popular theme of the right of passage and the experience of growing up. Most likely, it was the overall tone of the book that incorporated all of these factors and combined them to form an inventive story line with a believable plot. Holden Caulfield, described in the book as around age sixteen, is a classic antihero type: full of negative opinions, rarely a gentleman, not exactly the best looking boy in his prep school, yet somehow deserving of some sympathy. Holden is a character who is said
The Complexity of Holden Caulfield J.D Salinger writes from personal experience in his novel, The Catcher in the Rye. The American author lived in New York City and attended a Manhattan public school for most of his adolescence before attending a boarding school that he soon left. He also suffered a mental breakdown while serving in the army. His experiences were a major part in not only the plot of his novel, but in building the character of Holden Caulfield. As the male protagonist in this
Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye From the first moment Holden Caulfield speaks in The Catcher in the Rye, he makes his personality obvious. While he is witty, passionate and honest, he is also troubled and lonely. Holden longs to find his place in the world and connect with other people. Ironically, however, his search for belonging leaves him more confused than ever. Consequently, he develops a psychological condition that can easily be considered a result of his fear and critique
mature and grow up affect them in similar ways. Through the encouragement of unexpected mentors Will Hunting and Holden Caulfield, both capable individuals, learn to dismiss the fear of attachment and overcome their disillusioned youths. Holden and Will are both bright individuals, but are unable to recognize their intelligence in the midst of their troubled worlds. Holden Caulfield isn't an unintelligent character, but really more of a misunderstood character. Though Holden struggles with grades and
Childhood is the time of truth innocence. The protagonist, Holden Caulfied, is a reclusive person who cannot bring himself to find elation. He wants to break the confinements of his solitude by talking to someone or at least by making some kind of connection, but he could only discern desolation and loneliness. Dismally, he is repudiated by all the people who he try to talk to and is confronted with rejection and dissent from society. The novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D Salinger, accentuates
The Catcher in the Rye is about a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield who doesn’t exactly fit in with his society. We know he doesn’t fit it because in the first scene Holden decides not to attend his school’s football game, which most people attend. Holden is a very opinionated person who criticizes most things. Hold did not belong in the 1940’s idea of a perfect society. But, would Holden Caulfield fit in to today’s society? Holden Caulfield would be more critical of today’s society. Holden would have
Summary: The novel Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, by James Patterson follows a troublemaker named Rafe Kachadorian. When he gets to school although for him it’s more like prison and so far he’s not very fond of his new school. Rafe only has one friend, Leo but his full name is Leonardo the Silent. The only person Leo speaks to is Rafe because Leo is imjainary. Rafe’s first day of school is a difficult day a bully named Miller who chose for his victim of the year. However, it’s there
Moral ambiguity is lack of clarity in decision making. Basically, moral ambiguity is when you have an issue, situation, or question that has moral or ethical elements, but the morally correct action to take is unclear, due to conflicting. The author of The Kite Runner is Khaled Hosseini, the book is about a boy named Amir and how much of a easy life he has at first, but near the middle of the book his life is horrible from there to the end of the book. Amir is my ambiguous character because
Throughout his Meditations on First Philosophy, Renè Descartes assumes the position of a toddler and discards everything he thought he knew as true. In the first meditations, Descartes attempts to prove the existence of himself, while also completely doubting all of his external senses. Unlike most philosophers in the 1600's, Descartes believed in the possibility that he is just living in an extravagant dream, where all of his observations are inaccurate and false. Even if the fundamentals of mathematics
Catcher in The Rye, by J.D Salinger, addresses an issue that many teenagers have spoken out against in this modern generation- displacement in society. Holden Caulfield, a young adolescent experiences this discomfiture to comply with the rules of society and intentionally tries to stop the inevitable- the loss of innocence. Innocence to Holden is simply a phrase that he is unable to conceptualize. Holden’s idea of corruption of the young, influences his point of views that often differ from his peers
