1. What is the dominant trait involved in creating/establishing Holden’s character? Use one
quote from the text in your response.
The most dominant trait Salinger has Holden possess is how extremely judgmental he is
of almost everyone and everything. "One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I
was surrounded by phonies. That's all. They were coming in the goddam window." Salinger has
Holden constantly referring to others, throughout the book, as being phony. In The Catcher in the
Rye, Holden Caulfield comes in contact with a number of unique individual who also come with
equally unique personalities. Salinger has Holden establish a number of these individuals phony
when Holden is essentially the largest phony in all of the book.
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However, any normal individual would relatively quickly become aware they are the ones at fault and attempt to fix the problem on hand. Unfortunately, Holden has reached the point of no return, that being, that he has convinced himself that he has no issue and that the issue is everyone else. 2.
Identify one symbol Salinger uses to help clarify Holden. Explain this relationship using one
quote from the text.
Symbols are scattered throughout Catcher in the Rye. One of the most dominant symbols
used by J.D. Salinger that represents Holden's character is the shattered "Little Shirley Bean"
record. Holden buys this record for Phoebe as a gift, but drops it and breaks it while he is drunk.
Stachurski !2
"I dropped old Phoebe's record. It broke-into about fifty pieces." Similar to an abundance of
other symbols in the novel, Salinger has the broken record symbolize the loss of innocence, and
Holden's reaction is distraught after dropping it, since the one thing he has been trying to do
throughout the entire book is hold onto his youth and his innocence. As a result of these feeling
felt by Holden, he picks up the remaining remnants of the broken record and still intends to gift
them to phoebe, even though the pieces no longer serve any purpose.
J.D. Salinger has the record, "Little Shirley Beans", symbolize childhood and the feeling
innocence felt as a result of ones youth. Something of which Holden is afraid to let go.
Appropriately, the whole song is "about a little kid that wouldn't go out of the house because
two of her front teeth were out and she was ashamed to". Similar to Holden, in the song, the little girl, who had lost her baby teeth, is afraid of the changes that are associated with growing older. Holden pays five dollars for the record, which could be considered quite a lot of money due to the continually decreasing amount of money Holden possesses. Symbolically, he is not only willing to pay to be able to avoid the reality of growing up, but this also shows that Holden is willing to do anything and everything to avoid it altogether. 3. How does the setting help to illuminate Holden’s personal struggle? Use one quote from the text in your response. Primarily, setting has an important role in regards to establishing the overall tone of a story while simultaneously providing opportunities for the characters that are apart of it. Salinger uses setting on Holden's road to self redemption, a path for Holden which gives him a second chance and the opportunity to correct his life and the mistakes he has made and continues to Stachurski !3 make. Setting has such a significant role because it goes hand in hand with the symbols that Salinger has incorporated into The Catcher up in the Rye. An example of setting and symbols being intertwined by Salinger that also offers Holden a chance of redemption is the Natural History Museum. "The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move." Holden clearly states, and the exhibits in the museum symbolize this desire of Holden's, that he wishes his life was more like a museum, free from change. Unlike Holden's current state of affairs, full of change and constantly in motion.
4) This moment seems to be important because it sums up Holden's true feelings that he hid throughout the book.
First, Holden attempts to cope with the loss of his brother Allie, but continues to feel depressed and alone. As a result of Allie’s death, it immediately affected Holden and his actions. This is where his anger began to develop. His immediate response was to lash out despite the consequences he would face. Later he would find out that consequence would be not attending the funeral. His parents “were going to have [him] psychoanalyzed and all, because [he] broke all the windows in the garage” (Salinger 44). Also, Holden breaking his hand could have been a cry for attention and his regret. At one point he had wished his brother was dead, but then when he actually died Holden was devastated. By lashing out and injuring his hand he was full of anger, but also “he received the attention and sympathy which were denied him during Allie's illness” (Miller).
In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, the cyclical symbols of the broken record and the carousel imply that Holden will ultimately be unable to avoid adulthood.
