Salinger characterizes Holden as constantly making impulsive decisions when presented with challenges. One example of a situation where Holden makes the wrong decision in an attempt to take the easy way out is when he encounters Sunny, the prostitute. When Holden enters his hotel, and is approached by a pimp named Maurice who asks him if he would like to buy a prostitute for the night, he responds with the brief statement, “Okay” (119). Holden’s one word response explicitly demonstrates his attempt to escape the challenging situation quickly. His lack of words also demonstrates hesitation, because if he were to be fully committed into to purchasing the prostitute, he would ask for more information. After Holden tells Maurice he will buy …show more content…
Sometimes, peer pressure and impulsiveness can go hand in hand. For example, when teenagers feel pressured to act in some way, often times they will make impulsive decisions without thinking about the future. Salinger is trying to illustrate how even though sometimes teenagers may know they are getting themselves in a bad situation, they follow through with it because they may feel pressured to do so. Within the same scene, after Sunny the prostitute has left Holden’s hotel room, Maurice storms in and claims that Holden has only given Sunny half the amount of money as he has promised. When he argues that he has given Sunny all of the money, Maurice proceeds to beat Holden and takes more money out of his wallet which leads Holden into thinking, “I felt like jumping out the window” (136). Salinger provides a clear understanding of how when Holden gets upset and stressed out, he feels the impulse to commit suicide. Holden’s impulsive decision to try and escape the small challenge of telling Maurice no leads to him struggling with an even bigger challenge: his mental health. This suicidal feeling could have been avoided if he were to have listened to the voice in his head telling him not to follow through with buying
To begin with, was the encounter with Maurice and Sunny. On his return to the hotel from Ernie's, Holden met Maurice, the elevator operator. He asked Holden if he was, "Innarested in a little tail t'night?" (Salinger 152). Holden had been lonely all night, so he quickly and without thinking answered yes. He went back to his room to get ready. Here is Holden's first test. He is sixteen and he is about to lose his virginity to a prostitute. He greeted her at the door, and she questioned his age. They had a small conversation, and all of a sudden she just took off her dress. He told her...
“All of a sudden I started to cry. I’d give anything if I hadn’t, but I did” (p. 103). This occurs when Maurice argues with Holden about money that Holden owes to a prostitute. The situation becomes too much for Holden to handle, and he breaks down like a child. Holden also tries to have immature conversations with people who have become adults.
He comes to some realizations, but nothing that makes him less pessimistic, making him a shining example of how being immoderately idealistic can disrupt your expectations for the world. It is glaringly clear that Salinger purposely portrayed Holden as a mess in order to show off the flaws of setting expectations above the healthy dose. If you only accept people without flaws and never leave room for air, you will always be
Holden uses the word phony to identify everything in the world that he rejects or encounters with. People are too talkative, too quiet, or dissimilar. Holden, himself, believes he is this perfect person, but no one believes that he is. This is why Holden believes he is surrounded by "phoniness." For example, Ossenburger of Pencey Prep, emphasizes that "he talked to Jesus all the time, even when he was driving his car." Holden thinks this is a load of crap and asserts, "'that killed me. I just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking Jesus to send him a few more stiffs" (17). Holden sees why he would pray to Jesus, only to send him some more dead bodies to get more business. Not only do phonies bug Holden, but liars and crooks. Another example is Sunny and Maurice, the elevator boy. Maurice offers Holden a prostitute for the night, "Innarested in having a little tail t'night" (90)? Holden decides to take up on this offer, and later that night, as promised Sunny knocks at his door. After entering the room, Holden cannot make a decision to sleep with the prostitute, an example of Holden clinging on to his childhood. He instead pays the prostitute for her trouble getting to his room, but after leaving, she barges back in with Maurice, complaining of how little she got. Maurice roughs up Holden and gets to his money, where Holden thinks more deprecate towards phonies and liars. Realizing what a real phony and liar people bound to be growing up, he decides to avoids the real world
Holden never seems interested in anything that he does. When he goes back to New York, he goes to all kinds of shows and movies and ends up uninterested half way through. When Holden goes to see a movie at Radio City Music Hall he tells a little bit about the movie and then says, “I’d tell you the rest of the story, but I might puke if I did. There isn’t anything to spoil, for Chrissake” (Salinger, 139). This shows that Holden becomes easily uninterested in normal things, which is a common cause of depression. The whole time Holden is in New York, he goes out to things but ends up uninterested extremely fast. The first night he is in New York, an elevator operator gets Holden a prostitute and he is excited and felt sexy. Once the girl arrives and takes off her dress, his mood completely changes and he wants her to leave. He says “The trouble was, I just didn’t want to do it. I felt more depressed than sexy, if you want to know the truth” (Salinger, 96). Just like being uninterested in normal activities is a symptom of depression, so is being uninterested in sex. Holden gets excited and nervous when he talks about sex, but w...
There will always be a moment where we all change, but most of us would prefer to hold on to remaining an adolescent. "Catcher in the Rye" written by J.D. Salinger, is a story about a high-school student, Holden, who looks for a reason to change and move on from his depressing page of life. The novel depicts the adventures of Holden as he processes a change. Through Holden's resistance to change, Salinger expresses that people sometimes crave for the past which impacts us negatively, but we would be better off if we learn to move on and find something special.
