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Catcher in the rye final essay
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Holden’s lies and imagination in the last third of the novel are less extreme than previously. Previously Holden’s lies were focused on the people around him and he did not actually believe them. However, as the novel progresses, Holden begins to lie to himself about the present, past, and future in order to cope with the disarray his life is falling into. Holden wishes to escape his life and attempts to create plausible plans to run away. When on his date with Sally Hayes, Holden offers to take her with him; “‘what we could do is, tomorrow morning we could drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont, and all there, see’” (Salinger 146). This idea is entirely ridiculous as Holden is only sixteen and does not have the means to carry out this plan.
Again, this is one of the few people that Holden likes and doesn’t consider a phony like everyone else. He talks highly of her and he sees himself in her in the way that she alternates between behaving like an adult and behaving like a child, the way he says he also does. It bothered him greatly when she asks him if he “got the ax again,” referring to his expulsion. She starts asking him questions about his future and what he likes (if he likes anything at all) and it forces him to wake up. Everyone has been telling Holden to realize his situation and put more effort into schoolwork and relationships and to start caring. Holden’s reality is very simple: he wants to be the catcher in the rye to protect children’s innocence and stop them from growing up because all adults are phonies. Again and again, being told that that isn’t plausible annoys him. He feels betrayed, when his own sister, someone who he thought would understand him, joins everyone else in telling him to put forth more
Holden struggles to make connections with other people, and usually resorts to calling them phonies whenever they upset him. He finds natural human flaws in people and runs away from connection immediately. His date with Sally shows this. Near the end of the date, Holden tells Sally about his plans to run away from life. When Sally gives him practical advice, Holden is quick to escape connection by calling her “a pain”. Sally’s advice would definitely guide Holden in a more realistic direction, but that is not what he wants to hear. Conflict always arises in his mind even if there is little in reality. His struggles with finding connection also make him too apprehensive to call his old friend Jane. Holden likes to think of Jane as a pure and perfect girl that he can
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.
After spending some time at Mr. Spencer, his history teacher's house and getting lectured regarding his poor efforts in school, Holden fabricates a story to leave his teacher’s house without seeming rude. On his way to his dormitory at Pencey, Holden claims that he is an exceptional liar, and would lie even about the most insignificant facts, such as where he is going. He then goes into detail about whom his dormitory is named after, and how much of a phony the man is.
In life there comes a time when everyone thinks that they are surrounded by phoniness. This often happens during the teen years when the person is trying to find a sense of direction. Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old teen-ager is trying to find his sense of direction in J.D. Salinger's, "The Catcher In The Rye." Holden has recently been expelled from Pency Prep for failing four out of his five classes. He decides to start his Christmas recess early and head out to New York. While in New York Holden faces new experiences, tough times and a world of "phony." Holden is surrounded by phoniness because that is the word he uses to identify everything in the world that he rejects.
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.
He is desperate to connect with people, but believes that all people are phonies. That is the reason why he watches the football game at Pencey Prep from the top of a nearby hill, and it is the reason why he cannot think of anyone to call in the Penn Station phone booth. The reason he keeps running away is not because he yearns for freedom. Holden himself doesn’t even know why he runs, saying, “I guess I just felt like it” (Salinger 5). The real answer is revealed at the end of the book, when he warns the reader to “[n]ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody” (Salinger 214). Holden has held on to his feelings so long that there is no freedom for him from the troubles that have plagued him. They will trouble him forever and telling people about them only makes him feel the pain more. Opening up to someone would mean losing everything all over again. Holden doesn’t want to free himself from his pain. As long as he is safe from the phonies of the world, he will never have to open up and he can keep to himself; he believes it would be better that
"`I'm just going through a phase right now. Everybody goes through phases and all, don't they?'"( pg. 15) In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a sixteen year-old who is disgusted at all the phony people in the world. For example where artists sacrifice their art for fame and mothers cry fake tears in movies. The importance of not being phony and being honest is the theme that Salinger presents in this story. Holden had difficulty fitting in at school and around the real world.
