More handpicked essays just for you.
A catcher in the rye characterization of holden
Essay about the catcher in the rye
Catcher in the rye literary devices
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Even though “The Catcher in the Rye” was written and set in the 1950s, Salinger's story about an observative, conscious teen who is struggling to find his own identity, maintains much interest and is suitable to readers today. Many teenagers can relate to Holden Caulfield's opinionated and sentimental personality, as well as the problems he faces. These problems include sexually related rendezvouses and eagerness for independence. Holden goes against the adult world around him, which to Holden is loaded with "phonies", searching for righteousness and truth, even though several of his actions would depict him as a "phony" himself. Towards the end of the book, Holden finds it harder to deal with living in the society he is in, while dealing with his worsening depression. Holden is by far sensitive and can be overly emotional sometimes. When his younger brother Allie died, Holden dealt with the dreadful event by breaking all the windows in the garage, "just for the hell of it." When he wakes up to find Mr. Antolini stroking his forehead, Holden leaves his apartment quickly, even though Holden identifies Mr. Antolini as a trusted mentor. Holden feels guilty about the death of his younger brother because he died so young. This feeling of guilt and the depression may help explain how overly sensitive Holden can be at times. Holden views himself as the "catcher in the rye", saving children and their innocence from going into the adult world that is crowded with "phonies." When he sees all the graffiti that says "fuck you", he becomes very distraught as the graffiti shows that the innocent world of children is already being affected by the vulgarness of the adult world. Holden exploits the "phony" world of adults often, such as when he li... ... middle of paper ... ...le to find a real friend who is able to talk to him. Lonely and at rock bottom, Holden returns to his family and is hospitalized at the end of the book. Holden Caulfield offers the reader an interesting view on dealing with teen problems and adult life through the eyes of a teenager suffering from depression. Depression and the death of his brother Allie play a significant role in Holden's personality, especially his sensitivity to people around him and the emotional response he has in certain situations. He is self-conscious of himself, but at the same time struggles for independence and individuality. He longs to keep his childhood, staying away from the adult world. However, Holden's story ends with saying "I sort of miss everybody I told about," implying that he has, at last, grown up and matured, and these experiences he has narrated are just boyhood memories.
In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in The Rye Salinger writes about the main character Holden Caulfield and his life. Holden is a teenager who comes from a wealthy family, he loves his family and lives very happy until the death of his brother Allie. After his brother died Holden becomes troubled, being kicked out of school again and again developing a negative view of the world. Holden throughout the book shows anger,denial, and acceptance over the loss of his brother.
The reason Holden has a hard time talking to people about his feelings is because in the time period he lives in people have a stereotypical image of not sharing emotional feelings with others. Losing his brother, Holden has to adjust to keep his composure without having the direct outlet of Allie to comfort
Holden’s childhood was far from ideal, with Allie dying, his dysfunctional parents and the revelation that he had some “perverty” stuff happen to him when he was a kid. Due to this, he isn't ready to step into adulthood and leave his childhood behind. This is why Holden is mostly alienated from adults and connects more to the innocence of children like the girl at the park and his sister, Phoebe. However, Holden is disillusioned with both adulthood and childhood. He already knows how it feels to be an adult; drinking alcohol, being independent, living by himself and caring for Phoebe, but isn’t ready to immerse himself in it.
Holden’s apparent desire to be separated from the majority of his family and friends appears to have been triggered by the death of his younger brother Allie. From Allie’s there has been a downward spiral in Holden’s relationships, as he begins to avoid contact with others and isolate himself more. The reason I believe this is because we can see how immense his anger is after Allie’s death, ‘I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist’. The death of Allie has become like an awakening to Holden, and has alerted him how precious childhood innocence is, when Holden comes to this realisation he convinces himself to do everything within his power to protect the innocence of himself and those around him, to protect them from what he sees as a false adult world. Although Holden clearly fails to protect himself, as he falls into all sorts of situations which hardly boasts of innocence and virt... ...
Catcher in the Rye is one of the most famous books in American literature. Written by J. D. Salinger, it captures the epitome of adolescence through Salinger’s infamous anti-hero, Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield learns about himself and his negative tendencies, and realizes that if he does not do something to change his perspective, he may end up like his acquaintance James Castle whom he met at Elkton Hills. Holden tries to find help to mend his outlook on life through Mr. Antolini so he does not end up like James, who did not want to face the problems he created for himself. This is proven by the similarities between James Castle and Holden, Mr. Antolini’s willingness to try and help Holden, and Holden’s future being forecasted by James.