He erratically spends money, abuses alcohol, and displays irrational anger, leading to violence. Holden “[spends] a king’s ransom in about two lousy weeks” (Salinger 107). In a like manner, he meets a group of girls at a club, and “[buys] them all two drinks apiece … [and orders] two more Cokes for [himself]” (Salinger 74). Holden does not have much to live off of while in New York. Yet, he spends all he has on things that do not at all benefit him. The consequences of spending all of his money on trivial things do not prevent his behavior. Holden’s impulsive, careless handling of money knowing that he needs money for essentials in such a way that can only be described as
Through the majority of the book, Holden repeatedly speaks about having “the time”; yet, however, he states that when he gets close to doing it, he stops because the girl hinders him. Holden has not proceeded with his desire to have “the time,” even when he hires a prostitute. When Holden first sees the prostitute, Sunny, he loses the urgency and desire to finally have sex. “I took her dress over to the closet and hung it up for her. It was funny. It made me feel sort of sad when I hung it up. I thought of her going in a store and buying it, and nobody in the store knowing she was a prostitute just thought she was a regular girl when she bought it. It made me feel sad as hell—I don’t know why exactly” (95-96). Holden imagines others thinking that Sunny is your average woman shopping, not knowing what kind of woman she truly is. From the contents of Holden’s mind, this section is an example of Holden him searching for a tiny trace of innocence left within Sunny. “ ‘Me? Twenty-two.’ ‘Like fun you are.’ I...
You 'd think a prostitute and all would say "Like hell you are" or "Cut the crap" instead of "Like fun you are” (Salinger 51). Instead of speaking politely, Holden uses his own normal vocabulary, or instead, most of the teenagers ' vocabulary. It is so common to just walk into a high school and hear people use swear words left and right. Salinger’s purpose is to create a chain of connection between Holden and the reader, so that way, the reader can feel in place when reading the novel. Another way Holden connects with the reader is through his actions.
Holden often resides within his own ideologies which often conflict with that of the society’s. This is prevalent within Holden’s viewpoint as many of the adults being “phonies” and is not far from the truth. Most of the characters seemingly lack depth and are consumed within their own shallowness. Sally is the epitome of society’s shallow nature by outwardly expressing her needs. “‘Look. I have to know. Are you or aren’t you coming over to help me trim the tree Christmas Eve? I have to know’” (Salinger 130). She is too busy worried about her own affairs that Holden’s deteriorating state simply is not even recognizable in her eyes. Her focus is on what he can do for her rather than sympathizing with his issues. People are often this way where they ignore problems that om their solution., Salinger’s viewpoint is a bit cynical towards this as most of the adults have this traits perhaps portraying the loss of empathy from childhood to adulthood. Another overall theme regarding society is the advocation of honesty morally but avoiding uncomfortable situations with lies in practice. Holden often regards this type of behavior has “phony” but regardless finds himself following along as well. “I’m always saying ‘Glad to’ve met you’ to somebody I’m not at all glad I met” (Salinger 87). Small talk,
Sunny embodies what Holden desperately wants and fears – physical affection. Prior to meeting Maurice, Holden is feeling “depressed and all” (Salinger 116) and “sort of lousy” (116). His negative feelings beforehand initiate him to make a decision he otherwise would not have made –agreeing to hire a prostitute - but acknowledges that “it was too late now” (119) to invalidate what, arguably, he commits to purely on impulse. He feels “a little nervous” (120) because sex is a novelty for him – he’s had “quite a few opportunities” (120) to engage in intercourse, yet hasn’t gotten around t...
Holden has a respect for women that he views as unnatural. He feels that his sexual desires should be similar to those of his roommate Stradlater and peer, Luce. Holden shows his confusion by saying, "The thing is, most of the time when you're coming close to doing it with a girl, a girl that isn't ...
Holden attacks various weaknesses in the 50's society. He criticizes nearly everything that he observes, and refuses to pull punches. Often Holden uses his brilliant talent of observation to discover the true motives behind the people he calls "phony." Through his observations the reader can interpret Salinger's view of the 1950's culture. Holden's perceptions of paranoia, conformity, and the consumer culture convey Salinger's views.
Holden's nervous impulse to protect women seems to have sprung up in his psyche from a very young age. After his brother, Allie, started to experience more severe symptoms of leukemia, Holden notes that his mother seemed "nervous as hell." His own mother's emotional problems (Lombardi) transfer to Holden on a very deep, psychological level because he feels partially responsible for his brother's fate in the first place. Seeing his mother in such a distraught state makes him feel even guiltier. The unintended consequence of this is that Holden grows up with a constant fear that he is going to hurt any woman that he grows close to. This manifests itself many times during his time in New York, with one of the earliest examples being his meeting with Sunny in the hotel room. Holden protects her innocence, but not for any particularly noble reason. He hangs her dress back up and insists that he just wants to talk, but Holden did not do this in an attempt to be some paragon of righteousness. Holden, on a deep, psychological lev...
They often make inappropriate comments,lack emotional control, or have unrealistic expectations for the future. Holden seems to struggle with all these issues. Holden shows his immaturity through him not being able to make decisions on his own. When Holden visits Mr. Spencer, he is told that ‘life is a game that one plays by the rules’. Mr. Spencer better understanding of how the world works because of his age. His message to Holden is to become socially intelligent and look at how his actions affect the world around him. Once again, Holden displays his lack of knowledge by ignoring this priceless advice. He is also unable to make clear, rational decisions. Holden is very impulsive and can only think within the moment. The way in which Holden makes snap decisions insinuates that he is very confused and unable to organise his thoughts in a mature fashion, exposing that his child-like state of mind still dominates the more logical and mature part of his brain. Many teens seem to struggle with romantic relationships as well as