Catcher In The Rye Argumentative Essay

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Whether it is to become rich and famous or obtain a dream career, everyone has a long-term goal to work towards. To some, a life of peace and comfort is the main goal to achieve. With every goal, there are conflicts in the way that prevent those goals from being completed. In literature, authors often create their characters with an end goal, in order to create an intricate story that develops with the character. In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the idea of a long-term goal can be seen with Holden Caulfield as he strives to gain true peace and comfort in his life. With peace and comfort being his goal, he is required to search for the things in his life that prevent him from achieving it. Unable to be granted closure with some …show more content…

In his search for peace, Holden looks to Phoebe as one of the companions that he needs. Phoebe allows Holden to take her Christmas money, which brings Holden to note, “Then, all of the sudden, I started to cry. I couldn’t help it…she put her old arm around my neck, and I put my arm around her, too, but I couldn’t stop for a long time” (Salinger 179). Phoebe, Holden’s younger sister, is one of the only characters throughout the book that is caring and considerate towards him. Giving him her Christmas money demonstrates that she cares about him and his well being. The relationship that they share is one that Holden searches for throughout the book, which is why he cries uncontrollably when she says he can take it. Another person Holden looks towards is Sally, as he meets up with her in his search for companionship. After Holden and Sally get together, Holden becomes irrational and asks her to escape with him. After Sally leaves, Holden adds, “If you want to know the truth, I don’t even know why I started all that stuff with her…the terrible part is, though, is that I meant it when I asked her” (Salinger 134). In his search for a companion, Holden tried to prove himself by coming up with extreme ideas such as moving away. He needs somebody to be with him whenever he is depressed, and escaping with her would allow him …show more content…

His hunting hat is a symbol that appears frequently all through the book that, in his search for protection, temporarily shields him in times of weakness. After acquiring his hat back from Phoebe, Holden puts it on, as it is raining outside, but then comments, “My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection, in a way, but I got soaked anyway” (Salinger 213). Holden has multiple moments throughout the book where he feels weakness, such as when he is writing Allie’s composition. His hunting hat is his protector whenever he feels weak, and in the times through the book that he puts on the hat, he is experiencing weakness. It is not a physical type of protection that he obtains from the hunting hat, but a mental protection from the thoughts and ideas that bring him into states of depression. Another form of protection Holden uses in his search is alienation from others in order to prevent being hurt or damaged if anything happens to the people close to him.. Exiting Penn Station after leaving Pencey, Holden goes into a phone booth and says, “I felt like giving someone a buzz…I ended up not calling anybody” (Salinger 59). Holden isolates himself in order to prevent losing someone close to him, as he did his brother, Allie. Allie was Holden’s best friend, and losing him took a toll on his life. He prevents himself from experiencing anything similar to that again by

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