More handpicked essays just for you.
The catcher in the rye as a coming of age essay
Catcher In The Rye: A Psychoanalytical Perspective Essay
THE catcher in the rye essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Time has had no effect on the stereotypical teenager filled with “teenage angst”. One of the most familiar examples of this would be “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger. Holden exemplifies teenage angst by realizing the wrong in society and looking for a purpose for himself. The archetype is still prevalent 64 years later in literature. These modern characters attempt to find their place in the world, struggle with traumatic past experiences and still find the wrongs in society, just as Holden Caulfield did years ago. One of the main problems Holden struggles with is being understood, starting with his family. Ever since his brother Allie died, his parents do not give Holden the love and attention he really needs. They obviously still …show more content…
In today’s literature, there seems to be a common characteristic of parents that do not understand what their child is going through. For example, in all of the Harry Potter series, Harry has to deal with his aunt and uncle causing him much distress. This is due to the fact that Harry’s uncle, Vernon, had a disagreement with Harry’s father. Since Harry looks so much like his father, his uncle takes his hate and anger out on him constantly. This also makes the Dursleys not care for Harry; he does not get the attention he should have as a child and is often misunderstood because of the magic he yields. “… Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as ... as ... abnormal ... and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!” (Philosopher’s Stone, Chapter 3). This shows that there is some negative feelings toward Harry and the Dursleys did not want to be the guardians of Harry since the …show more content…
From death to being abandoned, it is hard for him to deal with these events. The one experience it seems like Holden struggles with is his brother, Allie’s, death. “I was only thirteen [when Allie died], and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage” (50). This event shows how much Allie’s death hurt Holden because it took a toll on him mentally and physically. This is similar to the situation in the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. The main character, Charlie, is dealing with the suicide of his friend, Michael. He writes to an imaginary friend in order to get his emotions out about the whole situation. The deaths of Holden and Charlie’s close friends/relatives also connect them by the effect it had on them mentally. These main characters show signs of PTSD, depression, anxiety, etc. because of a significant tragedy in their lives. Eventually, they have to learn to cope with these situations. Holden goes around New York City trying to deal with his depression through meeting up with different associates and taking part in different activities, like the show at Radio City, to help him relieve the pain. Said earlier in the paragraph, Charlie writes to his imaginary friend to relinquish himself of emotional distress. Consequently, Holden and Charlie have faced the harsh truth of reality. This will begin to tie together with the final
The book in it’s entirety deals with multiple subjects ranging from depression to dealing with being an adult but an important subject that goes unnoticed is the subject of grief. Holden throughout the book deals with multiple stages of grief. The stages of grief he deals with are anger, denial, and finally acceptance bringing the book to a
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.
Imagine if your best friend or someone close to you suddenly dies of a fatal disease. The death of this person would physically and mentally inflict trauma. All though the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a grieving seventeen year old because he endures a traumatic experience at the age of 13. His 11 year old brother, Allie, dies of leukemia, and this affects Holden throughout the novel. It causes him to yearn for his innocence and childhood back because he wants to return to the stage in his life when there are no worries. He realizes that it is not realistic to become a child again, and he begins to accept the fact that he must grow up and set an example for his sister, Phoebe. Growing up with the loss of a close brother, Holden wants to be a protector of all innocence, and later in the novel, he begins to notice he must find a solution to his traumatic experiences in order to become successful in his lifetime.
Unlike other protagonists with amazing superpowers or cunning wits, the characters from the film Rushmore, and the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” share many of the same characteristics. In Wes Anderson’s film, Rushmore, the main character, Max Fischer, played by Jason Schwartzman has an unprecedented amount of similarities to J.D Salinger’s character Holden Caulfield from “The Catcher in the Rye”. Both stories focus on the idea of children wanting to grow up quickly whilst still being too immature to do so. The similarities include their personality traits, and the relationships they have, but the characters also differ in one major way, their views on sex. These similarities create a feel of familiarity in the reader or viewer allowing them
Some of the important and affecting moments in Holden?s life are death of Allie, suicide of a close friend, D.B. ?selling out?, and his summer with Jane Gallagher. Allie, Holden?s younger brother died of leukemia recently and has caused stress upon the patient. Also witnessing the death of once close friend traumatized the patient. The fact that Holden?s friend committed suicide wearing some of his clothing, placed even more strain on the patient. Another factor surround Holden is his brother D.B. leaving him and his family to ?sell out to Hollywood? disturbed Holden. Lastly, the summer he had spent with a close and intimate friend, Jane Gallagher had added fuel to fire, which drove Mr. Caulfield to this institution and require professional help from our clinic.
