Throughout the history of literature, humans have learned from one another, using examples from their elders to help compose stories of their own. The novel The Catcher in the Rye, written by J. D. Salinger, is a coming of age story about a teenager named Holden Caulfield. Salinger was well known for representing teenagers for who they are, young people who were not perfect and had secrets. Many authors since Salinger have agreed with this notion. Salinger's character Holden is the renowned archetype, an original model or type after which other similar things are patterned, that many authors use today to model their characters after. The character Charlie from Stephen Chbosky's novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Holden Caulfield are …show more content…
"I'm really glad that Christmas and my birthday are soon because that means they will be over soon because I can already feel myself going to a bad place I used to go "(Chbosky 74). Birthdays and Christmas are typically associated with happy memories and excited anticipation, but Charlie has deep-seated anxieties about these special days because his Aunt Helen died on his birthday, December 24. He misses her more than anything. Every year, unlike other members of Charlie's family, his Aunt Helen would get Charlie two gifts: one for his birthday and another for Christmas. The year she died, she forgot to get Charlie a second gift; but despite the bad weather, she went out to get one anyway. On the way home with the gift, the snow was falling too heavily and she crashed. Because of the circumstances surrounding Aunt Helen's death, it causes Charlie to feel that her death was directly his …show more content…
It is a symbolizes how Holden, who would like nothing to change and everything to stay the same, now accepts that this is a childish dream. He lets Phoebe go on the carousel, comfortable with this decision. Holden mentions that Phoebe protests, arguing that she is too big to ride the carousel, but Holden knows that she is lying and actually wants to do it and he buys her a ticket. Holden declines to ride, which shows him accepting his status as an adult. There is an element of awe to the moment, as the carousel is operating even though it is wintertime. It continues to always stay at the same pace, moving in circles; it stays the same while the children who ride it continue to grow older. In a way, the carousel is nostalgic of the statues in the Museum of Natural History, because they do not change. The pleasure Holden gets from watching Phoebe ride the carousel would seem to be, like his moments at the museum, self-deceptive. But Holden does show some signs of growth, he comments: “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe [...] If they fall off, they fall off” (Salinger 211). By saying this it shows that Holden is coming to terms with the idea that every child will eventually “fall” out of innocence and into adulthood; that his “catcher in the rye” fantasy was just that, a fantasy. Holden cannot prevent or save children from growing up, just like he cannot prevent or save himself from
It takes many experiences in order for an immature child to become a responsible, well-rounded adult. In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger’s main character Holden Caulfield matures throughout the course of the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Holden is a juvenile young man. However, through his experiences, Holden is able to learn, and is finally able to become somewhat mature by the end of the novel. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield’s story represents a coming of age for all young adults.
Catcher in the Rye is one of the most famous books in American literature. Written by J. D. Salinger, it captures the epitome of adolescence through Salinger’s infamous anti-hero, Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield learns about himself and his negative tendencies, and realizes that if he does not do something to change his perspective, he may end up like his acquaintance James Castle whom he met at Elkton Hills. Holden tries to find help to mend his outlook on life through Mr. Antolini so he does not end up like James, who did not want to face the problems he created for himself. This is proven by the similarities between James Castle and Holden, Mr. Antolini’s willingness to try and help Holden, and Holden’s future being forecasted by James.
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.
Childhood is an unusually hard thing to rid yourself of when it is time for you to pass into the intensified life of adults. Personally, I have yet to overcome that challenge. The Catcher in the Rye is a well developed story about a high school boy, Holden Caulfield, who is stuck between the stages of adolescence and adulthood, and is trying to discover his identity. All his life, Holden Caulfield has refused to grow up, and as the book progresses, he is on the fine line of leaving innocence and adolescence behind and passing into adulthood, but what gives him the needed shove into the realm of adulthood was getting over his brother, Allie’s death. To Holden, Allie is the main definition of innocence. Eventually Holden comes to the decision to be the catcher in the rye. After this decision he tries to follow through with his plan and ultimately decides that he can’t keep anyone from growing up. This seems to be his breaking point in the book where he finally overcomes all his negative emotions towards Allie’s death and accepts it for what it is, knowing that he has to move on.
