Holden Caulfield and The Catcher in the Rye

A Character Sketch of Holden Caulfield

In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is the main character that the book revolves around. He is a seventeen year old boy that sometimes acts immature: "Some times I act like I'm thirteen" (13). He stands tall measuring six feet two and a half. Even though he is young, one side of his head is "Full of millions of grays hairs" (13). This grey air seems unusual and atypical because he had it since he was a child! Most people know him say he acts like he is twelve, including his father. Caulfield does agree that he does sometimes act like an adolescent, but not all the time. As he states "Sometimes I act a lot older than I am —I really do—but people never notice it. People never notice anything" (13). This d¬¬¬¬oes show that he does put forth effort to act his age, but sometimes he gets way out of hand.

Throughout the book, he does act as if he is mature, but some of his actions that he does are far past his age level. One example is when he goes to a hotel for a prostitute, even though in the end he decides to pass on it. Indeed, this action shows his immaturity. Furthermore, another major problem that he has is an alcoholic; he can’t control himself to stop drinking. He keeps drinking until he gets drunk. As Caulfield describes it "One thing I have, it's a terrific capacity. I can drink all night and not even show it, if I'm in the mood" (118). Not only does this show that he is immature, but also that he has a lack of self-regulation and pity over himself. Another serious issue that he faces is he is a very heavy smoker for his age. He always smokes more than a pack a day, and he gets out of control with his cigarettes. Again, this shows his lack of self-control due to...

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...rdian to save the kids from losing their innocence by not letting them fall off the cliff. This is what Holden truly wants to do, and he says to Phoebe ‘I know its crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be’ (225). This is all Holden wants to do because he wants to save other children from losing their innocence because he does not want them to experience what he had to go through. He doesn’t want all the children to go through the tough times that he had to face through his youth because they have to enjoy their childhood. He wants to protect all the children by being their guardian and savor from innocence. In the end, Holden’s dream job of being the catcher in the rye is a job that he has dreamed about because he wants to be a savor of innocence for children.

Works Cited

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Print.