Tragedy changes one drastically, whether it is in a negative or positive way. Something that used to be the norm, is no longer there. It has a ripple affect on the surrounding people. One person, one life, affects hundreds. Why does such a horrible thing happen? Is it just another case of being a victim of circumstance? Both of those questions are examined through the books The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and Ordinary People by Judith Guest as they follow the lives two troubled teenage boys, Holden Caulfield and Conrad Jarrett. While some may believe that two books stylistically differ, ultimately they relate more through the mutual themes of depression and the way one copes with it, social acceptance, and family tragedies. As typical male teenagers, both Holden and Conrad initially do not open
It is fascinating that both of the boys seem to connect better with girls than with other guys. In both novels the boys move in and out of friendships with the guys at their schools, but are consistent with the girls they are interested in. Such as Holden when he find out his old friend Jane is going on a date with his roommate Stradlater, ”Jane Gallagher. Jesus ... I couldn't get her off my mind. I really couldn't. ‘I oughta go down and say hello to her, at least’” (Salinger 37). It appears that both boys have one girl they have been and will continue to keep their eye on. For Holden, its Jane Gallagher and for Conrad, its Jeannine Pratt. Conrad also struggles socially with other boys his age and it is shown when he admits, "Yeah. About friends. I don't have any. I got sort of out of touch before I left” (Guest 83). Obviously to them, connections with girls in their lives have made a bigger impact than the boys have. A friendship like Holden and Jane’s lasted through tough times, but when it comes to the friendships with the guys, they are long
Holden is not just abnormal, he has problems that other teenagers, including the students at Pencey, experience going through adolescence. An example of this is Holden's jealousy towards Stradlater when he finds out he is going on a date with Jane Gallagher, “Boy,was I getting nervous” (42). Every teenager has bouts of jealously especially about the opposite sex, and Holden is no different. Holden's rebellious nature, to an extent, is typical for a teenage boy. His rebellious nature of smoking when it is not allowed, “You weren't allowed to smoke in the dorm...I went right on smoking like a madman.” (41-42). Holden is also anxious about change, which again to an extent is normal, “Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks...”(60), and he has the right to be; change,especially during adolescence, is a terrifying but exciting ride into the unknown, and similar to other adolescents Holden is afraid but intrigued about the unknown.
Holden, before leaving for New York, attended a boarding school named Pencey Prep. He makes it clear that he thinks everyone, teachers and students alike, is a “phony.” At one point, his roommate Stradlater goes out with a girl who ends up being Jane Gallagher, a childhood friend and crush of Holden. In his eyes, this is a betrayal. Holden is annoyed
It is amazing that two completely different characters could not only be faced with an identical dilemma, but also both react in such comparable ways. The resemblance of the characters’ struggles because of alienation in the popular novels The Catcher in the Rye and Speak is astonishing. Alienation can be caused by many factors and result in many consequences. But it is interesting how the situations individuals face can be quite similar. Within Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, and Anderson’s novel, Speak, both protagonists are alienated by those around them. As a result, they must endure the negative effects of this isolation and, ultimately it leads both these individuals to alienate themselves.
What was wrong with Holden, the main character in The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D.Salinger, was his moral revulsion against anything that was ugly, evil, cruel, or what he called "phoney" and his acute responsiveness to beauty and innocence, especially the innocence of the very young, in whom he saw reflected his own lost childhood. There is something wrong or lacking in the novels of despair and frustration of many writers. The sour note of bitterness and the recurring theme of sadism have become almost a convention, never thoroughly explained by the author's dependence on a psychoanalytical interpretation of a major character. The boys who are spoiled or turned into budding homosexuals by their mothers and a loveless home life are as familiar to us today as stalwart and dependable young heroes such as John Wayne were to an earlier generation. We have accepted this interpretation of the restlessness and bewilderment of our young men and boys because no one had anything better to offer. It is tragic to hear the anguished cry of parents: "What have we done to harm him? Why doesn't he care about anything? He is a bright boy, but why does he fail to pass his examinations? Why won't he talk to us?"
'The novel has long ignited disapproval, and it was the most frequently banned book in schools between 1966 and 1975. Even before that time,
Protected by a cocoon of naiveté, Holden Caulfield, the principal character in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, therapeutically relates his lonely 24 hour stay in downtown New York city, experiencing the "phony" adult world while dealing with the death of his innocent younger brother. Through this well-developed teenage character, JD Salinger, uses simple language and dialogue to outline many of the complex underlying problems haunting adolescents. With a unique beginning and ending, and an original look at our new society, The Catcher in the Rye is understood and appreciated on multiple levels of comprehension. The book provides new insights and a fresh view of the world in which adolescents live.
