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Essay discussing the characters in the Catcher in the Rye novel
How the catcher in the rye influences society
Character analysis of catcher in the rye
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The Catcher in the Rye was an extremely influential book in the 1950’s but the relevance of the text can still be argued today. The novel focuses on the conformity that occurred in the 1950’s through the eyes of an anti-conformist, Holden Caulfield. Holden is developed to not only be an influential character in The Catcher in the Rye, but also in the totality of American Literature. Holden develops throughout the novel as he is faced with an unfortunate situation of being kicked out of school. He experiences more and more conformity throughout the novel which further grows his belief of anticonformity. His personality and character traits are explained through a multitude of themes, the most prevalent being the misunderstanding and fixation …show more content…
that Holden has on societal construct of innocence. This theme is expanded upon by the multitude of stories that Holden shares in which have changed his life. Holden’s ideological stance on innocence is changed, shaped and explained to the reader through these stories. Chapter 22 best shows this theme in that we see Holden describe his dreams through a illusion he creates of himself helping others, the interactions he has with his little sister, Phoebe, and his infatuation of looking into the past. As Holden arrives back home, he is eager to talk to his little sister Phoebe with whom he has a very strong relationship.
Although siblings share a very strong bond, his fixation with her is beyond the spectrum of brotherly love and Salinger strongly suggests there is something deeper within Holden as to why. As a reader, we can see that Holden is so absorbed into Phoebe’s life and children in general, for their lack of life experience. Holden doesn’t believe that children have been corrupted by conformity and societal norms yet thus is extremely attached to them as he believes very few people to be innocent. We can draw this conclusion in that Holden can acknowledge Phoebe’s faults but validates them for that he feels as though because children are so young, they simply don’t know better. This is exemplified in that Holden can acknowledge that “She can be quite snotty… It was sort of funny, too, in a way. She sounds like a goddamn school teacher sometimes, and she's only a child” (Salinger 217). Although Holden can see her faults personality wise, he doesn’t view her as a phony like he would in someone who is older or more mature who is acting in the same nature. He views it solely as childhood ignorance thus passes it off. The fact that Holden is able to validate some situations of “phoniness”, proves that he simply has a misunderstanding of innocence and all that it …show more content…
entails. Holden also presents a level of guilt throughout the story. Although we see that he judges many people and believes them to not be genuine, he also believes himself to not be perfect either. Holden explains a situation which occured in his previous school, where a student being hazed jumped out of the window when his sister questions if he likes anything. He claims to not be able to think of anything else but two nuns and this situation. Although a student’s death is very traumatic, it’s interesting to point out how Holden analyzes the situation. He is engrossed in what he was doing at the time, as if he feels he could have saved him. Holden states “I was in the shower and all, and even I could hear him land outside. But I just thought something fell out of the window” (Salinger 221). Salinger purposefully put in this story for the readers to suggest that Holden feels the need to validate situations he feels not genuine in. Holden felt as though he should of done something thus why he indicates what he was doing during Castle’s death so that he can diminish his guilt. Although this situation is completely unrelated to what Phoebe asks of him, this closely resembles his dream job of saving children from jumping over the edge and perhaps inspired that aspiration. He didn’t necessarily know the student, James Castle, and still felt compelled to save him since he hadn’t proved to be inauthentic yet. His misunderstanding of innocence and drive to save the genuine derives from experiences such as James Castle’s death. Although Holden doesn’t explicitly say or it or really understands the significance, this excerpt suggests to the reader that he is strongly shaped by this situation. This drives him to feel the need to take action to protect those who are innocent. Soon after Holden’s flashback of James Castle’s death, he talks about his dream job with Phoebe.
He initially is thinking of possible careers and how they they aren’t viable for him; not because they aren’t good jobs, but simply because he's scared he would turn into a complete phony and no longer be genuine. He likes the idea of being a lawyer in that you can help people, much like he wanted to do catching children or James Castle; however, he feels as though once its a job it’s no longer genuine. He states that he’s unsure “How would you know you weren’t being a phony? The trouble is, you wouldn’t” (Salinger 224). This misunderstanding intentions of lawyers and employment in general allows the reader to draw conclusions about how Holden feels about his father and the concept of different personalities in different situations. Holden believes that although lawyers may think they’re helping people, they may have bad intentions. Although he thinks his father is a man who has provided well for his family, he believes him to be a phony as well since his job is to defend people. He doesn’t view being compensated or recognized for a good action/deed makes you genuine or necessarily a good
person. Throughout all of the Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s personality traits are expanded upon by the numerous stories that he tells. The reader gains insight as to who Holden is inside and out by the way that he is so able to tell how he feels. The aspect of Catcher in the Rye that is so interesting is how raw and flighty Holden is as a narrator. This characteristic of Holden allows us to draw connections of how and why he categorizes innocence as well as makes him one of the most well known and debated characters of American Literature. Holden Caulfield may not have a strong understanding of innocence and its role in society, however, he put everything he felt onto paper making him appear to a lost kid just like him, genuine.
