The Catcher in the Rye
Anna Lisa
The Catcher in the Rye is a story about a boy, Holden Caulfield, and a few days of his life as he goes to New York near Christmas. He has been kicked out of four distinguished high schools for his poor grades. From the beginning of the story it is visible he is very pessimistic and has a negative outlook on almost everybody in the book. It is because of this that I do not judge people based on his opinions of them. Holden’s brother died three years before the story starts, and his death might be the cause of some of his personality. At the beginning of the book, he is getting ready to leave the all-boys Pencey Prep in a few days. His roommate, Stradlater, is going on a date with Jane Gallagher, a girl whom
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He tries to convince her to run away with him to live in a cabin. She tells him to pursue an education and he gets upset and hurts her feelings. He makes another unsuccessful call to Jane. Later that night he sneaks into his family apartment to visit his beloved sister Phoebe. He tells her that he got kicked out of Pencey and she gets upset that he doesn’t like anything. He says there is one thing he would like to do. He would like to be “the catcher in the rye,” catching little children before they fell off a cliff. Holden then sneaks away, going to Mr. Antolini’s house, a man he respects because when a boy from his school jumped out from his dorm, he was the one to pick him up. While he’s sleeping on his couch he wakes up to his teacher touching his head. Disturbed, he leaves immediately. The next day Phoebe tries to run away with him, but he won’t let her. She gets upset and he takes her to the zoo. The story ends with him watching his sister ride the carousel. It makes him very happy. In this book, I feel as though a theme is that Holden is so judgmental about everyone else, yet he never criticizes himself. He thinks he is better than everyone else. Also, I think he tries to create strong relationships, but, like in his date with Sally and at Mr. Antolini’s
The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger's novel set in the 1950s, told the story of sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield. Deciding that he's had enough of Pencey, his fourth school that he'd failed, he goes to Manhattan three days before his scheduled return to home, not wanting to inform his parents that he'd been expelled and sent back. He explores the city, calls up some old friends, gets nicked by the elevator operator, and gradually becomes bitter about the world and people. He then visited his sister Phoebe. After fleeing from the house of Mr. Antolini, his former English teacher, because of mistaking his actions for a homosexual overture, Holden went to Phoebe's school and sent her a note telling her he was leaving home and to meet him at the museum. When Phoebe arrived, Holden angrily refused her request to take her with him and she ignored to speak to him. He then took her across the park to a carousel, bought her a ticket and watched her ride. Holden ended his narrative here, telling the reader that he was not going to tell the story of how he went home and got "sick". He planned to go to a new school in the fall and was cautiously optimistic about his future.
Catcher in the Rye is one of the most famous books in American literature. Written by J. D. Salinger, it captures the epitome of adolescence through Salinger’s infamous anti-hero, Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield learns about himself and his negative tendencies, and realizes that if he does not do something to change his perspective, he may end up like his acquaintance James Castle whom he met at Elkton Hills. Holden tries to find help to mend his outlook on life through Mr. Antolini so he does not end up like James, who did not want to face the problems he created for himself. This is proven by the similarities between James Castle and Holden, Mr. Antolini’s willingness to try and help Holden, and Holden’s future being forecasted by James.
In the novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger,Holden the main character tries to take on adult and mature situations but finds himself in reality not getting very far. Holden Caulfield who goes to Pencey has failed four out of five classes and gets the notice that he is being expelled from the school. He leaves the school and goes out and tries to adventure into the real world. Holden takes on many challenges and obstacles throughout the book . Although Holden wants to be independent many people perceive Holden in numerous different ways to his actions and feelings. Faith and Stradlater both perceive Holden as irritating, when in reality he tries to distract himself from being depressed. For example when Holden was in the phone
The novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by JD Salinger, touches on the themes of innocence, death, and the artifice and the authenticity in the world, while following the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, through his weekend trip to New York City. As the story unfolds, Holden, as narrator, becomes more vulnerable to the reader, and starts to express his feelings surrounding the death of his brother, Allie, as well as his feelings about himself. Holden is faced with a truth that has haunted him for many years: adulthood. Many of the qualities Holden exhibits, which he sees as negative, are those of the average person: struggle, loneliness, deep sadness. He is one of many classic protagonists that encourages the reader to relate to them on
In the novel “Catcher in the Rye” the reader is able to better understand Holden by the characters in his remembrances. Mr. Antolini, a person who shows affection for Holden, shows the reader that Holden makes quick assumptions and judgments with characters in the novel. Phoebe, Holden’s younger sister, makes it evident to the reader that Holden does not want to grow up, mature, and have a future as an adult. Jane Gallagher’s character also helps the reader better understand Holden by making it evident that he does not want to let go of his childhood innocence. Although Holden’s character is the main focus of the novel, his remembrances of other key characters help define him and give the reader a better understanding of who he is.
