The story takes place over a three day span, Saturday through Monday in December of the mid 1900's. The main character and narrator of the story, Holden, is a sixteen year old boy who begins his story addressing the reader directly from a sanitarium or mental hospital in southern California. He is telling the reader about events that took place leading up to being where he is now. When he gets expelled from Pencey Prep and gets into a fight with his roommate, Stradlater, Holden decides to leave school two days early to explore the New York City before going back home. When narrating the story he sounds as though he was not very well educated, but in reality he is extremely intelligent. One thing that really stands out about Holden is that he is very judgmental about the people he is surrounded by and the places that he is in. He …show more content…
Even though he dislikes these people very much, he shows many qualities that are similar to those of the “phonies”. When Holden goes to New York he thinks that he is going to a different place because of the change of people and surroundings. But in reality, Holden’s personality towards everyone else makes it seem like all people and places are the same. While on the train to New York, Holden meets the mother of one of his fellow Pencey students. Although he does not like the young man at all he decides to tell the woman a bunch of made-up stories about how shy and well respected her son is at the school. After arriving at his hotel and smoking a few cigarettes holden attempts to book an appointment with an ex-stripper to have sex with him but he hangs up the phone before making the appointment with her. The next morning Holden makes a phone call to his ex-girlfriend Sally Hayes and they decide to meet for a matinee showing of a Broadway play. Later that night Holden was quite drunk so he
Holden returns to school and goes to his bedroom in the dorm. In his room quietly reading, his neighbor Robert Ackley came in. Holden describes him as a pimply, insecure, annoying boy with a bad dental hygiene. When Holden’s roommate Stradlater who was “madly in love with himself” (27) arrived home after the football game, Ackley abruptly left. Stradlater tells him that he has a date with a friend of his, Jane Gallagher. Jane is someone that Holden really cares for and because he knows the way Stradlater is, Holden became worried for her. “It just drove me stark raving mad when I thought about her and Stradlater parked somewhere in that fat-assed Ed Banky’s car”. (48) Holden became depressed and lonely, so out of the blue Holden decides to pack his things and leave for New York a few days earlier. On the train to New York, Holden meets the mother of one of his schoolmates. Not wanting to tell his whole life story, he told her his name was “Rudolf Schmidt”, the name of th...
Published in 1951, J. D. Salinger's debut novel, The Catcher in the Rye, was one of the most controversial novels of its time. The book received many criticisms, good and bad. While Smith felt the book should be "read more than once" (13), Goodman said the "book is disappointing" (21). All eight of the critics had both good and bad impressions of the work. Overall, the book did not reflect Salinger's ability due to the excessive vulgarity used and the monotony that Holden imposed upon the reader.
After spending some time at Mr. Spencer, his history teacher's house and getting lectured regarding his poor efforts in school, Holden fabricates a story to leave his teacher’s house without seeming rude. On his way to his dormitory at Pencey, Holden claims that he is an exceptional liar, and would lie even about the most insignificant facts, such as where he is going. He then goes into detail about whom his dormitory is named after, and how much of a phony the man is.
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.
The novel charts Holden's experiences over a long period of time. It starts on a Saturday in December just before school closes for Christmas break. He has been informed of his expulsion from Pencey Prep School. What worries him most about being kicked out of school is his parents' reaction, for he has already been expelled from other educational institutions. Soon, Holden decides to go to New York. Holden encounters a large number of people as he travels the city of New York and goes into nightclubs.
Annotated Bibliography of Crash Course. “Holden, JD, and the Red Cap- The Catcher in the Rye Part 2: Crash Course English Literature #7.” Youtube.
J.D. Salinger's novel, The Catcher In The Rye, attempts to show the reader the life of a regular boy with troubles on his mind. The rich and troubled Holden Caufield is that boy. His parents are quite wealthy and want Holden to be successful in life as well, but they do not nurture Holden with the amount of love that is necessary. Holden feels the absence of love, which causes him to suffer a variety of emotional problems. Holden needs direction in his life because he constantly struggles to find the meaning of life on his own. Schools kick him out because he is not able to focus with all these issues in his life. With all this pressure he faces, Holden escapes from consciousness in what appears to be a psychological defect, but is just a severe lack of control in his life.
