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Setting essay catcher in the rye
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Catcher in the Rye The setting of this story takes place in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. The home of Pency boarding school. Pency is a college prep schools that advertises only the best things about it and never mentions how much the students will hate going there. On the brochure there is a fake, imaginary student that does not exist playing polo. In real life, there are a couple hundred spoiled little rich students whose parents do not want the trouble of raising them. In the beginning of the story Holden is watching the Friday night football game from a hill. He had just gotten back from a fencing match that had to be cut short in New York because the captain of the fencing team, which happened to be Holden, left all of the equipment on the subway. Needless to say it was a long trip home for Holden. After all of this has happened Holden gets back only to learn that he has been released from Pency and placed on academic probation. Holden was not stupid by any means but if he did not desire to learn what was being taught he refused to try. The professors on the other hand did not agree with Holden’s reasoning. Therefore, he was failing all but one of his classes. Holden had a friend that was a teacher at Pency. He was probably the only person that halfway understood him. The only problem was that Mr. Spencer was old and senile and did not have much pull with in the school board, which meant he did not serve as much help in Holden’s current situation. Mr. Spencer was always trying to prepare Holden for life. Holden rarely listened but felt obligated to say good-bye to him because he had tried to understand him, which is more than most people had ever done for him. Holden went to visit Mr. Spencer before he left. Holden was a prime example of a spoiled little rich kid who had everything but acted as though he had nothing. He had no real friends to rely on, only other spoiled rich kids who were never deprived of anything. This time was different though. This was not the first time that Holden was removed from a school. Holden always knew there was always another boarding school that would be happy to accept him and his money. This time he was not going to just sit back and wait for the next school to pick him up, he was going to enjoy himself while he could.
In the beginning of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is an immature teenager. Holden gets kicked out of his school, Pencey Prep, for failing four out of five of his classes. He says, “They kicked me out. I wasn’t supposed to come back after Christmas vacation … I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all” (Salinger 4). Holden does not yet realize the severity of his actions. He does not comprehend that when he does not apply himself, he does not do well. This could partly be due to the fact that when he gets kicked out of one school, he knows that his family will just pay for him to be allowed into another boarding school. Part of the irony in Holden’s story is that physically, he looks mature, but mentally, he is still very much a child: “I act quite young for my age, sometimes. I was sixteen then, and I’m seventeen now … I’m six foot two and a half and I have gray hair ” (9). There is no middle ground, adolescence, for Holden. He can only be an adult, physically, or a child, mentally. Holden’s history teacher, Mr. Spencer, tries to appeal to him by using a metaphor: “Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules” (8). Holden then reflects on this to hims...
Holden’s endless journey begins when he received the call when he is expelled from Pencey Prep because of his low grades. Holden starts out as a college student that is damaged deep down his heart. The world before his journey was full of phonies as he commented, “Also at the threshold, the initiate will encounter a helper” (Ariane Publications 9). The helper usually leads the main character into the essential path before any accomplishments. In this condition, Holden’s former History teacher Mr. Spencer takes the role. He asks Holden,” Do you feel absolutely no concern for your future, boy?” (Salinger 20). He warns Holden about the difficulties that are waiting for him ahead but also pushed Holden forward to the journey. Even though Holden did refuse the journey by lingering at school after he got the expel letter. Nevertheless, the talk with Mr. Spencer may have aff...
The Catcher in the Rye is a story about a teenage rebel who is exploring the world on his own. The author, Salinger, uses many tools to deepen the impression on the reader such as linking the title to the story in an intricate way or creating a complex name for the protagonist. The symbols used in The Catcher in the Rye are there for a just reason, an example being how the author used the title, which is also a poem, as a symbol. Salinger uses the geographical locations, such as the Museum of Natural History, as symbols as well.
Thesis statement: The relationship Holden and Blanche have between family and people in society leads them to an inner turmoil, which eventually results in their psychological breakdowns.
Before we can understand why Holden leaves on his journey at all, we must understand his struggle. Holden cannot find a way to succeed. Even Mr. Antolini says, “This fall I think you’re riding for – it’s a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn’t permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling” (187). This fall that Holden is heading toward has started with flunking out of school. Holden’s largest failure appears to be his inability to apply himself at school, which makes his life even harder. Also, Mr. Spencer is concerned about his ability to apply himself as he is failing 4 classes and “getting the ax is something he is familiar with” (4). Holden just wants someone to talk to and wants to break his depression by succeeding.
J.D Salinger’s novel “Catcher in the Rye,” focuses mainly on Holden Caulfield because he is the narrator and the novel is about his memory of characters and events throughout the story. These characters are more than just remembrances but actually help the reader to better understand Holden. Mr. Antolini, Phoebe, and Jane Gallagher are all characters that help fully characterize Holden.
The Catcher in the Rye The world around us can be very strange at times. From space it resembles a nice round blueberry, perfectly happy and content with itself without a care in the universe. But, if you take a closer look you will see poverty, famine, war, and peace all set atop one big huge chunk of liquid hot magma floating around, spinning endlessly in space. It could be said that the world is a very uncontrollable and unstable place.
