The Catcher in the Rye solely focuses on Holden's search for a purpose in life, as well as his journey to try and better understand the world. Holden is distraught throughout the entire novel because, although he is naturally very intelligent, he does not enjoy school, and although his parents are financially supportive, he is lost emotionally. Due to his failing grades and lack of emotional support from his family or friends, he feels like an outcast in society. As he explores New York City, Holden tries to better understand what his potential role is in society, and to a degree his self discovery is a success. However, ultimately, looking back on the novel, Holden needs to be psychoanalyzed and reflect on the events in his life to understand …show more content…
himself as a whole. As previously mentioned, Holden's parents never actually take the time to be emotionally supportive of him. Due to the lack of emotional support, Holden never gets a chance to mourn over his little brother's death. This takes a strong toll on Holden and leads to his childhood ending rather abruptly. Thus begins his failing career as a student at Pencey Prep and several other private schools he had previously attended. Holden is an individual in the way that he goes against societal norms and tries his best to stay true to himself. Holden often times feels alone which causes him to question his existence, especially because he is constantly surrounded by "phonies" who do not understand him and his way of thinking.
The first instance in which Holden begins to understand himself and his role is when he helps his friend with an English assignment. Holden has to write about something in extreme detail for his friend's assignment. Ultimately, Holden chooses to write about his deceased brother's baseball mitt covered in poems. This marks the journey of Holden's self-discovery process.The reason this begins the self-discovery process is because the audience gets a glimpse of Holden's soft spot for younger children, especially those related to him. This ultimately explains why Holden acts the way that he does in some instances. Holden's self discovery process continues on as he later boards a train headed for New York City. When Holden arrives to the city, he finds himself alone, like usual. One day, while walking around, he finds himself thinking about his younger sister, Phoebe. He decides that he should buy her a record, yet again the audience gets a glimpse of Holden's affection towards younger kids. Not only is the audience introduced to the affection Holden …show more content…
has for children, but also the way he treats children with respect, and yet lacks that respect towards most adults. The lack of respect towards adults that Holden has can mostly be attributed to the fact that his childhood was stolen from him when his parents decided to stop being parents, after Holden's brother's death. Holden, however, does not recognize that the lack of respect may be caused by his parents, but rather it is just himself acting the way he does at the time. Another tender exchange Holden has with a child is when he helps a child tie his skates. He did not know the kid personally, but did see him struggling to get them to knot, so he knelt down and helped the child. These tender moments may be looked at just as tender moments by some of the audience. However, most of the instances show the real struggle Holden faces, which is he does not want to see children grow up and understand what the real world is like. Holden speaks from his own experience; because his childhood was stolen from him, he never wants to see a child have to go through what he did. When Holden is finally reunited with his younger sister, he feels the need to constantly protect her, until one day, Phoebe insists on riding a carousel. Holden is hesitant to even allow Phoebe to go on the carousel to begin with, but he is not faced with his real problem until Phoebe begins to reach for the ring on the carousel. Holden fights the urge to get his sister to stop reaching for the ring, and allows her to grow up and become independent by reaching for the ring herself. Internally, it kills Holden but he finally begins to understand that maybe he is not just being a "big brother" but is trying to protect all the children he encounters from growing up and becoming independent and cold like most adults grow up to be. Holden's self-discovery is a success in the sense that he understands he wants to be able to save children from growing up.
However, his self-discovery is a failure in the sense that Holden is unable to understand himself prior to being forced into a psychoanalysis. The audience can see how Holden grows as a person, but also as a protector of children in the novel. He ultimately aspires to be "the catcher in the rye" like the poem in the novel describes, Holden wants to save the children playing in the rye and in this case, Holden actually just wants to save children from having their innocence taken from them. However, this task is simply not possible because at one point or another all children must grow up. Holden comes to terms with this realization when he allows Phoebe to reach for the ring, and begins to understand that becoming cold and lonely to a degree, is just a part of life that we must all come to terms
with. Holden's self-discovery process is not just an underlying theme, the novel itself is about Holden finding his individuality and his role in society. The meaning of the novel is that we all have some sort of role or goals, but sometimes those goals or even roles are impossible to achieve or recognize until it is too late. As adults, we must be willing to accept that, perhaps, not all things are possible and at one point or another we will be faced with failure. It is evident that Holden himself is forced to face this reality by letting his sister grow up and grab the ring while on the carousel. It is also evident that Holden does have a role, which is to protect children, however, he is only able to protect children and preserve their innocence for so long. Holden faces adulthood in this coming of age story as he explores New York City. As he continues on in his journey, Holden begins to find himself and his purpose in life. His self-discovery is that he wants to be able to both bond with children, as well as try to preserve their innocence so they too will not have to be faced with any sort of mental breakdown or alienation that he has been forced to face as he transitions into adulthood. Holden begins to recognize that this may be an impossible task and role to fulfill, but it does not leave him entirely empty either. Knowing that he has a potential role does give Holden some kind of identity.