In life there comes a time when everyone thinks that they are surrounded by phoniness. This often happens during the teen years when the person is trying to find a sense of direction. Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old teen-ager is trying to find his sense of direction in J.D. Salinger's, "The Catcher In The Rye." Holden has recently been expelled from Pency Prep for failing four out of his five classes. He decides to start his Christmas recess early and head out to New York. While in New York Holden faces new experiences, tough times and a world of "phony." Holden is surrounded by phoniness because that is the word he uses to identify everything in the world that he rejects.
A major theme of J.D. Salinger’s novel, “ The Catcher in the Rye,” is turning your back on the world is not good. The teenage boy Holden Caulfield demonstrates this theme in the story with the constant negativity he receives as result of his negative attitude.
What was it like to grow up? What would you change? Would you want to be a kid again? In the novel “The Catcher in The Rye” by J.D. Salinger, the character Holden Caulfield is trying to stop the way others grow up because to him the world of adulthood is corrupt. Ultimately the author sends a message that childhood innocence cannot be protected forever because everyone grows up.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger shows the transition of a young teenager who struggles to find himself in the adult world. Holden Caulfield encounters many different elements that he had been influenced by the world around him. He views the world full of “perverts” and “phonies”. As a result of his views, Holden withdraws from society because he believes society is “broken” and very flawed. Holden’s view of society is developed based on his experiences such as the death of his brother, flunking out of many schools, an unrealistic dream of becoming the catcher and the rye. He becomes very judgmental of others which are his way of feeling better about himself by looking at things cursorily and His approach is to dismiss thinking deeply
Holden’s dream career of being the catcher in the rye, is symbolic. He says to phoebe that his job would be to catch the kids from falling off the cliff near the rye field where the kids are playing. The kids playing in the field symbolizes childhood and the field is symbolizing innocence. The cliff is symbolizing the idea of falling from the innocence, growing up. Holden is consistently troubled by aging throughout the book. He is frightened by change and has a difficult time understanding its complexity. Instead of acknowledging his fears of adulthood, he ignores them and over idolizes childhood. He creates this black and white world where childhood is innocence, curiosity, honesty, and the adult world is full of phoniness. The concept of the catcher in the rye is really where Holden reveals his thoughts on this. He wishes to save the kids from falling from the cliff, to
From the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the youthful protagonist Holden Caufield, employs the word “phony” to describe the behavior of a number of characters including Mr. Spencer and Ossenburger, however it is not them who are“phony”, it is the young main character. First, Mr. Spencer, Holden’s ex- history teacher, is not described as phony, but according to the adolescent, his choice of words are. Secondly, according to our main character, Ossenburger is not the generous philanthropist he portrays himself to be, but rather a greedy undertaker. Lastly, the protagonist could quite possibly be the authentic phony. All in all, the main character’s use to describe many other characters in the book is with the single word phony, when in fact the word phony would be the most probable word to describe the lead character.
Some people feel all alone in this world, with no direction to follow but their empty loneliness. The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, follows a sixteen-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield, who despises society and calls everyone a “phony.” Holden can be seen as a delinquent who smokes tobacco, drinks alcohol, and gets expelled from a prestigious boarding school. This coming-of-age book follows the themes of isolation, innocence, and corrupted maturity which is influenced from the author's life and modernism, and is shown through the setting, symbolism, and diction.
Written by J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye is a classic fiction novel. Holden Caulfield, the main character, writes in a hospital about events that had occurred before the previous Christmas. In the text, Holden states “...I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everyone if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be.” (163 Salinger) Holden’s quote explains the title of the writing. All he wants is to make a difference in the lives of others, allowing him to feel important.