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily link him to the typical teenager living today. The fact that the book was written many years ago clearly exemplifies the timeless nature of this work. Holden's actions are those that any teenager can clearly relate with. The desire for independence, the sexually related encounters, and the questioning of ones religion are issues that almost all teens have had or will have to deal with in their adolescent years. The novel and its main character's experiences can easily be related to and will forever link Holden with every member of society, because everyone in the world was or will be a teen sometime in their life.
The experience of being in a state of grief is not limited by age but by experience. The symptoms of a person experiencing bereavement and grief are found throughout the book. These symptoms not only apply to Holden and his situation, but also are accepted as classic symptoms recognized by the Grief Counseling Community. The story is replete with the phrases "I felt so lonesome; I almost wish I was dead; it was so depressing; it was so quiet and lonesome out; feeling sort to lousy; made me sad; I felt miserable; felt like committing suicide; jumping out the window; sitting on an atomic bomb; blue as hell; felt like getting stinking drunk; can't sleep."
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.
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.
Holden feels as if he is stuck in his 13 year old self. Although he is aging he isn’t necessarily maturing the way his classmates and other people are around him. This is due to the fact that he never received closure when Allie died. When he starts picturing his own funeral because he might get pneumonia and die, he remembers D.B. telling him about his brother's funeral. He stated, “I wasn’t there. I was still in the hospital. I had to go to the hospital and all after I hurt my hand” (Salinger 171). Since he never attended the funeral he never got to say his final goodbyes to the one person he truly loved. Holden feels as if he can’t connect with anyone else in the world like he did with Allie. If he did then he would most likely push them away, so he wouldn’t have to experience the trauma of loss again, because it greatly impacted his life the first time. The trauma Holden experienced when he was younger resulted in him not being able to form stronger relationships with people which made him more depressed and
Holden Caulfield, the teenage protagonist of Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, struggles with having to enter the adult world. Holden leaves school early and stays in New York by himself until he is ready to return home. Holden wants to be individual, yet he also wants to fit in and not grow up. The author uses symbolism to represent Holden’s internal struggle.
Holden is someone who values innocence in other people but is also scared that it will go away because he has lost his own innocence due to to past tragedies. Out of all of the tragic events Holden has had one of the worst was when his beloved brother Allie passed away of leukemia when he was just 11. Allie was Holden's role model. Holden's describes Allie saying “You'd have liked him. He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent. He was terrifically intelligent. Holden also says how we will love him. Saying this shows how He wants Allie to have a legacy. We can also see that Holden was very sad when Allie died because of the way he is describing him. Losing Allie has made Holden’s innocence die. When speaking
Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye signifies to Charlie's character. They have their differences as Charlie grew up in normal household, in a public school, with good grades. Holden in the other hand was raised in a rich household, had trouble maintaining in school, and dropped out. However, they both suffered through depression, being socially awkward, and being judged. They explore their town, having thoughts about people, and their outcome. Charlie ponders why people go to the mall, and what type of stress does it release. Holden likes to retrace his memories back to the pond and think about how the girls would grow up, and how they will lose their innocence. With their mischievous minds, it makes them see the world as a cruel place
Parents are the most important support system in their children’s lives. There is a breakdown in this support system for Holden. His relationship with his parents is very dysfunctional; he rarely talks to them and avoids seeing them in person. Mr. and Mrs. Caulfield have their own life agenda, which doesn’t include Holden as a priority. Their obligation is mainly to pay for the various boarding schools he attends. Holden’s parenting comes mostly from these boarding schools. Holden even feared returning home or was ambivalent about seeing his parents. When he did return home to visit his sister, Phoebe, he avoided his parents as much as possible. “It was a helluva lot easier getting out of the house than in, for some reason. For one thing, I didn’t give much of a damn anymore if they caught me. I really didn’t.” (p. 180) Any person that has a good relationship with their parents would certainly try go to them for help especially if they were in a difficult time in their life. Holden was undergoing a very difficult time in his life; he was lonely and desperate for someone to talk to. Instead of seeking his parents, he chose to avoid them. This portrays the lack of the primary support system in Holden’s life, his parents.
In J.D. Salinger’s controversial 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character is Holden Caulfield. When the story begins Holden at age sixteen, due to his poor grades is kicked out of Pencey Prep, a boys’ school in Pennsylvania. This being the third school he has been expelled from, he is in no hurry to face his parents. Holden travels to New York for several days to cope with his disappointments. As James Lundquist explains, “Holden is so full of despair and loneliness that he is literally nauseated most of the time.” In this novel, Holden, a lonely and confused teenager, attempts to find love and direction in his life. Holden’s story is realistic because many adolescent’s face similar challenges.