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Character analysis holden catcher in the rye
Analyzing characters from the catcher in the rye
Character analysis holden catcher in the rye
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Greif the Catcher in the Rye 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. …show more content…
The first stage that Holden faces after Allie’s death is anger which leads to him being mentally stuck as a child and not being able to mature. After becoming aware of his brother’s death, he is unable to control his anger which leads his family wanting to psychoanalyze him because “[He] broke all the windows in the garage the night he died,and [he] broke all the goddam window with [his] fist, just for the hell of it”(39). Holden’s brother’s death was so painful that it hurt him both mentally and physically. When his brother dies he is just a thirteen year old boy, and the amount of anger that he had building inside of him is indescribable as a thirteen year old boy could not break a glass window in his normal state. Additionally, he also becomes unable to think clearly, it seems as if the world has ended for him since Allie is not only his brother but also his best friend, his role model, and the only person he considered trustworthy. While he stays in a hotel he remembers a memory with Allie, he begins to talk with Allie as he is feeling very depressed.When Holden wanted to go out with his friend, Allie wants to join them but, Holden rejects his request, and now every once in a while Holden says”Okay.Go home and get your bike and meet in front of Bobby's house.Hurry up”(99).The constant review of this memory demonstrates that he is still stuck in his childhood and he is not able to move on.The feeling of depression has surrounded him because he is unable to the past and it keeps haunting him and he feels more depressed because he didn’t use the opportunity he had well.After Allie’s death Holden feels he has lost his path an identity,therefore, he gets suck in his child and he is unable to mature and develop like the rest of the people around him. While Holden tries to overcome his brother’s death, he enters a phase of social instability and he is not really able to establish a good connection with people.When Holden meets the two nuns, he is able to very connection with them, but it’s the consequences of the donation he made to them.After they left Holden”started getting for that [he] only gave them ten bucks for their collection.
But the thing was, I’d made that date to go matinee with old Sally Hayes, and I needed to keep some dough for the tickets and stuff.I was sorry anyway, though.Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue as hell”(113).Through the time he is on Train, he meets two nuns and he strikes up a conversation with them.The main reason that can be mentioned for being able to strike a conversation with them is his money, he still suffers in establishing conversation with him, but his success in striking conversation with them is so important and joyful for him that he has a great feeling after leaving them and also when Phoebe asks him about what he likes the most, the two nuns is the first thing that pops up in his mind.Certainly his problems is not that he doesn't want to talk to people but it is he doesn’t know how to do it and the method he uses to approach people usually angers them and leads them to have a bitter conversation.The few people who Holden doesn’t face this issue with them are Phoebe and Allie because they really love him and he loves them back too.That's why Allies death meant affected Holden dramatically.Holden feels so desperate to talk with someone so much that he takes the risk of getting caught in order to talk with Phoebe.He figures out “[he]’d better sneak home in case [he] died and all. [he] had [his] door key with [him] and all, and [he] figured what [he'd] do, [he'd] sneak in the apartment, very quiet and all, and just sort of chew the fat with her for a while. The only thing that worried [him] was our front door. It creaks like a bastard. It’s a pretty old
apartment house, and the superintendent’s a lazy bastard, and everything creaks and squeaks. [he] was afraid [his] parents might hear [him]sneaking in. But [he] decided [he]’d try it anyhow.
As Eugene McNamara stated in his essay “Holden Caulfield as Novelist”, Holden, of J.D. Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye, had met with long strand of betrayals since he left Pencey Prep. These disappointments led him through the adult world with increasing feelings of depression and self-doubt, leading, finally to his mental breakdown.
In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden, cannot accept that he must move out of childhood and into adulthood. One of Holden’s most important major problems is his lack of maturity. Holden also has a negative perspective of life that makes things seem worse than they really are. In addition to Holden’s problems he is unable to accept the death of his brother at a young age. Holden’s immaturity, negative mentality, and inability to face reality hold him back from moving into adulthood.
The catcher in the rye by J.D. Salinger is about a boy named Holden Caulfield and his struggles in one part of his life. Holden seem very normal to people around him and those he interacts with. However, Holden is showing many sighs of depression. A couple of those signs that are shown are: trouble sleeping, drinking, smoking, not eating right, and he talk about committing suicide a couple times during the book. On top of that Holden feel alienated plus the death of Holden’s brother Allie left Holden thinking he and no where to go in life.
There is one universal truth that will exist through out all of time and space that affects all that live to experience it. That truth is known as grief. We all experience grief, and for Holden Caulfield, grief is a major aspect of his life, the force that drives him to do everything he does in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. There are seven stages to this emotion known as grief: denial, depression, anger, bargaining, guilt, reconstruction, and finally, acceptance. There are many parts in the novel that could have influenced Holden’s grief, but the main one that most people who read the novel have figured it out was the death of his little brother Allie. The root to Holden’s grief lies with his brother which cause Holden’s to act and change the way he does in the novel.