The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger is one of the most controversial and timeless books written in our history. A “catcher in the rye” is someone that’s stands at the edge of a rye field and saves children from falling over a cliff. Holden Caulfield, a troubled young teenager and also the main character of the novel, pictures himself as being this “catcher in the rye” protecting all children from losing their innocence. Towards the end of Catcher in The Rye he realizes that this idea is something impossible because growing up and getting old is inevitable even for him. Throughout the course of the novel we notice how Holden is digging himself deeper into a hole as he transitions from adolescence to adulthood. He continues to head into the direction of despair as we see how purposeless his life becomes. Holden thinks by moving to a new environment the course of his life would change but it doesn’t. It just continues to get worst until eventually we learn that he is in a ward somewhere in California. Holden Caulfield has nothing to live for so maybe he should just give up entirely.
The Catcher in the Rye is a story about a teenage boy who struggles with the harsh reality of growing up and dealing with his own troubles. This story begins with the main character Holden failing out of school. Holden seems to have problems wherever he goes. He writes an essay about his brother Allie who died from leukemia. His roommate insults the essay causing Holden to punch him in the face. He runs away from school after getting into a fight with his roommate. He stays inNew York City until the remainder of the school year is over. On the subway to the city he tells made-up stories to other passengers. Once he makes it to the city he checks himself into Edmont Hotel. While exploring the city he seems to simultaneously explore his sexual curiosity. He says “In my mind, I'm probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw” (34).
He begins to tell his story while undergoing treatment in a mental hospital. Holden starts his narrative on a Saturday at the Pencey prep school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. This is the fourth school that Holden is expelled from due to not meeting academic requirements. Since Holden is not scheduled to return home until Wednesday, he decides to stay in Manhattan for three days without telling his parents. While living on his own, Holden tries to retain his innocence as he witnesses the vulgar and repulsing actions of adults in the real world. Holden’s attributes make him susceptible to this level of explicitness. In, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s attempt to protect himself from the adult world, to stop himself from growing up, and to preserve purity are all characteristics that develop the theme of
Throughout The Catcher in the Rye Holden puts himself in situations that are very stressful. His personality type puts him in these situations. Holden has trouble-making friends because he thinks almost everyone is a phony. The pressure created from not having friends and being able to be comfortable at a school forced him out of an education, “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That's all...For instance, they had this headmaster, Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life” (Salinger 13) not only did this force him out of the school but also onto the streets. The song “Under Pressure” by Queen perfectly fits the theme that the pressure Holden created on himself forced him to the edge of sanity. In the song, one of the reoccurring lines is “puts people on the streets” (Queen) referring to pressure. This song perfectly relates to this theme.
Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he expresses this attitude through his dialogue, tone, and diction.
Some people feel all alone in this world, with no direction to follow but their empty loneliness. The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, follows a sixteen-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield, who despises society and calls everyone a “phony.” Holden can be seen as a delinquent who smokes tobacco, drinks alcohol, and gets expelled from a prestigious boarding school. This coming-of-age book follows the themes of isolation, innocence, and corrupted maturity which is influenced from the author's life and modernism, and is shown through the setting, symbolism, and diction.
In the novel, Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is an example of a prosaic rich adolescent boy,with a pedestrian set of problems, but a psychoanalysis reveals that Holden has a plethora of atypical internal conflicts. Internal conflicts that other students at Pencey, such as Stradlater and Ackley, would not normally experience.
Holden is forced to admit that he’s been kicked out of school, and when Phoebe accuses him of not liking anything, he tells her his dream of becoming the “Catcher in the rye.” When their parents return home, Holden calls up an old teacher of his, and was told he could stay at his house. This teacher, Mr. Antolini, spends a lot of time talking to him and giving him advice, but once Holden falls asleep, he is awoken by Mr. Antolini petting his head. He becomes so uncomfortable that he leaves immediately, and reveals that he has been assaulted in this way many times prior. After sleeping on a bench in Grand Central Station, Holden visits Phoebe’s school to give her a note and say he will be leaving the state.
Foster’s characteristics of the QUEST are the quester, the destination, the purpose, the challenges along the way, and the reason behind going to the destination. In The Catcher in the Rye Holden is the quester who begins his journey by being kicked out of Pencey Prep. He decides to go on a trip instead of going home and revealing to his parents that he has been expelled. Staying around New York is a challenge in itself, and by the end of his trip Holden realizes more about himself. Some of the challenges he faces are his immaturity levels getting in the way of certain tasks and his loneliness. At the end of his trip Holden begins to have a new sense of maturity, and is ready to grow up.
In J.D. Salinger’s controversial 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character is Holden Caulfield. When the story begins Holden at age sixteen, due to his poor grades is kicked out of Pencey Prep, a boys’ school in Pennsylvania. This being the third school he has been expelled from, he is in no hurry to face his parents. Holden travels to New York for several days to cope with his disappointments. As James Lundquist explains, “Holden is so full of despair and loneliness that he is literally nauseated most of the time.” In this novel, Holden, a lonely and confused teenager, attempts to find love and direction in his life. Holden’s story is realistic because many adolescent’s face similar challenges.