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A catcher in the rye characterization of holden
Catcher in the rye holdens psychological problems
A catcher in the rye characterization of holden
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Collections of Complicated Connections Psychoanalytic In Catcher in the Rye, Salinger depicts that although Holden views society as “phony”, Salinger expresses Holden’s need for authentic connection through his relationship with others and interactions. "Then I started shooting the old crap around a little bit. "He adapts himself very well to things. He really does. I mean he really knows how to adapt himself." "Do you think so?" she asked me. She sounded interested as hell.” (55). Fibs are what kids tell their parents at the first opportunity Is an example of immaturity Deceit on the fly Charming and sly Holden wants to make connections with people, but does not have any means to make an emotional decision that will end up depressing him. However, he seems to decide that he would rather lie to feel good. …show more content…
"You really can dance," I told the blonde one.
"You oughta be a pro. I mean it. I danced with a pro once, and you're twice as good as she was. Did you ever hear of Marco and Miranda?" "What?" she said. She wasn't even listening to me. She was looking all around the place.”( 71). The roar of music penetrates through the air. Dancing and moving to the beat What a wonderful dancer, he thinks His question falls on deaf ears- Only for her to disappear In her fantasy Holden really tries to get her attention by complimenting her. He may have wanted her to compliment him back. He wanted to bask in some attention and feel affection. One thing his parents never really gave him growing up. “What I did do, I gave old Sally Hayes a buzz. She went to Mary A. Woodruff, and I knew she was home because I'd had this letter from her a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't too crazy about her, but I'd known her for years. “(105). Holden’s dreadful past And twisted mind Feeling hopeless Holden is crying in the inside. Alone and afraid He lay for some company With a start of
dejection Holden continues surrounding himself with people he doesn't even appreciate or necessarily like. For example Sally. He even says he wasn't too crazy about her. But in reality Holden hates being alone and his desperation increases throughout the plot. “All I said was English was my best subject. "Oh, really? Oh, I'm so glad!" the one with the glasses, that taught English, said. "What have you read this year? I'd be very interested to know." She was really nice.” (110). Underestimating the power Of kindness. The nuns gave the time of day A little goes a long way It swept away his strife and loneliness For their kindness Was a two way, Nothing for exchange, but a change in way. This is one of the only encounters Holden has received of compassion , other than his sister. The nuns care for Holden because he is a person and not just a sex object or his money. They could’ve ignored him but chose to keep conversing with him. And their kindness effects him deep inside. "Hey, I got a flit for you," I told him. "At the end of the bar. Don't look now. I been saving him for ya." "Very funny," he said. "Same old Caulfield. When are you going to grow up?"(144). Old jokes in the past Time ever goes so fast A time to everything Will it continue to last? While trying catch up with Old Luce, Holden feels extremely lonely. Even to going to the extent of making jokes from the past just to make conversation. Though Luce is bad company and annoying, Holden begs him to stay. At the end of the date Luce has to go and Holden is downright depressed again. "You don't like anything that's happening." It made me even more depressed when she said that. "Yes I do. Yes I do. Sure I do. Don't say that. Why the hell do you say that?"(169). A good anchor will hold you down Keeping you steady and sound A safety net that gives comfort When the gun roars Love is found When Holden comes home, Phoebe, his sister, knows somethings wrong. She knows that he doesn’t like the way his life is going and how unhappy he is. So when Holden needs to leave she gives him her birthday money for taxis and food. When things get tough Phoebe is there trying to make things better. One example was when She covered up the cigarette smell by giving a lie to their mother, instead of letting Holden face the wrath of his parents.
J.D Salinger gives his personal vision of the world successfully through his persona Holden Caulfield in the ‘Catcher in the Rye’. Caulfield struggles with the background of New York to portray Salinger’s theme – you must live the world as it is, not as you would like it to be. There by exposing Salinger’s vision on the world.
In today's world many people do not show their true self to people that they do not feel comfortable around. Readers can see this in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Holden only shows his true authentic self to women and girls. Although Holden seems that he does not like to talk to anyone, when he is around women he pays attention to them, is comfortable, and expresses his true feelings.
The origins of Holden’s disillusionment and the reason that it all started is the death of his younger brother which he was very fond of and admired, Allie, three years ago. The death of Allie is very significant in Holden’s mind since it is an event which he remembers quite clearly at multiple occasions during the book. For example, when Holden is writing a descriptive composition for his roommate Stradlater, he decides to write about Allie’s baseball mitt since it is the only thing on his mind. “My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He was
Compulsive lying is another characteristic that Holden exhibits. Holden would tell people lies just so they could not become closer to the real Holden. Holden tells lies on numerous occasions to gain. Holden pathetically tells Mrs. Morrow, " I have to have a tiny operation… it isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on my brain" (58). She tells Holden that she is very sorry and she is hopeful that he shall be well soon. Holden then catches him self in a lie and he remarkes, "Once I get started, I can go on for hours if I feel like it," (58). This compulsive lying shows that Holden is not satisfied with himself and that he feels that people will judge him critically.