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger develops Holden Caulfield as a morally ambiguous character. Throughout the book, Salinger speaks as Holden and introduces him as a callous and subjective individual. However, the author permits the reader to be within Holden’s mind, giving the audience an alternative perspective of Holden’s true character. Without the obscurity of Holden’s personality, the work would lack a crucial element. As the protagonist, Holden serves as an equivocal adolescent that is relatable for the reader.
The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J.D. Salinger that is told from the point of view of Holden Caulfield. Holden is a young man struggling with growing up and facing the adult world. As a misunderstood teenager, Holden learns to deal with the deception of the adult world and the consequences of his choices.
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily link him to the typical teenager living today. The fact that the book was written many years ago clearly exemplifies the timeless nature of this work. Holden's actions are those that any teenager can clearly relate with. The desire for independence, the sexually related encounters, and the questioning of ones religion are issues that almost all teens have had or will have to deal with in their adolescent years. The novel and its main character's experiences can easily be related to and will forever link Holden with every member of society, because everyone in the world was or will be a teen sometime in their life.
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is home to the protagonist Holden Caulfield. There is no coincidence that he holds a striking resemblance to the author of the novel himself. Salinger seemed to have a similar childhood as Holden describes in The Catcher in the Rye. Both men also seemed to have a certain fascination with younger children, especially younger women. J.D. Salinger based one of his most famous characters, Holden Caulfield, on personal experience.
The novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by JD Salinger, touches on the themes of innocence, death, and the artifice and the authenticity in the world, while following the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, through his weekend trip to New York City. As the story unfolds, Holden, as narrator, becomes more vulnerable to the reader, and starts to express his feelings surrounding the death of his brother, Allie, as well as his feelings about himself. Holden is faced with a truth that has haunted him for many years: adulthood. Many of the qualities Holden exhibits, which he sees as negative, are those of the average person: struggle, loneliness, deep sadness. He is one of many classic protagonists that encourages the reader to relate to them on
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a classical coming of age novel that deals with a youth’s mental adjustment to a modern world. Holden Caulfield, Salinger’s troubled protagonist, has a flawed view of the world where youth and integrity fights maturity and corruption. Salinger explores this dichotomy using a variety of motifs and symbols.
The Catcher in the Rye told a story of Holden Caulfield and his struggle to find something pure in a world filled with “phonies” (Biography). It is arguable that some of Holden’s experiences could be comparitively autobiographical to Salinger’s real life. Much like J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a reserved character, attending Pencey Prep (Salinger, J.D.). Both Holden and Salinger were born and raised in Manhattan, and went to private schools in Pennsylvania. Another seemingly important characteristic between the two is that they were kicked out of numerous schools because of grades.
Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he expresses this attitude through his dialogue, tone, and diction.
In this thought of Holden’s, the carousel becomes childhood, and the gold ring becomes adulthood. Holden sees that when children are confident enough they will start to lean out of the seat in order to acquire or achieve the gold ring or adulthood. He also realizes that no matter how hard it is not to, advising the child when to start reaching for the ring will never end well. It is revealed to Holden that if the children fall, they fall and the only thing they can do is get back up and try again. This leads Holden to fathom the fact that maybe Pheobe is ready to take that risk even if Holden isn’t. This shows how he accepts the fact that adulthood is a fact of life and it is a person’s choices that effect how it
In J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is a rather negative teenager who has been kicked out of yet another boarding school. Set in the late 1940s, he decides to leave his school, Pencey Prep, early and takes a trip to New York City. As Holden adventures through New York City, he seems to have a fixation on his brother, Allie’s, death. Allie dies a few years prior to the novel, and this tragedy has seemed to leave a long-lasting, negative impact on Holden. Because he has seen the harsh realities of adulthood, too early, Holden has tried not only to not grow up himself, but to also prevent others from having to face the sadness that comes with maturity.
Over the years, members of the literary community have critiqued just about every author they could get their pen on. One of the most popular novels to be critiqued has been J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. In favorable critiques, Holden Caulfield is a good guy stuck in a bad world. He is trying to make the best of his life, though ultimately losing that battle. Whereas he aims at stability and truth, the adult world cannot survive without suspense and lies. It is a testament to his innocence and decent spirit that Holden would place the safety of children as a goal in his lifetime. This serves to only re-iterate the fact that Holden is a sympathetic character, a person of high moral values who is too weak to pick himself up from a difficult situation.