quickly becomes a loathed character. This critic proves this as well, “A year or so later I read it in my high school English class and concluded that he was a narcissistic wimp” (Bardi). Holden was so focused on his own emotions that he had no apprehension with the way he treated others. This lead to his own failure and separation from those who sought to guide
Throughout The Catcher in the Rye Holden puts himself in situations that are very stressful. His personality type puts him in these situations. Holden has trouble-making friends because he thinks almost everyone is a phony. The pressure created from not having friends and being able to be comfortable at a school forced him out of an education, “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That's all...For instance, they had this headmaster, Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life” (Salinger 13) not only did this force him out of the school but also onto the streets. The song “Under Pressure” by Queen perfectly fits the theme that the pressure Holden created on himself forced him to the edge of sanity. In the song, one of the reoccurring lines is “puts people on the streets” (Queen) referring to pressure. This song perfectly relates to this theme.
In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, Holden is deals with one of the largest obstacles one would ever face in one’s lifetime. He must deal with the concept of development and the idea that he’s growing up, that he’s no longer a child and must accept maturity. This internal struggle is evident in multiple aspects of this novel, particularly highlighted when Holden visits the museum and the carousel at the conclusion of the novel.
Holden is biased toward certain words that he sees as phony, but he still uses words that have the same connotation. In addition, he criticizes people who are perverted, yet he holds the same sexual desires even though he has never experienced it before. Finally, Holden tells lies to boost his self esteem however, he hates it when the same type of deceit is performed by other people. Holden goes through life meeting others and setting expectations for them. Unfortunately, those adults never seem to meet his expectations. Likewise, Holden himself can never manage to live up to his own ideals either establishing a character who is never fully honest and
4) This moment seems to be important because it sums up Holden's true feelings that he hid throughout the book.
The tears shed in this scene are crucial as Holden becomes aware of the situation caused by his actions, which is a turning point in the novel as previously Holden has ignored his own well being and has not thought of the consequences of his actions. As Holden’s personal empathy grows, he also becomes au courant of what is occurring around him and how relationships have had an impact on his life; “don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start to miss everybody” (234). By the end of the novel, Holden is developing skills to understand his emotions and how to deal with them in an ordinary manner. In doing so, he learns that having great memories comes at a price. Holden ends up missing the memories and the people more than he thought he would. The emotional depth of Holden’s character has grown extravagant amounts throughout
After running away from boarding school, Holden arrived at Penn Station where his adventures begin. “The first thing I did when I got off at Penn Station, I went into this phone booth...” (59).The significance of Penn Station is that this is where Holden’s independent journey begins.
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 Caulfield conveys his melancholy, sarcasm, and seclusion greatly through his dialogue; his vocabulary constantly consists of depression and loneliness. He expresses such agony all throughout the dialogue of the book. An example of this would be when Holden quotes, “When I finally got down off the radiator and went out to the hat-check room, I was crying and all. I don’t know why, but I was. I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome” (153). In this quote, Holden is expressing his confusion and unhappiness but mostly is just confused to why he is unhappy. He feels a severe amount of misery that devours him, all of which is shown greatly in all of his dialogue. He, at one point in the novel, feels like committing suicide because he cannot handle the pressure. He says that “I stayed in the bathroom for about an hour, taking a bath and all. Then I got back in bed. It took me quite a while to get to sleep- I...
As Holden is writing Stradlater’s composition about his brother Allie, he thinks back to the times when both he and Allie had fun together as well as the effects Allie’s death had on him. Due to his inability to express his feelings, Holden isolates himself in the garage and “[breaks] all the goddam windows with [his] fist”(44). Holden chooses to handle the pain of losing his brother by separating himself from the rest of his family and letting his emotions run loose. Although he may believe that he took the right course of action he is actually setting the foundation of a defense mechanism to keep others away. It prevents himself from having to deal with the pain of someone he cares about from leaving him again. While Stradlater is on a date with Jane Gallagher, Holden’s childhood sweetheart, Holden is unable to stop worrying about what Stradlater is doing to her. Once Stradlater returns from his date with Jane and shares some of the details, Holden’s anger continues to grow as he listens to Stradlater's remarks. As he thinks about Stradlater stealing Jane from him Holden’s anger begins to boil over pushing him to unsuccessfully “sock [Stradlater]...right smack in the toothbrush, [to] split his goddam throat open”(49). In Holden's eyes Jane is an important person, almost like Allie, and Stradlater is trying to take her away from him. Any other reasonable person would have talked out the situation and solved the problem, however, Holden is just the opposite. Rather than taking a rational approach Holden jumps to conclusions and attempts to use violence as a solution, which ends in him held to the floor. Holden is out on a date with Sally Hayes and finds himself confiding his problems to her. While Holden hysterically venting his angers out, he comes up with the idea to “drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont,” with good old Sally “tomorrow
Holden Caulfield can be analyzed through his thoughts, actions and circumstances which surround his everyday life. Holden acts like a careless teenager. Holden has been to several prep-schools, all of which he got kicked out of for failing classes. After being kicked out of the latest, Pency Prep, he went off to New York on his own. Holden seems to have a motivation problem which apparently affects his reasoning. The basis of his reasoning comes from his thoughts. Holden thinks the world is full of a bunch of phonies. All his toughs about people he meets are negative. The only good thoughts he has are about his sister Phoebe and his dead brother Alley. Holden, perhaps, wishes that everyone, including himself, should be like his brother and sister. That is to be intelligent, real and loving. Holden’s problem is with his heart. It was broken when his brother died. Now Holden goes around the world as his fake self, wearing his mask. Holden is looking for love, peace and understanding. He is scared to love because he is afraid he might lose it like he did with his brother. That is the reason for Holden's love of the museum, he feels safe because it never changes it always stays the same. Holden is troubled with the pain of death, it effects every aspect of his life causing him to not care about the future, himself or anyone, except Phoebe and Alley.
Holden's nervous impulse to protect women seems to have sprung up in his psyche from a very young age. After his brother, Allie, started to experience more severe symptoms of leukemia, Holden notes that his mother seemed "nervous as hell." His own mother's emotional problems (Lombardi) transfer to Holden on a very deep, psychological level because he feels partially responsible for his brother's fate in the first place. Seeing his mother in such a distraught state makes him feel even guiltier. The unintended consequence of this is that Holden grows up with a constant fear that he is going to hurt any woman that he grows close to. This manifests itself many times during his time in New York, with one of the earliest examples being his meeting with Sunny in the hotel room. Holden protects her innocence, but not for any particularly noble reason. He hangs her dress back up and insists that he just wants to talk, but Holden did not do this in an attempt to be some paragon of righteousness. Holden, on a deep, psychological lev...
Some people feel all alone in this world, with no direction to follow but their empty loneliness. The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, follows a sixteen-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield, who despises society and calls everyone a “phony.” Holden can be seen as a delinquent who smokes tobacco, drinks alcohol, and gets expelled from a prestigious boarding school. This coming-of-age book follows the themes of isolation, innocence, and corrupted maturity which is influenced from the author's life and modernism, and is shown through the setting, symbolism, and diction.
Never have I ever read ahead in an English class. That all changed when I read Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Each day I chose to read ahead in anticipation of what the story would hold. Holden is a character I am able to emotionally connect with, which caused me to feel invested in his story and life challenges. There is no doubt that Holden is an imperfect character, however this has furthered my interest in the novel. So often the protagonist in stories are portrayed as the stereotypical hero, which is an unrealistic expectation. I was shocked to hear the Catcher in the Rye will no longer be taught at Mendon High School, and I feel obligated to contact you on that regard. I believe every 11th grade students should be given the opportunity