When one finds themselves in a reader’s position, they search for things in the novel that they can relate to. J. D. Salinger wrote a story that contained countless topics that people, past, present and future, can relate to in several ways. The novel follows the story of a troubled boy named Holden who leaves school due to his poor academic performance, an altercation with his roommate, and complications with his emotions due to the traumatic loss of his brother. He quickly understands how his narrow view of the world will lead him into trouble when he finds himself alone. The reader accompanies Holden through his stressful experiences over a period of three days through which we learn of his pain-filled past and negative outlook on the future. Some of the barriers Holden came upon during the time period of the novel are themes of everyday life. In The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger intends to grab his audience’s attention with the story of a young teen named Holden Caulfield who must face emotional damage, hidden truths, and accepting responsibility
The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D.Salinger, is a novel written to convey the emotions of transitioning from a child to an adult. The story takes place primarily in New York City, New York, following teenage boy Holden Caulfield during a short snippet of his life. The reader travels through this time as Caulfield is kicked out of secondary school and journeys to New York shortly after. The novel’s purpose is to detail the painful experience of being a teenager through the eyes of a boy who does not understand adults and experiences withdrawal from society due to his discontent with it. This experience relates to many which is why the book is still to this day so popular and why it is a valuable piece of literature.
Holden always thinks friendships are fake. He always thinks people are insincere, which is one of the reasons why Holden is running away from being a part of the “society”. On the other hand, Charlie is happy with his new friends- Patrick and Sam. But he had no friends before he met Patrick and Sam. His friend shot himself.
In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, Holden is deals with one of the largest obstacles one would ever face in one’s lifetime. He must deal with the concept of development and the idea that he’s growing up, that he’s no longer a child and must accept maturity. This internal struggle is evident in multiple aspects of this novel, particularly highlighted when Holden visits the museum and the carousel at the conclusion of the novel.
Many young people often find themselves struggling to find their own identity and place in society. This search for self worth often leaves these young people feeling lonely and isolated because they are unsure of themselves. Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger's main character in the book The Catcher In the Rye, is young man on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. One contributor to this breakdown, is the loneliness that Holden experiences. His loneliness is apparent through many ways including: his lack of friends, his longing for his dead brother, and the way he attempts to gain acceptance from others.
He complains about his school, saying that it is just like any other school and uses language that makes him sound very obnoxious. Holden seems to focus on girls quite a bit, just like any other teenage boy. He seems to focus on one girl in particular, a girl named Jane. We soon learn that Holden’s personality is not your average personality. Holden does seem to have some friends but he does not fall into many peer groups with the type of personality he has. Holden isn’t able to read social cues like most teenagers learn to do. For this reason, he seems to play around a lot in the wrong situations. Even his friends have matured enough to recognise that Holden needs to ‘grow up’. Holden’s resistance to emerging adulthood is the cause of many of the problems he is faced with during the
According to the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, in the U.S. alone, 5.5 million teens suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, which is approximately 4% of teenage boys and 6% of teenage girls. PTSD is a mental health disorder triggered by a traumatic event, in a person’s life and causes depression, anger and loneliness along with aggression, out-of-place sexual behavior, self-harm, abuse of drugs or alcohol, low self-worth, and not being able to trust others. Although only a small number of people are diagnosed with PTSD, most people have felt the effects of at least one of its symptoms in some way after a traumatic incident in their life. Consequently, a literary character that is experiencing many of these symptoms is easy to relate to for many readers due to the fact that they understand what the character is going through. One stellar example of a character displaying the majority of the symptoms of PTSD is Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. Because of Holden’s timeless struggles, along with the novel’s historical setting and important life lessons, Catcher in the Rye is a crucial book for high school students to read.
His parents hardly care for him, as well as Phoebe, as seen when their mother asks if Phoebe has been smoking. Phoebe lies and says that she has, their mother simply says that she “doesn’t like that”. Holden as a result, views them as phonies who don’t understand him and send him away so they don’t have to communicate with him. Holden also lacks communication with D.B. He has a respect for his writing but because he “sold out”, Holden doesn’t talk to him anymore. Conrad is similar to Holden in lacking communication with his family. Conrad’s father obviously cares about him, but because his mother constantly argues with his father about their treatment of him, they lack communication. This lack of communication is seen through the numerous times that they fight and argue over Conrad and many other things, such as a vacation. Additionally, Conrad’s lack of communication is seen when he quits his swim team and decides not to tell his parents about it for a month, similarly to Holden leaving school early. If both protagonists were to communicate with their respective families more, they could receive the love and support to help them through their emotionally unstable
Every human being in this world will go through challenges at some point in their lives. The novel, Catcher in the Rye authored by J.D. Salinger depicts the life of a young high school student named Holden Caulfield who grieving the death of his brother. Several stages of grief are demonstrated in Holden’s character such as anger, denial and depression, and some social problems. From the beginning of the story Holden feels confused and makes continuous mistakes because he is mentally stuck in his brother’s death.Throughout the story Holden goes through the different stages of grief including anger and depression,, and has social problems as a result of his brother death but eventually comes to accepting the death.