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Coming of age in literature
Character development of holden caulfield
Character development of holden caulfield
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The novel ‘Catcher in the Rye,’ written by J.D. Salinger portrays the struggle with maturity, and is perceived through the main character, Holden Caulfield. J.D. Salinger's fictional novel, published in 1951, is a coming-of-age story read by many adolescents but has been originally intended for an adult audience who would be able to relate to Holden’s idea that the adult world contains a certain insincerity attached to it. ‘Catcher in the Rye’ presents the distressing idea that despite the amount of action taken to evade or ignore it, maturity is inevitable.
The book is told through the perspective of Holden Caulfield, a young man the age of seventeen, who expresses his opinions on every subject that can come to mind and when he describes a story of someone he ends up generally calling them a phony, or believing that they are fake in some way. He is not considered as an adult nor a child, and associates phoniness with adulthood. Holden even
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When thinking about Jane Gallagher, he views her as a childhood friend that used to play checkers with him and not as the maturing lady she is becoming. “Every time I got to the part about her out with Stradlater in that damn Ed Banky’s car, it almost drove me crazy” (89). The thought of her doing anything with his roommate Stradlater had frightened him, which reveals that he is afraid of other people maturing, possibly since he had not been doing so himself. He had flunked many subjects at his prep school Pencey and they had decided to kick him out. He is afraid to reveal this to his parents since he had claimed that he had been kicked out of many other schools before as well, possibly because he had not been doing the work to maintain his grades. He has a small amount of responsibility and is more charismatic, for he wandered around the city of New York on his own after fleeing Pencey since he had gotten kicked
In the modern world, everyone must make the transition, no matter how scary or daunting it may be, into adulthood at some point in their lives. Most individuals are gradually exposed to more mature concepts, and over time, they begin to accept that they can no longer posses the blissful ignorance that they once had as a child. Others, however, are violently thrown from their otherwise pure and uncorrupted adolescent lives through a traumatic event that hurls them into adulthood before they are ready. The novel The Catcher on the Rye written by J.D. Salinger, explores the struggle children face to adapt to adult society through the main character Holden Caulfield, a teen that lost his innocence, and is still attempting to cope with the fact that everyone grows up.
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.
After many years of ideas coming and going, one that seems to stay the same is the thoughts of tennagers. In the book The Catcher In The Rye written by J.D Salinger many can still relate to Holden’s story even after a 76 year difference. While exploring the city around him Holden takes the time to try to find himself on a deeper level and try to grasp how growing up really makes him feel. Given the fact that everyone is unique in among themselves the need for self satisfaction is always current meaning many run from the true responsibilities that come with age.
In J.D. Sallinger's Catcher in the Rye, is based on the sullen life of Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old teen-ager is trying to find his sense of direction. Holden, a growing adult, cannot accept the responsibilities of an adult. Eventually realizing that there is no way to avoid the adult life, he can only but accept this alternative lifestyle. What Holden describes the adult world as a sinful, corrupted life, he avoids it for three important reasons: His hatred towards phonies and liars, unable to accept adult responsibilities, and thirdly to enshrine his childhood youth.
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is seen by some critics a a drop out student destined for failure in life, but I see him as a symbol of an adolescent who struggles to adapt to the reality of adulthood.
Growing up is not easy. The desire to slow down or stop the process is not unusual for adolescents. Resisting adulthood causes those who try to run away from it to eventually come to terms with the reality of life: everyone has to grow up, and fighting against it makes it much harder to accept in the end. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield often tries to resist the process of maturity in an effort to avoid the complicated life he might face as an adult, making him an unusual protagonist for a bildungsroman; this struggle, however, opens Holden’s eyes to the reality and inevitability of growing up, helping him realize that innocence does not last forever.
In his novel Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger portrays childhood and adolescence as times graced by innocence when his protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is faced with the reality of becoming an adult. Holden’s desperation to maintain his innocence and the manner in which he critiques those he deems to have lost theirs, emphasizes his immaturity and ignorance while highlighting the importance the author places on childhood.
Growing up and becoming mature can be an intimidating experience; it is difficult to let go of one’s childhood and embrace the adult world. For some people, this transition from youthfulness to maturity can be much more difficult than for others. These people often try to hold on to their childhood as long as they can. Unfortunately, life is not so simple. One cannot spend their entire life running from the responsibilities and hardships of adulthood because they will eventually have to accept the fact that they have a role in society that they must fulfill as a responsible, mature individual. The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger follows the endeavours of Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old teenage boy who faces a point in his life where he must make the transition from childhood to adulthood. In an attempt to retain his own childhood, he begins hoping to stop other young children from growing up and losing their innocence as well. As indicated by the title, “The Catcher in the Rye” is a book that explores a theme involving the preservation of innocence, especially of children. It is a story about a boy who is far too hesitant to grow up, and feels the need to ensure that no one else around him has to grow up either. His own fear of maturity and growing up is what leads to Holden’s desire to become a “catcher in the rye” so he can save innocent children from becoming part of the “phoniness” of the adult world.
The novel is narrated by a 17-year-old named Holden Caulfield. He is a very hypocritical and repetitive narrator. He makes it very clear that he is not going to tell him about his childhood or parents. Holden is a patient in an institution near Hollywood, where his older brother DB. He then starts to tell us about all the “madman stuff” that occurred the last Christmas. He starts off his tale by visiting Mr. Spencer and wished he hadn’t. Mr. Spencer is sick and dressed in a peculiar way. He lectures Holden on what he is doing with his life and he needs to try harder. He keeps embarrassing and criticizing Holden about the decisions he's made in his life. After that bad conversation, Holden goes back to his dorm room. His “friend” Ackley visits
In life there comes a time where you think that everyone wants to see you fail and are “phoney”. This particular time happens mostly in the teen stages of life as they are usually trying to find there identities. Holden Caufield, a teen was a high school student at a boy's high school called Pency Prep, which he got kicked out from. He feels as though he had fought the world and lost, everyone is against him, just out there to see him fail. After getting kicked out he journeys out to New york city where he faces some of the toughest times in his life surrounded by “phony” adults that Holden would never want to become.
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.
“Catcher in the Rye”, written by J.D Salinger, is a coming-of-age novel. Narrated by the main character, Holden Caulfield, he recounts the days following his expulsion from his school. This novel feels like the unedited thoughts and feelings of a teenage boy, as Holden narrates as if he is talking directly to readers like me.
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 Caulfield - A Nice Kid in a Cruel World 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.
The perception of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye has two extremes; many find him likable, others find him irritable. Given Holden’s age and experiences, readers often relate to his thoughts and views of the world around him. On the opposite side of the spectrum, readers also find him to be repetitive and hypocritical of the world around him. This interpretation of Holden is derived from the lack of a climax in the book, but in reality, life is often anti-climatic. The majority of the story is not told by Holden’s actions, rather by Holden’s thoughts. Human minds are complex in nature; in order to understand the human mind, it is important to not only consider one’s actions, but their possible thoughts as well. Holden’s mindset of a teenager born into a privileged life that, due to his traumatic experiences, lead him to act and think a certain way that may not seem realistic; when most teenagers minds are constantly conflicted. Holden Caulfield exemplifies qualities of an ideal teenage rebel given his extreme cynicism and unrealistic perception of the world.