Holden Caulfield Grief

889 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The catcher in the rye essay

In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, there is a boy named Holden Caulfield who flunked out of school and spends the remainder of time before winter break in New York. Holden has to spend the remainder of his time alone with his thoughts before coming home to his parents. While in New York Holden would have to face all of his griefs and sorrows he has for people and for society. Holden faces struggles with his viewpoints on children, the loss of his one care, and the wrongs society has caused.
Holden Caulfield struggles accept his grief over the loss of children's innocence. Holden wants children to remain as they are and not proceed further in life as a phony. Holden won't accept that children will move on in life and lose their original innocence. He …show more content…

He struggles to find any place in the city where the Phonies haven't infected. To compensate for this Holden looks for his one true friend that's been there through thick and thin, God. He uses his conversations with god as a way to escape the ruin filled the city. With the city filled Holden has to embrace the phonies while beginning to come to terms with it see's phonies taking over schools. Holden see and swear written down on a wall and it makes him angry and the world and the way their shaping it. "I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody's written F U on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it". He struggles to accept that society is changing and will never be perfect for him. Holden fears have come true with phonies spreading the younger generation. In order to cope, Holden does the one thing that makes him forget about all of his griefs seeing children smile. For Holden Caulfield, he grieves that change will occur in society and will never be like his dreams, but he always has one way to take him to his perfect

Show More
Related

  • Holden Caulfield Grief Quotes

    441 Words  | 1 Pages

    In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in The Rye Salinger writes about the main character Holden Caulfield and his life. Holden is a teenager who comes from a wealthy family, he loves his family and lives very happy until the death of his brother Allie. After his brother died Holden becomes troubled, being kicked out of school again and again developing a negative view of the world. Holden throughout the book shows anger,denial, and acceptance over the loss of his brother.

    Read More

  • Comparing Teens in Catcher in the Rye, Tears of a Tiger, and Whirligig

    1645 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger's novel set in the 1950s, told the story of sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield. Deciding that he's had enough of Pencey, his fourth school that he'd failed, he goes to Manhattan three days before his scheduled return to home, not wanting to inform his parents that he'd been expelled and sent back. He explores the city, calls up some old friends, gets nicked by the elevator operator, and gradually becomes bitter about the world and people. He then visited his sister Phoebe. After fleeing from the house of Mr. Antolini, his former English teacher, because of mistaking his actions for a homosexual overture, Holden went to Phoebe's school and sent her a note telling her he was leaving home and to meet him at the museum. When Phoebe arrived, Holden angrily refused her request to take her with him and she ignored to speak to him. He then took her across the park to a carousel, bought her a ticket and watched her ride. Holden ended his narrative here, telling the reader that he was not going to tell the story of how he went home and got "sick". He planned to go to a new school in the fall and was cautiously optimistic about his future.

    Read More

  • How Does Holden Present Trauma In Catcher In The Rye

    1114 Words  | 3 Pages

    Holden’s childhood was far from ideal, with Allie dying, his dysfunctional parents and the revelation that he had some “perverty” stuff happen to him when he was a kid. Due to this, he isn't ready to step into adulthood and leave his childhood behind. This is why Holden is mostly alienated from adults and connects more to the innocence of children like the girl at the park and his sister, Phoebe. However, Holden is disillusioned with both adulthood and childhood. He already knows how it feels to be an adult; drinking alcohol, being independent, living by himself and caring for Phoebe, but isn’t ready to immerse himself in it.

    Read More

  • The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... is apparent that he is a troubled young man through not only what is said and done, but what is also left as unspoken thoughts inside his mind. Holden Caulfield is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, mentally unstable. He is not classified as a "crazy person" or a "loon" but he is a young man who, as a child, had innocence and purity ripped away with no warning or mercy. Instead of reacting more positively and growing older at a young age, the tragedies caused him to year for the innocence of childhood that he knew in some dark corner of his mind had been long gone and was never returning regardless of how much faith and stubbornness he had.