In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in The Rye Salinger writes about the main character Holden Caulfield and his life. Holden is a teenager who comes from a wealthy family, he loves his family and lives very happy until the death of his brother Allie. After his brother died Holden becomes troubled, being kicked out of school again and again developing a negative view of the world. Holden throughout the book shows anger,denial, and acceptance over the loss of his brother.
He has nothing but nice things to say about her and wants to protect her. She makes many adult observations that you would not expect a ten year old to notice, yet still acts like a ten year old. She realizes that Holden got kicked out of school, and then responds by repeating, “Daddy’ll kill you!”(214). She corrects Holden about the words in a Robert Burns poem and realizes that Holden does not like anything, yet at the same time acts like a ten year old. She resembles Holden in the way she goes between adulthood and childhood. She is like a younger version of Holden. Holden wants to protect her and keep her from ending up like him. Holden gives his hunting hat to Phoebe, this shows how much he cares about her. He is able to give up the symbol of his independence and accept that he has ties to his family. The only time Holden is happy during his trip is when he takes Phoebe to the carousel. After deciding not to run away Holden realizes, “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off,” (274). At this point he realizes that growing up might not be the worst thing in the world and that even if he gets hurt in the process it is something he needs to
The catcher in the rye by J.D. Salinger is about a boy named Holden Caulfield and his struggles in one part of his life. Holden seem very normal to people around him and those he interacts with. However, Holden is showing many sighs of depression. A couple of those signs that are shown are: trouble sleeping, drinking, smoking, not eating right, and he talk about committing suicide a couple times during the book. On top of that Holden feel alienated plus the death of Holden’s brother Allie left Holden thinking he and no where to go in life.
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.
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:
Holden wants to shelter children from the adult world (Chen). In Chapter 16, the catcher in the rye finally appears. This is also a symbol for what Holden would like to be when he grows older. He pictures a group of many kids playing in a field of rye, where it is his job to catch them from falling off the cliff. This shows Holden’s love for childhood and his need to preserve it in any way he can. According to Alsen, “The way Holden explains why he wants to be the catcher in the rye shows the kindness and unselfishness of his character. However, the surreal nature of the metaphor also reveals his unwillingness to face the real life choices he needs to make now that he is approaching adulthood.” By the end of the book, Holden realizes in order for kids to grow, there can’t be protection from all of potential harm. “He therefore gives up his dream of being the catcher in the rye and is ready to make a realistic choice of what he wants to do with his life” (Alsen). Holden’s dream world, that doesn’t involve change, is unrealistic. He is terrified by the unpredictable changes of the adult world, but there is no way for Holden to avoid the experiences and changes that the
Despite Holden's resistance to change, he starts to change. "Catcher in the Rye," reminds us that changing is not easy to process mentally. Going through the true process of change, it requires us to let go of the past and move on which is hard. The novel represents the hardship of changing. It reminds us how great the value of finding something special and precious is as well as a valid reason although it requires us to let go and move on with our lives. All it requires is to simply let
Holden Caulfield can be analyzed through his thoughts, actions and circumstances which surround his everyday life. Holden acts like a careless teenager. Holden has been to several prep-schools, all of which he got kicked out of for failing classes. After being kicked out of the latest, Pency Prep, he went off to New York on his own. Holden seems to have a motivation problem which apparently affects his reasoning. The basis of his reasoning comes from his thoughts. Holden thinks the world is full of a bunch of phonies. All his toughs about people he meets are negative. The only good thoughts he has are about his sister Phoebe and his dead brother Alley. Holden, perhaps, wishes that everyone, including himself, should be like his brother and sister. That is to be intelligent, real and loving. Holden’s problem is with his heart. It was broken when his brother died. Now Holden goes around the world as his fake self, wearing his mask. Holden is looking for love, peace and understanding. He is scared to love because he is afraid he might lose it like he did with his brother. That is the reason for Holden's love of the museum, he feels safe because it never changes it always stays the same. Holden is troubled with the pain of death, it effects every aspect of his life causing him to not care about the future, himself or anyone, except Phoebe and Alley.