“I swear to God I’m crazy. I admit it.” It is very easy to automatically assume that Holden Caulfield is crazy. It’s even a logical assumption since Caulfield himself admits to being crazy twice throughout the course of the book. However, calling Holden Caulfield crazy is almost the same as calling the majority of the human race crazy also. Holden Caulfield is just an adolescent trying to prevent himself from turning into what he despises the most, a phony. Most of Caulfield’s actions and thoughts are the same as of many people, the difference being that Holden acts upon those thoughts and has them down in writing.
From the protagonists’ point of view, the adult world Holden and Franny are entering and living in is a very superficial place. Holden who is sixteen years of age is going through a time of crisis where he is almost forced to become an adult. This concept is the very thing that makes Holden afraid, causing him to misbehave at school. His latest school, Pencey Prep, expels Holden due to his failing grades. When asked for the reason of his lack of academic enthusiasm, Holden simply states that he is not interested in anything. In every school he has attended, Holden has managed to find different reasons not to care and possibly even hate the institutions.
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield has a deep-rooted desire to keep himself and the world around him from changing. In fact the novel was banned partially "based on the perception that Holden is an unregenerate, and unchanged person." However there is evidence that Holden does change near the end of the novel. It is incorrect to say that Holden stays unchanged from start to finish, because by the end of the novel he is trying to rid himself of his defensive nature and accept change as a good thing. Holden has no desire to let himself or others change, yet through his experiences and looking back on what occurred, Holden realizes that change is inevitable and in order to grow as a human being he can only accept what must transpire.
In every game there is rules just like in life there are things that you can do and things that you can't. He informs holdend that you can’t do whatever you want. one has to put in the work if they want a good outcome, witch Holden didn't do because he flunked out of pencey Prep. Because holden didn't put in any work at pencey prep so Mr. spencer feel if he wouldn't have to start his cycle of a new school over again. Mr spencer also gave holden some advice on some friends, because if holden would have had some friends maybe he would have tried a little hard and he could have some fun with them. And would make him live for something and he wouldn't be losing the game he would be winning and sharing
Holden's idealism is first brought forth when he describes his life at Pency Prep. It is full of phonies, morons and bastards. His roommate, Stradlater, " was at least a pretty friendly guy, It was partly a phony kind of friendly..." (26) and his other roommate, Ackley is "a very nosy bastard" (33). Holden can't stand to be around either one of them for a very long time. Later, he gets into a fight with Stradlater over his date with Jane. Holden is upset because he thinks that Stradlater "gave her the time" and that he doesn't care about her; 'the reason he didn't care was because he was a goddam stupid moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron' (44). Holden not only sees his roommates as phonies and bastards, but he also sees his headmaster at Pency Prep as a "phony slob" (3). This type of person is exactly what Holden doesn't want to be. He strives to be a mature adult; caring, compassionate, and sensitive.
At the beginning of his story, Holden is a student at Pencey Prep School. Having been expelled for failing four out of his five classes, Holden leaves school and spends 72 hours in New York City before returning home. There, Holden encounters new ideas, people, and experiences. Holden's psychological battle within himself serves as the tool that uncovers the coming-of-age novel's underlying themes of teen angst, depression, and the disingenuous nature of society. The novel tackles issues of blatant profanity, teenage sex, and other erratic behavior.
Holden is been kicked out of another school, and he has wanted to say goodbye to his favorite teacher. The teacher is sick so he stays home and also, it ends f the semester anyway. He goes to see hi and doesn't like the poor condition that he's in but he just remains calm in the situation cause he respects him. The teacher tried to lecture Holden about his academic failures and how fed up he was with him. Mr. Spencer, the teacher, is annoyed by Holden academic performance and he shows him his horrible results on an exam. Mr. Spencer then goes on to tell Holden to change his life around but Holden didn't want to hear it. Mr. Spencer was concerned with Holden's well being but Holden didn't want any advice from anyone. The theme of this chapter
Holden failed his classes at Pencey, was kicked out, and had no ambition to return to a different institution. It’s no secret that Holden was depressed, so he was detached and didn’t care enough to do any school work. His situation is like the snowball effect; starting out as small and having just a couple of missing assignments to growing in size by failing on purpose and being kicked out of Pencey Prep. This novel focuses so heavily focuses on Holden being an outcast that it seems like readers forget that Holden is just like everyone else. Struggling with grief, rebelling against what is expected of him, and getting overwhelmed with responsibilities. Teenagers should especially relate to Holden. High school is tough, and sometimes it seems easier to quit than have to deal with all the stress of getting good grades. Being said outcast didn’t help in Holden’s decision to leave; no friends equals no reason to stay. Holden also wasn’t receiving any support for his education from home; his parents sent him off to boarding schools as soon as they could after Allie’s death There really is no question as to why Holden never wished to call his parents while away at