The Catcher in the Rye
Anna Lisa
The Catcher in the Rye is a story about a boy, Holden Caulfield, and a few days of his life as he goes to New York near Christmas. He has been kicked out of four distinguished high schools for his poor grades. From the beginning of the story it is visible he is very pessimistic and has a negative outlook on almost everybody in the book. It is because of this that I do not judge people based on his opinions of them. Holden’s brother died three years before the story starts, and his death might be the cause of some of his personality. At the beginning of the book, he is getting ready to leave the all-boys Pencey Prep in a few days. His roommate, Stradlater, is going on a date with Jane Gallagher, a girl whom
…show more content…
Holden is clearly in love with. She is one of the few people he respects in this book. Caulfield tells Stradlater these things he finds so special about her, but his “sexy” roommate is clearly not interested, and this upsets Holden. He does not like to think that somebody who does not know Jane as well as he does will have sex with her, especially since Stradlater is known for his sexual activity and will not think of it as an act of great love. While Stratlader is on his date, Holden writes an essay for him about an object. He decides to write about his deceased brother’s baseball glove. It had poems written on it to pass the time in the outfield during the games. Stradlater gets upset about the essay and Holden punches him. This is because he is not telling Holden about the date and he hurt his feelings about his brother’s mitt. Angry, he takes a train to New York where his family is. He meets the mother of one of the boys from his school on it. Although he hates her son, he lies to her and tells her all these false stories about how amazing and humble he is. He wants to buy her a drink, but the bar is closed. This is one of the many times in the book where he tries to lose his virginity. It seems that he is upset, so he decides that he wants to have sex and possibly get over the fact that Stradlater had sex with Jane without knowing her as well as he did. He thinks about calling different people, but decides against it. I think this shows that he does not have very strong relationships with many people. Since his family isn’t expecting him to be home for a few days, Holden gets a room in the Edmont Hotel. He calls a woman a former classmate told him was a stripper nearby. He tries to have her come over that night so they can have sex, but she suggests they meet the next day. Impatient, Holden lies and says he has plans. This shows some of his character. When Holden is going to his room later that night, the elevator worker, Maurice, offers Holden a prostitute for five dollars. Holden agrees, however when the girl comes, he realizes he doesn’t want to lose his virginity to her. Although he wants to have sex, he wants it to have meaning. He tries to talk to her, but she just wants to get it done. He tells her he just had surgery and can’t have intercourse, but he will still pay her, which she accepts hesitantly. Later, she and Maurice come back and insist on him paying another five dollars. Holden resists, saying that the agreed upon price was five. Maurice punches him in the stomach and the prostitute takes the money. The prostitute tells Maurice not to hurt him more. This shows that, although she does these bad things, she’s just doing it to get by. She still has a heart. The next day, he is still thinking about Jane and calls her. He hangs up when her mother answers. He goes on a date with Sally, a girl he used to date.
He tries to convince her to run away with him to live in a cabin. She tells him to pursue an education and he gets upset and hurts her feelings. He makes another unsuccessful call to Jane. Later that night he sneaks into his family apartment to visit his beloved sister Phoebe. He tells her that he got kicked out of Pencey and she gets upset that he doesn’t like anything. He says there is one thing he would like to do. He would like to be “the catcher in the rye,” catching little children before they fell off a cliff. Holden then sneaks away, going to Mr. Antolini’s house, a man he respects because when a boy from his school jumped out from his dorm, he was the one to pick him up. While he’s sleeping on his couch he wakes up to his teacher touching his head. Disturbed, he leaves immediately. The next day Phoebe tries to run away with him, but he won’t let her. She gets upset and he takes her to the zoo. The story ends with him watching his sister ride the carousel. It makes him very happy. In this book, I feel as though a theme is that Holden is so judgmental about everyone else, yet he never criticizes himself. He thinks he is better than everyone else. Also, I think he tries to create strong relationships, but, like in his date with Sally and at Mr. Antolini’s
house, he ends it before it can develop.