The Catcher in the Rye has been described, analyzed, rebuffed, and critiqued over the years. Each writer expresses a different point of view: It is a story reflecting teen-ager's talk--thoughts-emotions--actions; or angst. I believe it is an adult's reflection of his own unresolved grief and bereavements. That adult is the author, J.D. Salinger. He uses his main character, Holden, as the voice to vent the psychological misery he will not expose -or admit to.
Holden is intelligent and sensitive, but his thoughts and feelings are full of cynicism and negativity. He sounds bored and tired with almost everybody and everything. Holden constantly focuses on the hypocrisy and social rules of the world around him, and judges them to be oppressive and phony. Holden uses his cynicism and negativity to distance himself from almost everyone. However, Holden has good memories and thoughts about his younger sister, Phoebe, and of his younger brother Allie, who died a couple of years ago.
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...
When Phoebe asks Holden what he wants to do with his life he replied. This reveals Holden’s fantasy of an idealistic childhood and his role as the guardian of innocence. Preventing children from “going over the cliff” and losing their innocence is his way of vicariously protecting himself from growing up as well. Holden acknowledges that this is “crazy,” yet he cannot come up with a different lifestyle because he struggles to see the world for how it truly is, and fears not knowing what might happen next. Holden’s “catcher in the rye” fantasy reflects his innocence, his belief in a pure, uncorrupted youth, and his desire to protect it. This fantasy also represents his disconnection from reality, as he thinks he can stop the process of growing up, yet he
Which is the kind of world he wants to live in. Holden expresses his desire to preserve the innocence of others when his sister Phoebe tells Holden that he doesn't like anything, and that he has no ambitions of what he wants to be when he is older. Holden then explains that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. He says that he imagines little children playing on top of a hill and that his job is to protect children from falling of the hill. This symbolizes catching children from losing their innocence and falling into the adult world. Holden tells Phoebe, “I know it crazy, but that is the only thing I’d like to be” (172). This unrealistic desire is contributes to why Holden is struggling to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Critics of the novel have said Holden would like to suspend time stating, “Holden's desire to protect children shows his desire for suspending time, for inhabiting a space of young people conserved endlessly” (Yahya 3). Not letting go of childhood memories or accepting the harsh realities of adulthood are damaging when transitioning from
Holden has a near obsession with the death of his younger brother Allie, who died at age thirteen due to leukemia. Holden had punched and broke all the windows in the garage out of anger; he says that his hands still hurt from the incident. Throughout the novel, Holden dwells on Allies’ death. From Holden's thoughts, it is obvious that he loves and misses Allie. In order to hold on to his brother and to minimize the pain of his loss, Holden brings Allie's baseball mitt along with him where ever he goes. The mitt has additional meaning and significance for Holden because Allie had written poetry, which Holden reads, from the baseball mitt. Towards the end of the book, Holden proves again that he can’t cope with death. Phoebe, his younger sister, is putting him on the spot by asking him what he likes, but Holden can only think of two nuns and a boy, James W. Castle. James W. Castle was a boy who Holden had lent his sweater to, Castle died unfortunately by being thrown out of a window wearing Holden’s sweater. Another thing that haunts Holden is the fact that during roll call in class, his last name always is called after Castles’ last name. After the brief moment of reminiscing, Holden irritates Phoebe by saying, “I like Allie…”. He has trouble acknowledging the death of his brother.
Throughout the novel, J.D, Salinger develops Holden’s character with numerous situations. Holden makes the reader question his rectitude through his perspective of those around him, his sexual desires, his general attitude, and his chronic lying. Because Salinger permits the audience to know how situations proceed from Holden’s perspective, the audience has an alternative side of Holden available to evaluate. Without the varying traits Holden presents, The Catcher in the Rye would not thoroughly depict Holden as a suffering individual. Thus, Holden’s character is morally ambiguous and crucial to the overall development of the novel.