The tears shed in this scene are crucial as Holden becomes aware of the situation caused by his actions, which is a turning point in the novel as previously Holden has ignored his own well being and has not thought of the consequences of his actions. As Holden’s personal empathy grows, he also becomes au courant of what is occurring around him and how relationships have had an impact on his life; “don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start to miss everybody” (234). By the end of the novel, Holden is developing skills to understand his emotions and how to deal with them in an ordinary manner. In doing so, he learns that having great memories comes at a price. Holden ends up missing the memories and the people more than he thought he would. The emotional depth of Holden’s character has grown extravagant amounts throughout
Holden wants to shelter children from the adult world (Chen). In Chapter 16, the catcher in the rye finally appears. This is also a symbol for what Holden would like to be when he grows older. He pictures a group of many kids playing in a field of rye, where it is his job to catch them from falling off the cliff. This shows Holden’s love for childhood and his need to preserve it in any way he can. According to Alsen, “The way Holden explains why he wants to be the catcher in the rye shows the kindness and unselfishness of his character. However, the surreal nature of the metaphor also reveals his unwillingness to face the real life choices he needs to make now that he is approaching adulthood.” By the end of the book, Holden realizes in order for kids to grow, there can’t be protection from all of potential harm. “He therefore gives up his dream of being the catcher in the rye and is ready to make a realistic choice of what he wants to do with his life” (Alsen). Holden’s dream world, that doesn’t involve change, is unrealistic. He is terrified by the unpredictable changes of the adult world, but there is no way for Holden to avoid the experiences and changes that the
First, Holden attempts to cope with the loss of his brother Allie, but continues to feel depressed and alone. As a result of Allie’s death, it immediately affected Holden and his actions. This is where his anger began to develop. His immediate response was to lash out despite the consequences he would face. Later he would find out that consequence would be not attending the funeral. His parents “were going to have [him] psychoanalyzed and all, because [he] broke all the windows in the garage” (Salinger 44). Also, Holden breaking his hand could have been a cry for attention and his regret. At one point he had wished his brother was dead, but then when he actually died Holden was devastated. By lashing out and injuring his hand he was full of anger, but also “he received the attention and sympathy which were denied him during Allie's illness” (Miller).
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
Holden, our 17 year old narrator, comes from a wealthy Manhattan family. At this young age, however, Holden has experienced much more than most do in their entire lives. He has been kicked out of many schools, he lost
J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye successful in many respects, from its popularity among adolescent readers, to its 29 weeks spent on the New York Times Bestseller List. One part of The Catcher in the Rye that was not successful is its main character, Holden Caulfield. Holden mentions at a certain point in the novel that he aspires to be a “Catcher in the Rye”. Whether he achieved his goal is controversial amongst many readers. I believe that in the end, Holden was not successful in becoming, the “Catcher in the Rye” because he cannot change the the lives of others by protecting their innocence.
Like everyone else, Holden goes through the 5 steps of grieving. Step 1 would be Holden experiencing denial and isolation. Holden has a lonely, introverted personality. Even though Holden travels to New York, he still feels isolated, unable to make a connection with people. He finds himself in constant criticism of other people, unable to realize his poor treatment and judgment of others.. In this way, he keeps himself completely isolated from everyone, even Phoebe. When Phoebe expressed her desire to run away with Holden he tells her immediately to "shut up" and in this way, isolates himself from the one person he loves most. Salinger uses The Catcher in the Rye to express Holden’s denial of maturing into an adult. Step 2 would be the feeling of anger after a loved one’s passing. After Allie died, the first thing Holden did was punch out all the windows in his garage with his bare fist. “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don't blame them. I really don't. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it.” (Salinger He also lets out his emotions by attacking Stradlater when Stradlater refused to use Holden's essay about Allie's mitt. Holden felt Stradlater was dissing Allie, and acted blinded by
Holden is schizophrenic. Many people may wonder what it’s like to live a day in the life of Holden Caulfield, or just someone with a mental disorder in general. But no one knows and never will know. All people know is what he is like, how he handles his day to day tasks, and how he goes about his work ethic. He is failing four out of five of his classes. Everything but English. He was just kicked out of Pencey and that is the fourth school he has been kicked out of and he’s only 16. He tells us that he dropped out of one because he didn’t like it. The thing is, Holden doesn’t understand the importance of passing his classes. He has been told multiple times by many people that he needs to start applying himself and get it together, but he doesn’t
Holden Caulfield can be analyzed through his thoughts, actions and circumstances which surround his everyday life. Holden acts like a careless teenager. Holden has been to several prep-schools, all of which he got kicked out of for failing classes. After being kicked out of the latest, Pency Prep, he went off to New York on his own. Holden seems to have a motivation problem which apparently affects his reasoning. The basis of his reasoning comes from his thoughts. Holden thinks the world is full of a bunch of phonies. All his toughs about people he meets are negative. The only good thoughts he has are about his sister Phoebe and his dead brother Alley. Holden, perhaps, wishes that everyone, including himself, should be like his brother and sister. That is to be intelligent, real and loving. Holden’s problem is with his heart. It was broken when his brother died. Now Holden goes around the world as his fake self, wearing his mask. Holden is looking for love, peace and understanding. He is scared to love because he is afraid he might lose it like he did with his brother. That is the reason for Holden's love of the museum, he feels safe because it never changes it always stays the same. Holden is troubled with the pain of death, it effects every aspect of his life causing him to not care about the future, himself or anyone, except Phoebe and Alley.
Which is the kind of world he wants to live in. Holden expresses his desire to preserve the innocence of others when his sister Phoebe tells Holden that he doesn't like anything, and that he has no ambitions of what he wants to be when he is older. Holden then explains that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. He says that he imagines little children playing on top of a hill and that his job is to protect children from falling of the hill. This symbolizes catching children from losing their innocence and falling into the adult world. Holden tells Phoebe, “I know it crazy, but that is the only thing I’d like to be” (172). This unrealistic desire is contributes to why Holden is struggling to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Critics of the novel have said Holden would like to suspend time stating, “Holden's desire to protect children shows his desire for suspending time, for inhabiting a space of young people conserved endlessly” (Yahya 3). Not letting go of childhood memories or accepting the harsh realities of adulthood are damaging when transitioning from