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Character analysis of Holden Caulfield
Character analysis of Holden Caulfield
Holden caulfield character analysis essay
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So, this character doesn't possess your usual heroic traits, but what do they have? Well in the case of Holden Caulfield from “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, he has lots of anti-heroic traits. Holden’s odd personality, dishonesty, anti-sociality, lack of motivation, and over-protectiveness of children makes the debate about his heroism apparent. Holden’s dark past and odd behavior makes him an anti-hero. When writing an essay for his roommate Stradlater, Holden mentions, “[Allie’s] dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine,” (38). Holden’s brother, Allie, died when he was only a kid. Not everyone experiences the death of a family member at that age, and this gives Holden a negative outlook on life. Later Holden …show more content…
explains that when he first found out about Allie’s death, “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage,” (38-39). Allie’s death scarred his older brother for life, and put him in a very unstable, confused, and depressed mental state. Holden is not like other kids; he has seen death and experienced loss that other teenagers have never had to go through. Holden is a liar.
He describes himself as, “the most terrific liar you ever saw,” (16). He talks about how often he lies, and how he does it even in the most unnecessary situations. Heroism requires honesty, and Holden lies constantly. He has prominent traits of an anti-hero. When Holden is on his way to see Phoebe, he has to lie to the elevator boy by saying, ‘“I’m supposed to wait for them. I’m their nephew’...It’s funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they’ll do practically anything you want them to,” (158). He lies to practically everyone, including strangers like the elevator boy. Holden has obviously had previous experience with lying, and it comes easy to …show more content…
him. Caulfield cannot establish or maintain relationships.
When Holden wakes up to find Mr. Antolini petting his head, he exclaims, “I have to go, anyway,’ I said- boy, was I nervous!”(192). Holden is afraid of almost everyone, and he is quick to jump to conclusions. He doesn't think things through before reacting. He does not trust others very easily. After Stradlater hits Holden, “I didn't even bother to get up. I just lay there on the floor for a while, and kept calling him a moron sonuvabitch,” (45). Holden gets in fights because he cannot communicate well with others. He is unable to hold normal conversations with people. Holden has no motivation. Holden talks about why he was kicked out at Pencey, and explains that, “They gave me frequent warnings to start applying myself… but I didn’t do it,” (4). Holden has no interest in his grades. He has no intent to plan for his future. Holden concludes the story by saying, “I could tell you what I did after I went home...but I don't feel like it. I really don't. That stuff doesn't interest me,” (213). Throughout the book, even until the end, Holden is lazy when it comes to talking about things he doesn't like. He doesn't even have the motivation to tell his own
story. Some people might say that Holden is a hero because his dream is to help children. However he doesn't want to help them, he wants to keep them from growing up and having a future. When Holden is walking through Phoebe’s school, he notices that, “Somebody had written ‘Fuck You’ on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought about how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it… maybe even worry about it for a couple of days,”(201). Holden is very concerned about their innocence. He doesn't want the children to learn about adult things. The question on whether Holden is a hero or anti-hero can be very controversial, but one thing is certain: his odd behavior, dishonesty, bad social skills, laziness, and excessive protectiveness make him different than the common hero.
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. Holden’s immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is physically mature, he acts more like a child.
Compulsive lying is another characteristic that Holden exhibits. Holden would tell people lies just so they could not become closer to the real Holden. Holden tells lies on numerous occasions to gain. Holden pathetically tells Mrs. Morrow, " I have to have a tiny operation… it isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on my brain" (58). She tells Holden that she is very sorry and she is hopeful that he shall be well soon. Holden then catches him self in a lie and he remarkes, "Once I get started, I can go on for hours if I feel like it," (58). This compulsive lying shows that Holden is not satisfied with himself and that he feels that people will judge him critically.
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.
He also exhibits honesty; as a child, he chopped a cherry tree by accident but confessed and told the truth when asked by his father. Now, let’s view at Holden and see how he fits in when compared to one of the most known hero of the United States. Holden lacks honesty as he confesses to the reader how, he’s the “most terrific liar” (16). Another clear example is when Holden talks to Ernie’s mother at the train station. From when they first met, Holden already lied by telling her that his name was Rudolf Schmidt, an obvious phony lie.
