Holden and His Phony Family in The Catcher in the Rye
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.
Holden makes reference to the word "phony" forty-four separate times throughout the novel (Corbett 68-73). Each time he seems to be referring to the subject of this metaphor as -- someone who discriminates against others, is a hypocrite about something, or has manifestations of conformity (Corbett 71). Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden describes and interacts with various members of his family. The way he talks about or to each gives you some idea of whether he thinks they are "phony" or normal. A few of his accounts make it more obvious than others to discover how he classifies each family member.
From the very first page of the novel, Holden begins to refer to his parents as distant and generalizes both his father and mother frequently throughout his chronicle. One example is: "...my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything personal about them. They're quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They're nice and all - I'm not saying that - but they're also touchy as hell" (Salinger 1). Holden's father is a lawyer and therefore he considers him "phony" because he views his father's occupation unswervingly as a parallel of his father's personality. For example, when Holden is talking to Phoebe about what he wants to be when he grows up, he cannot answer her question and proceeds to give her his opinion about their father's occupation..
'Lawyers are all right, I guess - but it doesn't appeal to me,' I said. 'I mean they're all right if they go around saving innocent guys' lives all the time, and like that, but you don't do that kind of stuff if you're a lawyer. All you do is make a lot of dough and play golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink Martinis and look like a hot-shot. How would you know you weren't being a phony? The trouble is, you wouldn't' (Salinger 172).
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.
Holden's idealism is first brought forth when he describes his life at Pency Prep. It is full of phonies, morons and bastards. His roommate, Stradlater, " was at least a pretty friendly guy, It was partly a phony kind of friendly..." (26) and his other roommate, Ackley is "a very nosy bastard" (33). Holden can't stand to be around either one of them for a very long time. Later, he gets into a fight with Stradlater over his date with Jane. Holden is upset because he thinks that Stradlater "gave her the time" and that he doesn't care about her; 'the reason he didn't care was because he was a goddam stupid moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron' (44). Holden not only sees his roommates as phonies and bastards, but he also sees his headmaster at Pency Prep as a "phony slob" (3). This type of person is exactly what Holden doesn't want to be. He strives to be a mature adult; caring, compassionate, and sensitive.
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily link him to the typical teenager living today. The fact that the book was written many years ago clearly exemplifies the timeless nature of this work. Holden's actions are those that any teenager can clearly relate with. The desire for independence, the sexually related encounters, and the questioning of ones religion are issues that almost all teens have had or will have to deal with in their adolescent years. The novel and its main character's experiences can easily be related to and will forever link Holden with every member of society, because everyone in the world was or will be a teen sometime in their life.
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.
Holden often talked about how phony people in his life were, however, he was also a phony, which made him a hypocrite. Holden would often mention things he hated that someone did, but sooner or later Holden was guilty of doing the exact same thing. In chapter one Holden is hypocritical towards his older brother, D.B. He says “Now he’s out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute.”(Salinger
Animals come to represent, both purity and the relationship human beings have with the world. Animals play a key role in Timothy Findley’s novel, The Wars, whether it's for the interference, necessity, affection or compassion towards the characters. In The Wars, several characters share this close bond with the animals, that serve to emphasize the different qualities of each character’s personality. The animals connect with the main character, Robert Ross, in ways that reflect his uncommon character and the obstacles that he faces throughout the war. Robert enlists into the army as a Canadian soldier, shortly after the tragic death of his younger sister, Rowena. Throughout the novel, Robert grows a connection with the soldiers in the dugout and to several animals he meets along his journey. Many of the characters highlighted by Timothy Findley, have a deep respect and admiration for the natural world, despite having the setting taken place during the war. Yet it is between all, Robert Ross feels the greatest reverence and appreciation for the animals. The link between Robert Ross and the animals such as, rabbits, horses, coyotes and birds, shows the reader that human nature is not much different from animal’s nature.
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.
Many of the times that Holden criticizes people, it is something he does himself. (Pg 13) “. one of the reasons I left Elkton was that I was surrounded by phonies.” Holden himself is many times what he refers to as a “phony”. He knows that he lies and pretends to like people that he would rather not be with.
To Holden, everyone is either corny of phony. He uses these terms to describe what a person is if they do not act naturally and follow other people?s manners and grace. Holden dislikes phonies and thinks of them as people who try to be something they are not. He loathes people who showed off because it seems unnatural every time they do not act like themselves. Holden does not allow himself to have friendship because of his dull attitude. In the beginning of the book, the reader knows that Holden is lonely when he separates himself from the rest of the Pencey students by watching the football game from Thomsen Hill and not the grand stands. Holden is not a very sociable person partly because he finds himself better than many others. He dislikes his roommate because of his generic leather luggage. His next door roommate Ackley does not seem to want a friendship with him either. Holden finds Ackely?s zit crusted face ridiculous and doesn?t want him in his room at first. This shows the reader that Holden is a lonely person because he chooses to be lonely and does not want anything to do with people who do not fit into his perception of normal.
Infertility is the inability to conceive any children after 12 months of trying to conceive after having unprotected sex. The infertility condition can be present in both partners. The cause may be physical, including immature sexual organs, abnormalities of the reproductive system, hormonal imbalance, and dysfunction or abnormalities in other organ systems, or it may result from psychologic or emotional problems. There are treatments for men or women like drugs, assisted reproductive technology, in vitro fertilization (IVF), artificial insemination, and surgery.
Everyone who's born has come from the sea. Your mother's womb is just a sea in small. And birds come of seas in eggs. Horses lie in the sea before they're born. The placenta is the sea. And your blood is the sea continued in your veins. We are the ocean--walking on the land. (117)
Animals deserve certain rights. As Dog˘an expresses, “Animals have a right to life, to liberty in the sense of freedom of movement and communication, to subsistence, to relief from suffering, and to security against
This leads to the question of, “How do people change?” Self-awareness of one’s current plight, whether it is internally or externally, and an intense desire to discover new ways of living are two main ingredients to spur change. People must be fully aware that their current behavior is causing more harm than good in their lives. And on the same token, discovering that there are alternative ways of living can also make people change. However, in order for change to actually occur, people must be willing to live out new ways of behaving and thinking. For people who want to make changes, but find it difficult to make a step, a counselor can help facilitate change through encouragement and various self-empowering
The program would target African American women because despite lower breast cancer incidence, they typically experience increased mortality as compared to Caucasian women. This can be attributed to African American women’s lower rates of mammography screening and tendency for later stage diagnosis. Breast cancer screening rates are also lower amongst women in rural areas, women of lower socioeconomic status, and women without health insurance coverage. The program would implement the utilization of lay health advisors (LHAs) to promote breast cancer screenings which is evidence-based and research tested. The LHAs will conduct culturally-appropriate small group educational sessions (10-15 women) and promote the program at intercept sites (i.e. grocery store, shopping center, etc.). A small media campaign will be simultaneously implemented, emphasizing the importance of screening and the availability of no-cost services for eligible women. The program will reduce access barriers by contracting with local partners (mobile detection unit) and evaluated by tracking and documenting the number of targeted women reached through education and outreach efforts, their change in knowledge (pre/post test) after exposure to the educational session, and the number of eligible women who take
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