The Catcher in the Rye revolves around Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel, and his disillusionment. Holden’s disillusionment illustrates that he has a problem accepting such. Aforesaid is based upon multiple factors, most which have brought Holden lasting traumas. A remedy is required for Holden to accept his disillusionment and enable an improvement of his situation. For Holden’s remedy, the consultation of psychologists, and additional specialized health professionals would be the core of an apt remedy for Holden’s psychological and physiological state based upon the numerous causes of such and the everlasting trauma of some of the determinants of aforesaid situation. The origins of Holden’s disillusionment revolved mainly around the death of his younger brother Allie three years ago, of which he still experiences the trauma to this day. His disillusionment is caused by both
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, portrays Holden Cawfield a New York City teenager in the 1950's as a manic-depressive. Holden's depression starts with the death of his brother, Allie . Holden is expelled from numerous schools due to his poor academics which are brought on by his depression. Manic depression, compulsive lying, and immaturity throughout the novel characterize Holden.
Almost every person will have to say goodbye to a loved one who has died. When an adolescent goes through this experience it could traumatize them. John Green once said “Grief does not change you. It reveals you.” In other words, the loss of a loved one doesn’t change who you are but reveals your character. A novel that explores the effect of grief on a young person is The Catcher In The Rye by J.D Salinger. The Catcher In The Rye is a novel about a teenager, Holden Caulfield, who is confused and makes life changing mistakes because of his inability to accept his brother Allie’s death. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross made up the five stages of grief. The stages are denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. Holden goes through these five stages throughout the novel. Salinger uses the baseball mitt, the red hunting hat, and the carousel to explore the protagonist struggle to resolve his grief.
One of the best known novels in English-speaking countries, J.D Salinger’s Catcher In The Rye deals with Holden Caulfield’s past trauma which is the triggering factor in his depression, anxiety and alienation. Holden tells an unnamed person what has happened in the three days prior to his mental breakdown. Through Holden’s relatable characteristics and Salinger’s narrative treatment, the book continues to engage audiences across generations.
Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye on the surface is a story of an ill-behaved boy wandering the streets of New York getting into all sorts of mischief. Though, when looked at past the surface, we see a story of a troubled young man that is yearning for attention, acceptance, and love. Many theories have transpired about Holden Caulfield and his problems. Among them are Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, and that he is just traveling through the five stages of grief.
Holden Caulfield, the narrator of The Catcher in the Rye, is a troubled man who does not have everything going right for him. He shows obvious signs of depression and a few symptoms of an anxiety disorder. Throughout the book he keeps thinking about his brother Allie, who passed away. The only reasonable explanation for his mental illnesses is that he misses Allie, and he does not know how to function normally again. Everything he does reminds him of Allie in some sort of way. Mental illness is very common in someone who is suffering from the loss of a love one, but it is in no way a normal act of a teenager.
The Catcher in the Rye has been described, analyzed, rebuffed, and critiqued over the years. Each writer expresses a different point of view: It is a story reflecting teen-ager's talk--thoughts-emotions--actions; or angst. I believe it is an adult's reflection of his own unresolved grief and bereavements. That adult is the author, J.D. Salinger. He uses his main character, Holden, as the voice to vent the psychological misery he will not expose -or admit to.
Holden’s family is obviously very important to him. The novel opens with talking about his parents and his brother. Holden negatively criticizes them to hide the fact that he truly loves them. But, one would ask, how can you love those you never see? Holden is constantly being shipped from one boarding school to another. This absence between him and his parents intensifies his general alienation from everyone. Holden’s only real love in the family is for his sister Phoebe. The bond and respect between brother and sister can not be broken no matter how far the distance between them. When Holden arrives back in New York, he immediately wanted to call someone; his sister Phoebe. "She wouldn’t’ve cared if I’d woke her up…" (Salinger 59) Many people her age would not appreciate being woken up that late at night, especially by their brother, but there is a mutual respect between Phoebe and Holden that would allow for this event to occur. Through out the whole novel, this relationship continues because she is his little sister and he would never hurt her. In today’s world, this type of relationship is next to impossible.
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.
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 doesn’t like the complexity of life and relationships. This is why he distances himself from his family and friends. After Holden is expelled from his school, he tries to stay away from his parents for fear of their reaction, even though learning of his expulsion is inevitable. He visits his sister Phoebe in their home multiple times throughout the novel because due to her young age, his sister and his relationship is simple. "For instance, within Holden, the desire to reject others conflicts with the desire to be accepted by others: he doesn't want to lend Stradlater his coat, but his overt actions belie this covert, warring want: he despises Ackley, but he invites him to see a movie; he hates movies, believing them to foster phoniness in society” (Mitchell). Holden struggles to “catch” others because he believes he is not accepted by others.