Examples Of Holden Caulfield Stereotypical Teenager

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It’s clear from the first chapter of Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye that Holden Caulfield isn’t exactly your stereotypical teenager. He's not only failed out of 4 schools, but at every school he attends, he leaves friendless. Holden often lies and deceives both new acquaintances and old friends. Despite these unusual tendencies, there's nothing inherently wrong with him; he's simply lonely. Throughout his teenage years, Holden has moved from one boarding school to another, which would make any teenager feel out of place and isolated. On top of being new, we know Holden is objectively thin and lanky. This is clear when he and Stradlater get into a fight and Stradlater is quick to immediately pin him to the floor (56). This clearly affects Holden's self-esteem, as he frequently mentions it. …show more content…

We know Holden has some unusual ways of talking and interacting with new people; he likes to lie to them out of entertainment instead of genuinely trying to become friends with them. This could be viewed as a sociopathic tendency, Holden’s. However, I view this as Holden exhibiting his loneliness. When Holden has no close friends or family to talk to, what does he do? He lies. He does this on multiple occasions, including on the train when he runs into the mother of someone at his school (71). He makes up an entire persona out of her son and even gives her a fake name. However, he’s not doing this to take pleasure in someone else’s pain, he’s doing this for pure entertainment as he has nothing else to do. He enjoys reading, but other than that, Holden has almost nothing to do with his time. This is what causes him to interact the way he

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