Foster’s characteristics of the QUEST are the quester, the destination, the purpose, the challenges along the way, and the reason behind going to the destination. In The Catcher in the Rye Holden is the quester who begins his journey by being kicked out of Pencey Prep. He decides to go on a trip instead of going home and revealing to his parents that he has been expelled. Staying around New York is a challenge in itself, and by the end of his trip Holden realizes more about himself. Some of the challenges he faces are his immaturity levels getting in the way of certain tasks and his loneliness. At the end of his trip Holden begins to have a new sense of maturity, and is ready to grow up.
The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger's novel set in the 1950s, told the story of sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield. Deciding that he's had enough of Pencey, his fourth school that he'd failed, he goes to Manhattan three days before his scheduled return to home, not wanting to inform his parents that he'd been expelled and sent back. He explores the city, calls up some old friends, gets nicked by the elevator operator, and gradually becomes bitter about the world and people. He then visited his sister Phoebe. After fleeing from the house of Mr. Antolini, his former English teacher, because of mistaking his actions for a homosexual overture, Holden went to Phoebe's school and sent her a note telling her he was leaving home and to meet him at the museum. When Phoebe arrived, Holden angrily refused her request to take her with him and she ignored to speak to him. He then took her across the park to a carousel, bought her a ticket and watched her ride. Holden ended his narrative here, telling the reader that he was not going to tell the story of how he went home and got "sick". He planned to go to a new school in the fall and was cautiously optimistic about his future.
In the novel, Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is an example of a prosaic rich adolescent boy,with a pedestrian set of problems, but a psychoanalysis reveals that Holden has a plethora of atypical internal conflicts. Internal conflicts that other students at Pencey, such as Stradlater and Ackley, would not normally experience.
In the novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger,Holden the main character tries to take on adult and mature situations but finds himself in reality not getting very far. Holden Caulfield who goes to Pencey has failed four out of five classes and gets the notice that he is being expelled from the school. He leaves the school and goes out and tries to adventure into the real world. Holden takes on many challenges and obstacles throughout the book . Although Holden wants to be independent many people perceive Holden in numerous different ways to his actions and feelings. Faith and Stradlater both perceive Holden as irritating, when in reality he tries to distract himself from being depressed. For example when Holden was in the phone
Catcher in the Rye is one of the most famous books in American literature. Written by J. D. Salinger, it captures the epitome of adolescence through Salinger’s infamous anti-hero, Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield learns about himself and his negative tendencies, and realizes that if he does not do something to change his perspective, he may end up like his acquaintance James Castle whom he met at Elkton Hills. Holden tries to find help to mend his outlook on life through Mr. Antolini so he does not end up like James, who did not want to face the problems he created for himself. This is proven by the similarities between James Castle and Holden, Mr. Antolini’s willingness to try and help Holden, and Holden’s future being forecasted by James.
The novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by JD Salinger, touches on the themes of innocence, death, and the artifice and the authenticity in the world, while following the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, through his weekend trip to New York City. As the story unfolds, Holden, as narrator, becomes more vulnerable to the reader, and starts to express his feelings surrounding the death of his brother, Allie, as well as his feelings about himself. Holden is faced with a truth that has haunted him for many years: adulthood. Many of the qualities Holden exhibits, which he sees as negative, are those of the average person: struggle, loneliness, deep sadness. He is one of many classic protagonists that encourages the reader to relate to them on
In the novel “Catcher in the Rye” the reader is able to better understand Holden by the characters in his remembrances. Mr. Antolini, a person who shows affection for Holden, shows the reader that Holden makes quick assumptions and judgments with characters in the novel. Phoebe, Holden’s younger sister, makes it evident to the reader that Holden does not want to grow up, mature, and have a future as an adult. Jane Gallagher’s character also helps the reader better understand Holden by making it evident that he does not want to let go of his childhood innocence. Although Holden’s character is the main focus of the novel, his remembrances of other key characters help define him and give the reader a better understanding of who he is.