    Read More

  • Free Catcher in the Rye Essays: Holden as the Typical Teenager

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Preservation of Innocence In The Catcher in the Rye

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...oes want them to turn into “phonies.” Holden seeks for a peaceful and uncorrupt world but he cannot obtain that due to the actions of others. Despite Holden’s attitude and outlook on life, he is quite passionate. Although he is a firm pessimist, calling every person he comes across a “phony,” there is an alternate side to him. In his interaction with Phoebe and the other children in the book, he tries to protect them from the rest of society, since children are still naïve and pure. It is justifiable why Holden craves to preserve the innocence of others. For most of us, growing up, we begin to understand more. We start to look at life in a different perspective, different from the one we did when we were young, but as a person who has seen and experienced more in life.

    Read More

  • Catcher In The Rye Isolation Quotes

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Isolation is the sum total of wretchedness to man.” (Thomas Carlyle). In the story Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, this coming of age book tells of the teen troubles experienced by the main character Holden Caulfield. After Holden gets expelled from his school Pencey Prep, Holden leaves school a couple days early to explore New York City. In his travels he experiences isolation from friends at school, feeling disconnected from his family, as he tries understand these periods angst he finds some peace.

    Read More

  • The Catcher In The Rye

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Innocence of Childhood in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

    1249 Words  | 3 Pages

    To begin with, Holden’s love for the innocence and purity of childhood makes him very hesitant to transition into an adult life. Generally, he finds children to be straightforward, easygoing, and simply pure in every way. This is because they always say what they mean, and never try to set a false façade for...

    Read More

  • Holden's Pessimistic View of the World in The Catcher in the Rye

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Catcher In The Rye

    1349 Words  | 3 Pages

    Superficially the story of a young man getting expelled from another school, the Catcher in the Rye is, in fact, a perceptive study of one individual’s understanding of his human condition. Holden Caulfield, a teenager growing up in 1950’s, New York, has been expelled from school for poor achievement once again. In an attempt to deal with this he leaves school a few days prior to the end of term, and goes to New York to take a vacation before returning to his parents’ inevitable irritation. Told as a monologue, the book describe Holden’s thoughts and activities over these few days, during which he describes a developing nervous breakdown. This was evident by his bouts of unexplained depression, impetuous spending and generally odd, erratic behavior, prior to his eventual nervous collapse.

    Read More

  • The Mental Health of Holden Caulfield

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Holden Caulfield Loneliness

    1208 Words  | 3 Pages

    Holden Caulfield narrates his story from Hollywood, California, a city of movie stars and big dreams. The story he retells takes place in cold, dreary, wet New York City, New York. It is not a coincidence that author J.D. Salinger uses these two environments to create a mental contrast with Holden’s emotions. During Holden’s time in New York, he spends many nights and days trying to find himself as a person and struggling to grasp the idea that he is eventually going to grow up. This reality check does not sit will with Holden as he spends most of his times in the big city alone and depressed, trying to reach out to anyone willing to talk to him and help guide him through the unstable path of adolescence. Thus, in the novel The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, Salinger uses setting to show how winter affects narrator Holden Caulfield through feelings of depression and loneliness.

    Read More

  • Holden Caulfield Depression Essay

    597 Words  | 2 Pages

    The catcher in the rye by J.D. Salinger is about a boy named Holden Caulfield and his struggles in one part of his life. Holden seem very normal to people around him and those he interacts with. However, Holden is showing many sighs of depression. A couple of those signs that are shown are: trouble sleeping, drinking, smoking, not eating right, and he talk about committing suicide a couple times during the book. On top of that Holden feel alienated plus the death of Holden’s brother Allie left Holden thinking he and no where to go in life.

    Read More

  • Holden Caulfield's Psychiatric Evaluation

    1187 Words  | 3 Pages

    Holden is the second eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Caulfield. Mr. Caulfield works as a lawyer. His wife is a homemaker. He is one of four children born to the couple. His relationship with his parents and siblings appears to be normal. Preliminary interviews indicate that Holden had idolized his older brother, D.B., throughout his childhood. Recently, however, his opinion has reversed. D. B. Caulfield, a writer, has recently relocated to Hollywood. Holden regards this move as a misstep for his brother and has even gone so far as accusing him of prostituting himself by ag...

    Read More

More about Holden Caulfield Grief

Open Document