Conflicts In Catcher In The Rye

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Teenage Conflicts

As you grow up entering teenage years can be a stressful thing because you start to see the world through an adults point of view and start to think about things differently. For teens, at about the age of 12-18 years it is a very delicate stage for how they grow up and develop. In J.D Salinger’s book, “The Catcher in the Rye”, Holden has both internal and external conflicts, which get influenced by the people he meets, the things he does, his actions, and what he sees.

Holden is about 16 years old in the story but at about 12 or 13 years he already starts to see some crazy things through this time in his life. For example when he was about 13 years old Holden explains that his older brother Allie,”…got leukemia and died …show more content…

According to the book, "The Teenage Brain",by Amy Ellis Nutt and Frances E. Jensen, "… what we do know about sleep is that it is critical to the health of every human being."(pg. 87). Holden hardly got any sleep and he staits this by saying," I cant sleep so hot if I have to keepmy feet on the floor. So I sat up. I still had that headach. It was even worse."(pg. 194).This goes to show that since Hoden already had a headache, not sleeping just made it worse because the brain didn’t get to rest. Smoking and drinking both also cause a major effect according to May Ellis Nutt and Francis E. Jensen,"More and more studies are turning up evidence of damage to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional functioning."(pg. 132). Holden shows this type of behavior when his brother Allie died, when he was talking to Ernest mom, and when he was arguing with Stradlater. Combined with smoking it can be a very harmfull thing to a teenage boy. In the boook,"The Teeenage Brain", it staits that sleep deprivation and teenagers is that it can lead to increase cigarrete use..."(pg.115). Holden had smoked when he was on the train to New York, when and when he went to his parents house. This would probably be both an internal and an external conflict since he sees people using tobacco and drinking which influence him to try and these types of things greatly effect his emotions and

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