Essay On Holden Caulfield As A Tragic Hero

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Recommended: Message of Salinger throughout Catcher in the Rye

Aristotle defines a tragic hero as one who is noble in either status or nature, but has a flaw that helps bring about his or her downfall. In Arthur Miller’s article Tragedy and the Common Man, Miller counters Aristotle’s definition by focusing on defining a tragic hero in modern day terms. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye the reader is taken on a journey with Holden Caulfield as he is called to start his “hero’s journey” with the purpose to protect the young and innocent minds of young children from the “horrors” of adult society. However, Holden’s call to adventure ultimately becomes his greatest flaw as he himself struggles to hang on to his own innocence. Holden Caulfield fits Aristotle’s and Miller’s definitions of a tragic hero …show more content…

Joseph Campbell breaks down a hero’s journey into different steps, when one completes the journey he is then deemed a hero but as Holden comes to find out you can veer off the path of a hero by allowing your flaws to control your life.
From the very beginning of the novel Salinger portrays Holden as a character that has been through a tough journey saying "I'll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I...had to come and take it easy" (Salinger, 3). This gives the reader the idea right away that Holden Caulfield may have veered off the path that he was meant to be on, in this case the path of the hero's journey. Salinger characterizes Holden as a self declared loner who believes that he cannot do anything right in the eyes of society, Holden even saying "I felt so lonesome all of the sudden, I almost wished I were dead" (Salinger, 62). Holden has the opportunity to begin a hero’s journey and answer what he believes to be his call to adventure after being kicked out of Pencey Prep. but allows his own immaturity and lack of understanding about the world around him to get in the way. Holden unrealistically thinks …show more content…

Holden desperately yearned for the job of protecting children from falling off the cliff of childhood into a world of misery and phoniness. After realizing what his call to adventure truly is Holden begins to breakdown ultimately veering off the hero’s path for good. Not only does Holden feel that he cannot relate to anybody but he also does not understand how to deal with adult encounters, because they don’t fit neatly into the world he has personally created for himself. This is evident when other characters in the novel try to give Holden something, like Mr. Spencer or Mr. Antolini, they find that Holden is unwilling to reciprocate, truly acting like a child instead of an adult. Salinger proves through Holden that his view of inhibiting other innocent children from maturing into adults is immature and unrealistic when even Phoebe, Holden’s younger sister begins to grow up. Although in the end Phoebe convinces Holden not to run away and he realizes that his call to action is unrealistic because eventually everyone must grow up, Holden still ends his journey on the path of a tragic hero. Holden’s final statement in the novel suggests that he is still struggling with the same problems that he has dealt with throughout the entire book saying “Don’t tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody”

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