In a society filled with impureness, Holden Caulfield searches for purity and innocence in everyone around him. Lonely, affectionate, and judgmental, Holden is the narrator and protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye. His actions and the way he acts reveals that Holden is very lonely, and is longing for human companionship. Holden is somewhat mature above his age, but still desires pleasures like any other teenage boy. After meeting people, Holden becomes very judgemental about the way people act. Theses traits all come together at the end and put Holden into a psychiatric institution, living a few miles away from his big brother.
In J.D. Salinger’s controversial 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character is Holden Caulfield. When the story begins Holden at age sixteen, due to his poor grades is kicked out of Pencey Prep, a boys’ school in Pennsylvania. This being the third school he has been expelled from, he is in no hurry to face his parents. Holden travels to New York for several days to cope with his disappointments. As James Lundquist explains, “Holden is so full of despair and loneliness that he is literally nauseated most of the time.” In this novel, Holden, a lonely and confused teenager, attempts to find love and direction in his life. Holden’s story is realistic because many adolescent’s face similar challenges.
The Catcher in the Rye is a story about a teenage boy who struggles with the harsh reality of growing up and dealing with his own troubles. This story begins with the main character Holden failing out of school. Holden seems to have problems wherever he goes. He writes an essay about his brother Allie who died from leukemia. His roommate insults the essay causing Holden to punch him in the face. He runs away from school after getting into a fight with his roommate. He stays inNew York City until the remainder of the school year is over. On the subway to the city he tells made-up stories to other passengers. Once he makes it to the city he checks himself into Edmont Hotel. While exploring the city he seems to simultaneously explore his sexual curiosity. He says “In my mind, I'm probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw” (34).
While reading the last 40 or so pages of this book, I found some parts that I enjoyed, and some parts that I didn’t like as much. I really liked the fact that Holden goes out of his way to say goodbye to Phoebe. He does this because he has come to terms that he is going to alienate himself from his family and run away again. I thought that it was so sweet that Holden thought of his sister the way he did. It was on top of his list of thing’s to do before he ran away for the last time. In my opinion, I don’t think that Holden would have been able to live with himself if he never said goodbye to his little sister, especially with the death of his little brother, Allie, a few years before. One aspect of the ending of this book was the fact that Holden never told us anything specific about things that happened to him after he went home one last time. He says that he got sick and is going to another school next year, but that’s all that we are left with. He’s so vague about this part in his history. The reader never gets to learn where Holden left to, if he even left at all, because he thought it would bore the reader. He says, “That’s all I’m going to tell about. I could probably tell you what I did after I went home… but I don’t feel like it. I really don’t. That stuff doesn’t interest me too much right now” (Salinger 234). Overall, it makes me extremely happy that Holden went to visit Phoebe before he left, but it
The Catcher in the Rye is a very short coming of age story and the main character Holden Caulfield is trying to discover his identity while still emerging into adulthood. Holden describes himself as “the catcher in the rye” to catch the children falling off a cliff. The cliff represents adulthood and Holden wants the kids to keep their innocence. I believe this shows in Holden’s love for his little sister, Phoebe. His brother, who passed away from leukemia, never got the chance to grow up. I don’t think Holden is necessarily happy with the death of his brother, but perhaps happy he didn’t have to see the troubles of adulthood and adolescence. Throughout the novel, Holden comes off as a bit of a pessimist who needs to grow up. He comes off as not as kind as he actually is. In the small things he does, he shows how kind and humane he really is.
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.
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 is forced to admit that he’s been kicked out of school, and when Phoebe accuses him of not liking anything, he tells her his dream of becoming the “Catcher in the rye.” When their parents return home, Holden calls up an old teacher of his, and was told he could stay at his house. This teacher, Mr. Antolini, spends a lot of time talking to him and giving him advice, but once Holden falls asleep, he is awoken by Mr. Antolini petting his head. He becomes so uncomfortable that he leaves immediately, and reveals that he has been assaulted in this way many times prior. After sleeping on a bench in Grand Central Station, Holden visits Phoebe’s school to give her a note and say he will be leaving the state.