Holden Caulfield Relationships

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Recommended: The role of women in literature

Women and men support one another and depend upon one another in their relationships with each other. In the novel, Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caulfield struggles with the need for having a relationship with a woman. The women characters are good and bad for Holden’s mental state. J.D Salinger, the author of the novel, describes the struggle in connection to his own personal conflict with women throughout his own life. This leads Salinger to demonstrate that the mood of a man depends on a female through the use of Holden’s relationships with women. The only girl in Holden’s life that he is secure around is his sister, Phoebe. While finally meeting with Phoebe, Holden experiences happiness: “I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, …show more content…

Since Holden has spent time away from Jane, he is very conscious about what Jane is feeling about him. After talking to Stradlater about his date with Jane, Holden is desperate to know the details, “how’d she happen to mention me? Does she go to B.M. now? She said she might go there. She said she might go to Shipley, too. I though she went to Shipley. How’d she happen to mention me? I was pretty excited” (31). Jane is important to Holden just from one little interaction years ago, he is very desperate to know what he means to Jane. His feelings depend on if Jane showed any sign of interest expressed towards Holden. This shows that Jane is extremely significant to Holden and that she made herself memorable from a bond they shared together years ago. In contrast to a supportive girl like Jane, Sally is only important to Holden because of her beauty. Holden naturally would get upset, “she got away with it because she was so damn good-looking…She was around ten minutes late, as a matter of fact. I didn’t give a damn, though” (124). just because she was good looking he gave Sally a pass. Just from a woman’s looks, she can make up for everything else that she’s done wrong. The relationship he has with her is the potential for a physical relationship. Sally’s rude gesture does not matter to Holden, he did not have a personal relationship with Sally

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  • The Influence of Women in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger

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