The Outsiders is about the life of a 14-year-old boy. The book tells the story of Ponyboy “Curtis” and his struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes that he is an outsider. Ponyboy and his two brothers, Darrel (Darry), who is 20, and Sodapop, who is 16, have recently lost their parents in an automobile accident. Pony and Soda are allowed to stay under Darry's guardianship as long as they all behave themselves. The boys are greasers, a class term that refers to the young men
Franks revelation of Esteem Growing up in Limerick, in his memoir Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt describes the continuing difficulties The McCourt’s face in 1930’s with World War II going into motion after in the early 1940s. Frankie goes through many changes as he progresses through his childhood. He is enrolled in Catholic school, with many rigorous Headmasters with a seemingly sole purpose of belittling the students. To get ready for confirmation Frank is forced to join the Confraternity, a brotherhood
In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner comments on how death affects individuals differently and how sanity is not defined by a mental state but rather by a community of people. Varying viewpoints in narratives, allow the reader to gain insight into the character's thoughts. However, he uses perspectives outside of the Bundren family in order for the reader to create some sort of truth. Darl is the most complex character in the novel, and so his sections reflect a mind that contemplates the hardships
In It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzinni, Craig Kilner is a fifteen year old boy who resides in Brooklyn with his loving family and attends the prestigious Executive Pre-Professional High school. Despite a life of opportunity complete with a support system and an aptitude for academic success, the stress and of his high school overwhelms Craig to the point that he contemplates jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. Instead, he calls a suicide hotline in the middle of a sleepless night and the operator
In “Alone” by Edgar Allan Poe, Poe examines his early life through the lens of an outsider, connecting the emotional instability of his childhood years to his present desolation. He struggles with his insecurities and succumbs to darker thoughts- the very culprit of his isolation. Poe confesses how his lurking demons have led to his alienation because of his innate emotional inability to view the world like others. Therefore, the outside world has never bothered to understand his somber self simply
degree. Whether one defines it as mentally unstable or as someone that is being viewed wrong, there is no truly sane person. The Catcher in the Rye presents a conflict that leaves the reader pondering over the idea whether the main character, Holden Caulfield, is mad. They base his madness off of his behaviors and personality. Even though he could be considered insane, there is a reason behind his strange choice in actions. This misunderstood madness places an important role throughout the novel. Holden
no doubt Holden is struggling with severe depression all throughout the novel, making his many internal conflicts just that much challenging and arduous. Holden’s early life is traumatizing and complex, to say the least. In elaboration, "Holden Caulfield has to wrestle not only with the usual difficult adjustments of the adolescent years, in sexual, familial, and peer relationships; he also has to bury Allie before he can make the transition into adulthood" (Bloom 87 Holden). These hardships take
Holden’s Unhealable Wound Imagine if your best friend or someone close to you suddenly dies of a fatal disease. The death of this person would physically and mentally inflict trauma. All though the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a grieving seventeen year old because he endures a traumatic experience at the age of 13. His 11 year old brother, Allie, dies of leukemia, and this affects Holden throughout the novel. It causes him to yearn for his innocence and childhood back because
Holden Caulfield, in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, struggles against entering the adult world of responsibilities and leaving the innocent world of childhood by living as a teenager in between these two worlds. In the novel, Holden tells the reader about several events in his life: How he flunks school, wanders around New York City for a few days, and has a mental breakdown after returning home. Holden attempts to cope with the anxiety that compounds with confusion by communicating his
Manipulation of time and space is a reoccurring aspect quite evident in these two works; Arthur Miller’s (1949) Death of a Salesman and Tennessee Williams’ (1944) The Glass Menagerie. In Miller's (1949) masterpiece, the character Willy is struggling with a guilt complex1, which constantly drags him from reality and ongoing situations, into a situation where he is reliving a memory that pains him. Likewise, the character Tom Wingfield from The Glass Menagerie is the narrator of his own regrets,