Throughout the novel, the reader is presented with many different symbols. The symbols are clearly seen by Holden's constant repetition of their importance. The symbols are so important and their symbolism is directly related to the major themes of the novel.
Holden’s childhood was far from ideal, with Allie dying, his dysfunctional parents and the revelation that he had some “perverty” stuff happen to him when he was a kid. Due to this, he isn't ready to step into adulthood and leave his childhood behind. This is why Holden is mostly alienated from adults and connects more to the innocence of children like the girl at the park and his sister, Phoebe. However, Holden is disillusioned with both adulthood and childhood. He already knows how it feels to be an adult; drinking alcohol, being independent, living by himself and caring for Phoebe, but isn’t ready to immerse himself in it.
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Print.
early death, Holden felt his innocence had been stolen. In reaction to this Holden felt it
We see during the novel that Holden wants to be able to protect innocence in the world, however by the end of the story he lets go of that desire. This is a point of growth for Holden. He finds that it is impossible and unnecessary to keep all the innocence in the world. While with Phoebe Holden says, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye...I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff...That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye” (173). In this moment Holden wants to be able to preserve all the youth and innocence in the world. He doesn’t accept that kids have to grow and change and that they can’t stay innocent forever. Later on in the story when Holden is with Phoebe at a carousel again he thinks, “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the golden ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them.” At the end of the novel Holden realizes and comes to terms with the fact that kids grow and lose their innocence. He moves from his want to be the “catcher in the rye” to...
Another part where Phoebe shows her influence on Holden is when Holden states, “… the kids were trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she’d fall off the horse. The thing… is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it…if they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them.” Holden feels that by letting Phoebe ride alone, he will make good for her, something that his parents did not give him. At the same time, Holden reveals his feelings towards his Allie, who he loves and takes care of.
...ect Phoebe and preserve her childish innocence. Luckily, under treatment, Holden is beginning to accept the fact that Phoebe cannot remain a child forever.
...When Holden concludes that you have to just let a kid go for what they want to do, even though they might get hurt doing so, he might be saying admitting growing up is in fact significant for Phoebe and for himself. He learns that he cannot protect a child from doing what they want to do, so he realizes that he should let them be.
Wildermuth, April. "Nonconformism in the Works of J.D. Salinger." 1997 Brighton High School. 24 November 2002. <http://ww.bcsd.org/BHS/english/mag97/papers/Salinger.htm>
The tears shed in this scene are crucial as Holden becomes aware of the situation caused by his actions, which is a turning point in the novel as previously Holden has ignored his own well being and has not thought of the consequences of his actions. As Holden’s personal empathy grows, he also becomes au courant of what is occurring around him and how relationships have had an impact on his life; “don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start to miss everybody” (234). By the end of the novel, Holden is developing skills to understand his emotions and how to deal with them in an ordinary manner. In doing so, he learns that having great memories comes at a price. Holden ends up missing the memories and the people more than he thought he would. The emotional depth of Holden’s character has grown extravagant amounts throughout
Between Ackley and Sally and assorted New York Cabbies, Caulfield dedicates a significant amount of time to “phony” friends and strangers. It’s evident that Holden doesn’t wish to become attached to anyone lest he be hurt losing them again. This takes a toll on Holden because he never fully understands anyone like he ahd with Jane and Allie. In this book, language often is used by Holden to distance himself from his actions. Since Holden is the narrator, much of what is said by him
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger employs the Shirley Beans record, the museum, and the carousel to demonstrate that the loss of innocence and resulting maturity are imminent and natural. When Holden stumbled through the park, very drunk, after going to a nightclub, he “dropped old Phoebe’s record” (J.D. Salinger 154) which broke even though “it was in a big envelope” (Salinger 154). The record, which told the story of a young child’s dilemma, represented innocence, and so when Holden dropped it, the innocence “shattered.” Still, Phoebe wished to keep the broken pieces of the record, which symbolizes her desire to hold on to childhood and innocence. The record and the envelope demonstrate Holden’s inability to protect his own innocence.