He has nothing but nice things to say about her and wants to protect her. She makes many adult observations that you would not expect a ten year old to notice, yet still acts like a ten year old. She realizes that Holden got kicked out of school, and then responds by repeating, “Daddy’ll kill you!”(214). She corrects Holden about the words in a Robert Burns poem and realizes that Holden does not like anything, yet at the same time acts like a ten year old. She resembles Holden in the way she goes between adulthood and childhood. She is like a younger version of Holden. Holden wants to protect her and keep her from ending up like him. Holden gives his hunting hat to Phoebe, this shows how much he cares about her. He is able to give up the symbol of his independence and accept that he has ties to his family. The only time Holden is happy during his trip is when he takes Phoebe to the carousel. After deciding not to run away Holden realizes, “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off,” (274). At this point he realizes that growing up might not be the worst thing in the world and that even if he gets hurt in the process it is something he needs to
Since Holden was isolated from his family, in order to not get hurt again he tries to find hypocrisy in people to stop himself from trusting others. Holden feels isolated after being sent to a boarding school that “was full of phonies” by his parents (Salinger 90). Salinger’s message to the audience with this quote is that when
In the novel, Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is an example of a prosaic rich adolescent boy,with a pedestrian set of problems, but a psychoanalysis reveals that Holden has a plethora of atypical internal conflicts. Internal conflicts that other students at Pencey, such as Stradlater and Ackley, would not normally experience.
Again, this is one of the few people that Holden likes and doesn’t consider a phony like everyone else. He talks highly of her and he sees himself in her in the way that she alternates between behaving like an adult and behaving like a child, the way he says he also does. It bothered him greatly when she asks him if he “got the ax again,” referring to his expulsion. She starts asking him questions about his future and what he likes (if he likes anything at all) and it forces him to wake up. Everyone has been telling Holden to realize his situation and put more effort into schoolwork and relationships and to start caring. Holden’s reality is very simple: he wants to be the catcher in the rye to protect children’s innocence and stop them from growing up because all adults are phonies. Again and again, being told that that isn’t plausible annoys him. He feels betrayed, when his own sister, someone who he thought would understand him, joins everyone else in telling him to put forth more
Holden's idealism is first brought forth when he describes his life at Pency Prep. It is full of phonies, morons and bastards. His roommate, Stradlater, " was at least a pretty friendly guy, It was partly a phony kind of friendly..." (26) and his other roommate, Ackley is "a very nosy bastard" (33). Holden can't stand to be around either one of them for a very long time. Later, he gets into a fight with Stradlater over his date with Jane. Holden is upset because he thinks that Stradlater "gave her the time" and that he doesn't care about her; 'the reason he didn't care was because he was a goddam stupid moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron' (44). Holden not only sees his roommates as phonies and bastards, but he also sees his headmaster at Pency Prep as a "phony slob" (3). This type of person is exactly what Holden doesn't want to be. He strives to be a mature adult; caring, compassionate, and sensitive.
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.
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.
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.
Innocence and kindheartedness is displayed in the novel through Holden's young sister, Phoebe. Whenever Holden is depressed about being alone he thinks of memories with his younger sister Phoebe and feels completely better. Phoebe is always there for her brother to listen to his stories and complaints.
Since its publication in 1951, The Catcher In the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger has served as a conflagration for debate and extreme controversy. Although the novel has been the target of scornful criticism, it has also been the topic of wide discussion. The novel portrays the life of sixteen year old, Holden Caufield. Currently in psychiatric care, Holden recalls what happened to him last Christmas. At the beginning of his story, Holden is a student at Pencey Prep School. Having been expelled for failing four out of his five classes, Holden leaves school and spends 72-hours in New York City before returning home. There, Holden encounters new ideas, people, and experiences. Holden's psychological battle within himself serves as the tool that uncovers the coming-of-age novel's underlying themes of teen angst, depression, and the disingenuous nature of society. The novel tackles issues of blatant profanity, teenage sex, and other erratic behavior. Such issues have supplemented the controversial nature of the book and in turn, have sparked the question of whether or not this book should be banned. The novel, The Catcher In the Rye, should not be banned from inclusion in the literature courses taught at the high school level.
Throughout the book, Holden is depressed and has very few things he enjoys, but what he really wants to do is become the catcher in the rye. When he talks to his little sister Phoebe, he reiterates the fact that he’d “just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing that I’d really like to be,” and he’s telling the truth (225). Holden complains all the time, about how phony people are, or how he feels like he is the only normal one. He never gives a compliment, or even smiles for the majority of the book. But when he finally talks to someone he enjoys, he realizes what he wants to do: prohibit phoniness from
Superficially the story of a young man getting expelled from another school, the Catcher in the Rye is, in fact, a perceptive study of one individual’s understanding of his human condition. Holden Caulfield, a teenager growing up in 1950’s, New York, has been expelled from school for poor achievement once again. In an attempt to deal with this he leaves school a few days prior to the end of term, and goes to New York to take a vacation before returning to his parents’ inevitable irritation. Told as a monologue, the book describe Holden’s thoughts and activities over these few days, during which he describes a developing nervous breakdown. This was evident by his bouts of unexplained depression, impetuous spending and generally odd, erratic behavior, prior to his eventual nervous collapse.
Some people feel all alone in this world, with no direction to follow but their empty loneliness. The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, follows a sixteen-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield, who despises society and calls everyone a “phony.” Holden can be seen as a delinquent who smokes tobacco, drinks alcohol, and gets expelled from a prestigious boarding school. This coming-of-age book follows the themes of isolation, innocence, and corrupted maturity which is influenced from the author's life and modernism, and is shown through the setting, symbolism, and diction.
The Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. Salinger, portrays many different ideas in an everyday society. These ideas and thoughts are expressed through the protagonist in the novel, Holden Morrissey. Holden views many things in society as fake or “phony” at an idealistic point-of-view. This contributes to many conflicts and biased thoughts throughout the novel.
J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is a remarkable book that gives readers a unique and perhaps gloomy perspective of the 1950's through Holden Caulfield, a cynical and peculiar teenager. Through The Catcher in the Rye Salinger describes important aspects of the 1950's. Salinger emphasizes several key characteristics of the 50's and criticizes them through Holden. In addition, Holden Caulfield is a very interesting character with several traits that put him at odds with society.