Holden tells her a vision he has been pondering about based on a line in the song “Comin’ Thro’ the Rye” by Robert Burns about how he sees himself as the protector of a grand number of children playing some sort of game in a large rye field on the edge of a cliff. It’s his job and responsibility to catch the kids if they come close to falling off the edge, ergo the “catcher in the rye.” Holden misinterpreted the lines of it and because of that, believes that the "catcher in the rye" is to rescue children from being deprived of their innocence—saving them from
Holden just got on the train and he sat in the front by himself. But another lady came on the train and sat right next to him even though there were plenty of other seats. Holden and her started talking about her son who also went to Pencey. Holden said " It really took everybody quite a long time to get to know him. He's a funny guy. A strange guy in lots of ways---- know what I mean? " (63). Holden was not afraid to talk to this women who he did not know. He really opened up to her and told her the truth about what he thought of her son. This shows how comfortable he was around her. Later on in the story Holden just woke up and was laying in his bed in the hotel with nothing to do. So Holden decides to call his old friend Sally Hayes. Without saying much to her before, Holden says " I was wondering if your busy today. It's Sunday, but there's always one or two matinees going on Sunday. Benefits and that stuff. Would you care to go? " (118). Holden was was not afraid to ask her out. This reveals how comfortable he was talking with her and he opened himself up to her. Later on in the book, readers find another reason why Holden shows his true self to
Holden's idealism is first brought forth when he describes his life at Pency Prep. It is full of phonies, morons and bastards. His roommate, Stradlater, " was at least a pretty friendly guy, It was partly a phony kind of friendly..." (26) and his other roommate, Ackley is "a very nosy bastard" (33). Holden can't stand to be around either one of them for a very long time. Later, he gets into a fight with Stradlater over his date with Jane. Holden is upset because he thinks that Stradlater "gave her the time" and that he doesn't care about her; 'the reason he didn't care was because he was a goddam stupid moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron' (44). Holden not only sees his roommates as phonies and bastards, but he also sees his headmaster at Pency Prep as a "phony slob" (3). This type of person is exactly what Holden doesn't want to be. He strives to be a mature adult; caring, compassionate, and sensitive.
Holden wants to be with Sally only when he is not thinking straight. After his long rant about school, he asks her to move to “these cabin camps… in Vermont” with him (132). Holden is not being level headed, which can be observed by Sally telling him to “stop screaming at (her)” multiple times (132). Later, after Holden calmed down, he realized he only “meant it when he asked her,” and “wouldn’t have taken her even if she’d wanted to” (134). When Holden is in a bad state of mind and is “too drunk… to give Jane a buzz,” he decides to give, “old Sally Hayes a buzz” (150). Holden feels attached to her and always seems to need her in these bad moments, but afterwards, he “wished to God (he) hadn’t even phoned her” (151). In moments of foolishness for Holden, he always falls back on Sally, and only later when he reflects on it, does he regret the decisions he made. Sally in Catcher in the Rye, is involved with many of Holden’s regrets, making her one of the necessary characters throughout Holden’s
Which is the kind of world he wants to live in. Holden expresses his desire to preserve the innocence of others when his sister Phoebe tells Holden that he doesn't like anything, and that he has no ambitions of what he wants to be when he is older. Holden then explains that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. He says that he imagines little children playing on top of a hill and that his job is to protect children from falling of the hill. This symbolizes catching children from losing their innocence and falling into the adult world. Holden tells Phoebe, “I know it crazy, but that is the only thing I’d like to be” (172). This unrealistic desire is contributes to why Holden is struggling to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Critics of the novel have said Holden would like to suspend time stating, “Holden's desire to protect children shows his desire for suspending time, for inhabiting a space of young people conserved endlessly” (Yahya 3). Not letting go of childhood memories or accepting the harsh realities of adulthood are damaging when transitioning from
It is a worldwide known concept that communication among different people is a necessity of one's life if it is to be a happy one. Human companionship is something everyone will do anything for. Yet, some people have difficulties in communicating with others especially when they see problems among the people they try to communicate with. In this novel, "The Catcher in the Rye," the author, J.D. Salinger, illustrates the protagonist's difficulty in communicating with other people, especially with the women he encounters throughout the novel. The reader can see Holden Caulfield's failed attempts to communicate with people. In the conversations Holden has with people, he usually makes up lies or ends up embarassing them or himself. In others, he usually ends up being hostile towards them. Yet, it seems obvious that the reason for his failed attempts of communication is because he won't allow people to express themselves as they are. He automatically assumes that they are "phony" because of their first impression towards him. He won't give them a chance to express themselves unless he decides that their first impression towards them makes them "likeable".
In the world of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden the main character has a dark secret. His dark secret is that he's afraid, afraid of forgetting something deep in his past. Holden's hers scared of leaving Allie. All the memories he had he never wants to forget his brother that was taken away. That's why he's frightened of growing up he blames himself for Allie's death, thinks it should have been him and tortures himself for it.He thinks if Allie can’t grow up and be successful he can't either so he never grows but because he know that if he does one day he will forget forget what he really values.