The Metamorphosis of Holden in The Catcher in the Rye

The advice to Holden was to get back in school, but Holden does not listen because he is so tired. He does not want to hear a lecture, he wants to go to bed and sleep. This visit for advice left Holden sadder and more confused than he ever was before. He does not know what he wants to do now. Holden is telling this story from some sort of a mental hospital.

In the drama Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller, the main character Willy appears to have a form of Alzheimer’s in his old age while repetitively reminiscing of previous times with his family and work profession. Willy seems to have unwillingly convinced his son Biff to be an underachiever when Biff caught his father Willy in an affair with a client’s secretary. When Biff found out about the affair he soon decided he would not attend summer school putting his dreams of playing college football behind, soon to lead to a life of failures. Although from that point on Biff resents his father, Biff never tells Linda of the affair. In the beginning of the play, Willy boasts of his success in his sales in Boston, Massachusetts.

Most likely Holden’s parents are conservative folks that disapprove with Holden’s behavior. His parent weren't great at raising Holden because they weren't there for Holden's needs. All they did was send out Holden to a school for years rather than looking for a solution to his problem. Another observation, he doesn't want to go home after being kicked out of school, which is usually a place you want to go to because home is safe and comfortable but instead, brings Holden anxiety and distress. His trouble with his parents probably has to do with his younger brother's death, Allie.

Holden's Metamorphosis in The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is the chronicle of a young man's metamorphosis from immaturity to unsure manhood. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist, is a sixteen-year old boy who leaves the prep school he has been expelled from to escape the frightening reality of dealing with his parents. However, during his visit to New York City he is faced with the harsh reality that he cannot continue to hold onto his childhood. Holden is an extremely complex character and it is only by examining each layer of him that the reader is able to understand his painful metamorphosis. There have been many debates over the morality of Holden.

He spends his time with a variety of people, but he can't make meaningful contact with any of them. After a day of this futility, he sneaks into his home to see Phoebe, but she disappoints him by being annoyed at his being expelled from still another school. Holden decides that the only solution to his overwhelming problem is to run away and establish a new identity as a deaf mute who will not need to communicate with anyone. On the verge of a nervous collapse, Holden changes his mind and decides to rejoin his family. He then enters a hospital or rest home not far from Hollywood, California, and he is telling us his story while in this institution.

Holden decides that he's had enough of Pencey and will go to Manhattan three days early, stay in a hotel, and not tell his parents that he is back. On the train to New York, Holden meets the mother of one of his fellow Pencey students. Though he thinks this student is a complete "bastard," he tells the woman made-up stories about how shy her son is and how well respected he is at school. When he arrives at Penn Station, he goes into a phone booth and considers calling several people, but for various reasons he decides against it. He gets in a cab and asks the cab driver where the ducks in Central Park go when the lagoon freezes, but his question annoys the driver.

He tries in vain to get a grip on the adult world, but never is quite successful. Holden's first attempt at adulthood is exemplified when he leaves his school without permission from his parents or the school. This act in itself sets the stage for his trial and error attitude about adulthood in the sense he failed out of school, which was a childish act. He tries to rectify his failing out of school by leaving, which he views as an adult act. Holden's leaving school represents his need for independence and he achieves this by leaving.

He is a very impassive adolescent, he does not want to get attached to anyone because of he trust issues. He does this because he had a scathing childhood and most of his thoughts have become unconscious. According to Freud's theory, " Unconscious state- reveals conflicts of protagonist and sometimes creates and/or transferred from the author's own troubled states"(Freud1). Holden is his own problem.He has the opportunity to leave his past behind him, but instead he chooses to let it affect him in his future, that causes trouble for him as he approaches his academics with flunking out, fa... ... middle of paper ... ... hurt him deeply and horribly over the years of his childhood. His education does not seem to matter to him either, he thinks that as long as they he can keep moving forward in life, you won't need school.

His distrust of people was created from past relationships that had always left him abandoned and often times alone on the streets. For example, in one scene, of the movie, his mother said that his father left them when Michael was a week old, and in another scene Michael talks about nights that he would sleep in the street because he did not know where his mother was. As a result, he felt rejected which led to his interpersonal conflict with others. He felt vulnerable when it came to building relationships because he felt that everyone would eventually hurt or leave him just as everyone else had in his life. Coupled with his interpersonal conflict, Michael also struggled with managing his emotions.

Nnameka finally decides to tell his father, and his father is highly upset at him and doesn't want to see him anymore. When Nnameka and Nene get married they have two sons together. Their boys were always asking about where their granddad was, So Nene comes up with a plan to write Okeke. Okeke was never around and he has wasted precious time, Okeke finally had a change of heart “–and Vague fear that he might die without making it up to them” (Page 6) He Hardly slept that night from remorse. Okeke finally comes to see the boys and he regrets he that he stayed away from his son and his family.