The Catcher in the Rye
The book Catcher in the Rye is a story of Holden Caulfield's thoughts about
life and the world around him. Holden tells many of his opinions about
people and takes the reader on a 5-day trip into his mind. Holden,
throughout the book, made other people feel inferior to his own. I can
relate to this because although I do not view people inferior to me, I
judge others unequally. Holden and I both have similar judgements of
people from the way they act and behave. We also share feelings about
motivation as well as lack of it. After reading this book, I came to the
conclusion that Holden and I are much more similar than I initially
believed.
Holden portrayed others to be inferior to his own kind all throughout
the book. He made several references as to how people aren't as perfect as
he was. "The reason Stradlater fixed himself up to look good was
because he was madly in love with himself." Holden had a
difficults with no being good. He was afraid of not having any special talents or
abilities and and did other thi8ngs to make himself look tough.
"Boy, I sat at that goddam bar till around one o'clock or so, getting drunk
as a bastard. I could hardly see straight." Holden tried all he
could to try to be cool he was faking it just to fit in. He drank, cursed and criticized life l to make it
seem he was like he knew of his habits. I myself have found me doing this
at times, also. I, at times, feel the need to fit in to a group and do
things similar to what others do in order to be accepted by others, but I do have my limitations. I
smoked a cigarratte once by myself cause I saw everybody doing that so I was like let me see how it is, I tried it and
it didn’t grow on me but that was only once. Holden and I both
put people on levels higher and lower other than our own for amount of knowledge and
and characteristic
Holden used the term 'phonies' to describe more than a few people in
this book. He used the term to be what a person is if they don't act
This book is a good book. "What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by. I mean I've left schools and places I didn't even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don't care if it's a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know I'm leaving it. If you don't, you feel even worse. ~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 1
Holden Caulfield is a strange character in the story The Catcher in the Rye. He is first seen this way by when he gets expelled from a school called Pencey Prep. He is expelled for flunking almost all of his classes. Holden then watches his school play in a football game from afar and decides he wants to say bye to his teacher. After that he decides to leave Pencey early and head home to New York. He goes out drinking and hitting on women while he is there and then goes to see his sister, Phoebe. He is very close to his younger sister and really connects with her. This disorder that Holden has could be believed to be bipolar disorder; which he displays in different occasions throughout the novel.
Do you ever wish you could return to the early time of your existence where the innocence and purity of childhood enveloped you on a day-to-day basis? These were the times when committing wrong doings were not only met with meager consequences, but also expected of you by the parental guardians or guides in your life. In "The Catcher in the Rye" , written by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, expresses his yearning for this feeling continuously throughout this detailed depiction of a struggling young man who craves nothing more than to make the dream he has given his entire being to, into a reality he can physically experience. A simpler way to help readers understand his complex idea is to compare his dream to the dreams of the fabled "Fountain of Youth" that countless stories are written about. Instead of the physical attributes that staying young would give an individual, the mental ideals of innocence and purity are the cause of Holden's tireless pursuit and inability to interact and function in every facet of society. The tragedies and socially awkward life that Salinger's character endures would be extremely damaging to most any human being's, already precariously balanced, mental health. The symptoms of popular health disorders such as bipolar disorder, anti-social disorder, and anxiety disorders are expressed prominently by Holden Caulfield throughout the entire novel.
Holden Caulfield, the narrator of The Catcher in the Rye, is a troubled man who does not have everything going right for him. He shows obvious signs of depression and a few symptoms of an anxiety disorder. Throughout the book he keeps thinking about his brother Allie, who passed away. The only reasonable explanation for his mental illnesses is that he misses Allie, and he does not know how to function normally again. Everything he does reminds him of Allie in some sort of way. Mental illness is very common in someone who is suffering from the loss of a love one, but it is in no way a normal act of a teenager.
Nostalgia can be considered an invertible feeling that everyone will experience at one point in their life. The definition of nostalgia is “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations”. The Catcher in the Rye contains characters which follow the definition of nostalgia, to the point where it will affect their outcome in life, causing nostalgia to become an egregious trait. Everyone who overly desire or reliant on nostalgia can not be successful in life.
The most popular age to do so are teenagers as one can depict. If all people conformed to one another, individuality would never be heard of. An opposite way to think of this is that without conformity, the common society would not be able to work together. People tend to believe this due to the fact that without agreement, there is chaos. No one would have courage to stand up for what they believe in, what they like, and most importantly, who they are. One will usually believe that after conforming to fit others for a while, one may begin to lose themselves. All in all, conforming may seem to be the only option to people in order not drag attention to themselves in certain situations. In these situation types, you must find courage within yourself to have the ability to not overlook what you believe
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, describes a period of time in a young
telling the truth or lying. So it was hard for them to believe what he was
Furthermore, sometimes the desire to be accepted is stronger than prevailing conventions. This makes an individual to do things to make him feel accepted in the society. Krakauer compares the people in Alaska and McCandless. He writes, “And I’m sure there are plenty of other Alaskans who had a lot in common with McCandless when they first got here, too, including many of his critics. Which maybe why they’re so hard on him. Maybe McCandless reminds them a little too much of their former selves” (Krakauer 221). In today’s society, an individual confirms itself to what a society wants and expect him or her to be.
In 1950 J.D. Salenger captures one of society’s tragedies, the breakdown of a teenager, when he wrote The Catcher In The Rye. Holden Caulfield, a fickle “man” is not even a man at all. His unnecessary urge to lie to avoid confrontation defeats manhood. Holden has not matured and is unable to deal with the responsibility of living on his owe. He childishly uses a hunter’s hat to disguise him self from others. The truth of his life is sad and soon leads to his being institutionalized. He tries to escape the truth with his criticisms. Knowing he will never meet his parents’ expectations, his only true friend is his eight-year-old sister Phoebe, to whom Holden tells that he really wants to be ‘the catcher in the rye”. Holden admits his only truth and shows that Phoebe is his only friend. Another form of escape for Holden is his acting, which he uses to excuse the past. Holden has tried to lie, hide, and blame his way through life; when he finds that it is not the answer he collapses.
In a novel, the theme is the insight of real life. J.D. Salinger’s initiation novel, The Catcher In The Rye, describes the adventures of 16-year old Holden Caulfield, the protagonist and first person narrator, who refuses to grow up and enter manhood. The most important theme developed by Salinger is Holden’s problem of dealing with change; he has trouble dealing with death, he refuses to accept children’s loss of innocence as a necessary step in the growing-up process, and has difficulties with growing 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.
ancestory. His father led anything but a happy life. He had failed in his quest
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.
believed he could not be stopped and that rules did not apply to him. By being