Due to J.D Salinger’s personal and relatable narrative treatment, Catcher in the Rye continues to engage audiences, even 64 years after it was first published. The way the book deals with alienation and disillusionment in regards to Holden’s past trauma - through the closeness of first person narration and conversational writing among other techniques - creates a personal connection to Holden’s character and helps adolescents relate his troubles to their own.
Holden's Seperateness in Catcher in the Rye In ‘The Catcher In The Rye’ Salinger sets about making Holden appear separate from everyone else. He does this through a variety of methods. One of the ways in which Salinger shows this separateness is through Holden’s relationships and encounters with his family and friends. Another method that Salinger uses is that usually whenever Holden attempts to contact someone they are either not there or don’t answer the phone, this give us the feeling that Holden is by himself, alone, separate from everyone else. Also the fact that Holden says ‘my address book only has about three people in it’ gives us again the impression that Holden is disconnected from society.
J. D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye explores the ambiguity of the adult world Holden must eventually learn to accept. Throughout the novel, Holden resists the society grownups represent, coloring his childlike dreams with innocence and naivety. He only wants to protect those he loves, but he cannot do it the way he desires. As he watches Phoebe on the carousel, he begins to understand certain aspects of truth. He writes:
It is made evident that Holden is enamored with Jane Gallagher, and this first manifests itself when Holden talks about her to Stradlater. “I used to play checkers with her,” Holden recounts. “ ‘She’d get [her kings] all lined up in the back row. Then she’d never use them. She just liked the way they looked when they were all in the back row.’ Stradlater didn’t say anything. That kind of stuff doesn’t interest most people” (41). In a world where almost everything is so “goddam depressing,” thinking about Jane’s minor traits actually makes Holden happy, even if it is the kind of stuff that does not interest most people. It allows him to channel his childhood, where he was oblivious to the phoniness around him. However, this silly nostalgia cannot get across to Stradlater, who is more interested in Jane as a sexual being than trivialities such as her checker tactics or struggles with ballet. This physical interest eventually becomes the root of their brawl in their dorm. Although Holden’s interrogative mood agitates Stradlater, Holden is only showing his genuine care for Jane. Unlike Stradlaer, Holden has enough sense to know that Jane, being the humble, intelligent girl she is, deserves to be treated right. So, even though Holden lets his anger get the better of him and eventually start a fight, he has reason to do
Holden struggles to make connections with other people, and usually resorts to calling them phonies whenever they upset him. He finds natural human flaws in people and runs away from connection immediately. His date with Sally shows this. Near the end of the date, Holden tells Sally about his plans to run away from life. When Sally gives him practical advice, Holden is quick to escape connection by calling her “a pain”. Sally’s advice would definitely guide Holden in a more realistic direction, but that is not what he wants to hear. Conflict always arises in his mind even if there is little in reality. His struggles with finding connection also make him too apprehensive to call his old friend Jane. Holden likes to think of Jane as a pure and perfect girl that he can
Throughout the whole novel Holden has always been in denial of everything. As stated by Freud, denial is the “Refusal to recognize a threatening impulse or desire” (Sigmund Freud). When he visited his ten year old sister Phoebe, she was trying to communicate with Holden but she was nervous that it would displease him. She stated “Because you don't. You don’t like schools. You don't like a million things. You don't…Why the hell do you have to say that?” I said. Boy was depressing me” (Salinger 169). Even though Holden is very fond of Phoebe he didn't bother to listen to what she had to say, this demonstrates that Holden is very in denial because he got very upset when Phoebe said that he dislikes everything. Which furthers shows how he is unable to recognize that what Phoebe is
The protagonist, Holden Caulfield, interacts with many people throughout J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, but probably none have as much impact on him as certain members of his immediate family. The ways Holden acts around or reacts to the various members of his family give the reader a direct view of Holden's philosophy surrounding each member.
that he is trying to hide his true identity. He does not want people to know who he really is or that he was kicked out of his fourth school. Holden is always using fake names and tries speaking in a tone to persuade someone to think a cretin way. He does this when he talks to women. While he is talking to the psychiatrist he explains peoples reactions to his lies like they really believe him, when it is very possible that he is a horrible liar and they are looking at him with a “what are you talking a bout?” expression. Holden often lies to the point where he is lying to him self.
The world today is very deceptive and phony. J.D. Salinger’s well known novels, The Catcher in the Rye and Franny and Zooey attack this fake and superficial society which is evident through the lives, ideas, actions, and words expressed by the characters in these literary pieces. The transition from childhood, through adolescence and into adulthood is inevitable. The protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield goes through this stage and finds himself in a crisis. He alienates himself from everyone who is around him and tries his best not to grow up. Holden often dwells upon his childhood and the life he had with his family. Franny in Franny and Zooey has already passed this stage but finds it difficult to live in a world where everyone she is surrounded by is only concerned with outward appearances. In these worlds, both characters, Holden and Franny, reveal their struggle of growing up and trying to live as an adult in a world full of deception and shallow-minded people who only care about appearances.
Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he expresses this attitude through his dialogue, tone, and diction.
Holden cannot go one chapter without lying. Holden admits that he is a compulsive liar too. He feels that telling someone a lie can save him from people actually figuring out who he is. Even when he doesn’t want to lie he lies. He can’t fully understand why he always lies to people.