Catcher In The Rye Argumentative Essay

Kenia Hernandez

D. E. English

The Catcher in the Rye

Describe your speaker. What do you know about him/her? What do you NOT know about him/her? What makes your speaker an effective story teller? What character in the novel do you believe to be the least effective? Why? How does the speaker relate to this character? (200 -300 words)

Holden, the main character in the story, attends a prep school called Pencey Prep. He really dislikes the school and even says that it’s full of crook, although it’s mostly a wealthy school. Holden is very hot headed and seems a bit reckless, in the sense that he doesn’t care the consequences of his actions, or at least think them through. He also looks to be depressed or just jumpy in general. Despite being an

avid reader, Holden considers himself illiterate, even though the only class he seems to be passing is English. He has one remaining brother, who he calls D.B.

that is a writer and works in Hollywood. He also has a sister named Phoebe that he believes to be very smart and clearly cares very much about her. Holden also had a brother, called Allie, who died of Leukemia in 1946. Holden describes Allie as “terrifically intelligent” and very nice. Holden also seems to think very low of himself when it comes to being smart and I think it’s due to the brightness of his siblings. Despite Holden giving a few personal details there are still quite a few things that we do not know about him. Some minor ones like his birthplace or his birthday but also large ones like what his childhood was like. That large detail could have given an insight as to why he seemed so depressed or anxious, or even why he doesn’t care about many things. It also doesn’t go into detail the infatuation that Holden has with Jean Gallagher, or if he even has one. Holden also stops his story saying that he’s going back to school in the September, he doesn’t divulge any more than that which leads you to wonder if he ever recovered or not. The reason Holden is an effective storyteller is because he uses very sarcastic and serious tones and speaks informal, like a teenager. The author

makes Holden speak the “language” that teens spoke in his time, the 50’s and 60’s. For example, Holden uses phony and flit a lot, meaning fake and homosexual. I think that this is what makes him an effective storyteller. I find James Castle to be the least effective only because he wasn’t necessarily an important character in the story. He was mentioned once and for about a page or two. If anything, James only seems to be in the story for the purpose of reinforcing the idea that death is always near Holden (he was wearing his jacket and Holden even sees the blood).

Choose five quotes that you believe completely characterize the speaker.

Record and explain each. You must use details from the text to support your conclusions.

1. “But while I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody’d written ‘F--- you’ on the wall…. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it…. I figured it was some pervert bum that’d sneaked in the school late at night… and then wrote it on the wall.” Chapter 25

This quote demonstrates how Holden views children as innocent while he views adults, most of them anyway, as “phonies”. For example in chapter 1 Holden calls D.B. a prostitute because he switched from writing stories to writing movies. Because of this Holden considers D.B. a sellout and a phony. Also, when Holden pictures himself as “the catcher in the rye” he imagines himself saving little kids from jumping off a cliff. Throughout the story it’s also noticeable that Holden seems to have a non-sexual minor obsession with children, like he wants to protect them.

2. “I swear if there’s another war. They better just take me out and stick me in front of a firing squad. I wouldn’t object.” Chapter

18
Here Holden sounds suicidal which pretty much reinforces the idea that he suffers from depression. In the same paragraph Holden, once again, makes a suicidal remark. He says it’s a good idea they built the atomic bomb, that if there’s another war he’d volunteer to sit on top of it.
3. “‘Well- take me to the Edmont then,’ I said. ‘Would you care to stop on the way and join me for a cocktail?’“ Chapter 9
This quote shows how desperate is to talk to someone. He constantly talks to those around him (two nuns, three girls at the bar) but also wants to communicate with Phoebe and Jane over the phone, repeatedly, although he never does.
4. “‘I know he does,’ I said. Then I started shooting the old crap around a bit. ‘He adapts himself very well to things. He really does. I mean he really knows how to adapt himself to things.’” Chapter 8
This quote really shows Holden’s quality of lying. In the same page Holden continues to lie to her, dragging the story out and even getting a kick out of it. Even he admits that he lies about everything, doesn’t matter what it’s about.
5. “Then I started wondering like a bastard what the one sitting next to me, that taught English, thought about, being a nun and all, when she read certain books for English. Books not necessarily with a lot of sexy stuff in them, but books with lovers and all in them… She wasn't too sexy or anything, but even so you can't help wondering what a nun maybe thinks about when she reads about old Eustacia.” Chapter 15
In the entire book all Holden seems to do is criticize people for their profession and the way they act. Like with his dad being a lawyer, he accuses lawyers of only doing it for the money, or the funeral director that sold slots for very cheap. Holden accused him of just throwing the bodies away. However, he can’t get over the fact that these two women are nuns. It seems as if out of all the professions Holden only respects nuns, probably because he doesn’t think them to be phony.