Early on in the story Holden shows the readers that he is able to analyze people and make an educated judgement of them. Holden blames his departure from Elkton Hills on the people he was surrounded by. He says,“One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies” (Salinger 17). This quote connects to the story because it seems Holden has trouble staying in one particular place if just a few things are not perfect. By understanding others, Holden is quick to decide that where he was at that particular time is not the place for him. This thinking does force him to go to another school, but at the same time, he decided that Elkton Hills is not the place for him. Being able to make a decision and stick to it without having second thoughts is something all high school students should be able to do. In the novel, Holden has come across people he knows like to manipulate others. With this mindset he does not completely avoid them, rather, he learns to deal with them. In chapter 19, there is an interaction where Holden knows his audience and adjusts his actions accordingly. Holden describes his friend, Luce, as an intellectual guy that voices his opinion. He says, “That’s the trouble with these intellectual guys. They never want to discuss anything serious unless they feel like it” (160). With this, it shows Holden knows his friend and knows how to talk without
Holden Caulfield seems to have all these different kinds of people stuck together in one body. He can be very generous, as he is to the nuns, very mean. He even lies to people. But one thing Holden has is a moral code that he goes by. In the Catcher in the Rye Holden shows at least three elements of his moral code.
that he is trying to hide his true identity. He does not want people to know who he really is or that he was kicked out of his fourth school. Holden is always using fake names and tries speaking in a tone to persuade someone to think a cretin way. He does this when he talks to women. While he is talking to the psychiatrist he explains peoples reactions to his lies like they really believe him, when it is very possible that he is a horrible liar and they are looking at him with a “what are you talking a bout?” expression. Holden often lies to the point where he is lying to him self.
Many of the times that Holden criticizes people, it is something he does himself. (Pg 13) “. one of the reasons I left Elkton was that I was surrounded by phonies.” Holden himself is many times what he refers to as a “phony”. He knows that he lies and pretends to like people that he would rather not be with.
Holden Caulfield is one of the most well-known antiheroes in American literature, ever since his debut in the book Catcher in the Rye, published in 1951. According to the definition of ‘antihero,’ the character is in many ways the antithesis of a hero, which certainly Holden fits that perfectly. If you consider many of his interactions, he is incapable of reacting in the way that the audience would hope a hero would react. However he does fantasize about being the saving grace for children. He wants to keep them from harm’s way. He wants to be known as the ‘catcher in the rye,’ but he is unable to follow through with this heroic fantasy. He surely does not present the noble characteristics that most heroes have, like honesty, courage, strength and decisiveness. He is actually quite the opposite of all these things. Holden can be seen as: a perpetual liar, a coward, pretty weak for his size, and plagued with passive inaction.
He complains about his school, saying that it is just like any other school and uses language that makes him sound very obnoxious. Holden seems to focus on girls quite a bit, just like any other teenage boy. He seems to focus on one girl in particular, a girl named Jane. We soon learn that Holden’s personality is not your average personality. Holden does seem to have some friends but he does not fall into many peer groups with the type of personality he has. Holden isn’t able to read social cues like most teenagers learn to do. For this reason, he seems to play around a lot in the wrong situations. Even his friends have matured enough to recognise that Holden needs to ‘grow up’. Holden’s resistance to emerging adulthood is the cause of many of the problems he is faced with during the
Holden's problems in the real world were too much for him, he had to make up things to make himself seem better than what he was.
Holden is kicked out due to failing four different classes, one of them being Old Spencer’s. Old Spencer explains to Holden that life is a game, and you have to play it according to the rules. Holden thinks in his mind, “Game, my ass. Some game” (Salinger 8). Holden has seen from his tough childhood that life truly isn’t a game, and it is the luck of the draw. His brother Allie passed away from leukemia when he was younger, and was a great kid. Holden described Allie by saying, “He was terrifically intelligent. His teachers were always writing letters to my mother, telling her what a pleasure it was having a boy like Allie in their class” (38). Holden is caught up on the question of why Allie deserved such a tragic ending, and why he was the one that had to die with that much potential? Allie was nothing but an enjoyment to be around, and a wonderful brother. For every decision, and failure Holden experiences, he thinks about Allie and why he was the one to
Honesty/Dishonesty: pg 16, “So when I told old Spencer I had to go to the gym to get my equipment and stuff, that was a sheer lie. I don’t even keep my goddam equipment in the gym.” (Holden) Holden tends to lie a lot to everybody he talks to. Even though his lies are awful, as said earlier in the chapter, he still manages to make them believable and gets past it.
He is incredibly cynical about almost everyone he meets, seeing them all as false. For instance, he will walk into Ernie’s bar, and he immediately assumes everyone around him is a phony, just because they are applauding for Ernie, who is also a phony is Holden’s mind. This cynicism also lends Holden a little arrogance, as he sometimes assumes himself above those around him who he considers to be phony. Sometimes, resulting in a combination of his arrogance and his mocking humor, Holden can come across as a little childish. This trait can be seen clearly in his mocking of Stradlater in the bathroom; Holden tap dances across the tiled floor just to entertain himself, and then proceeds to jump Stradlater, clinging to his back until Stradlater, in a fit of irritation, throws him off. It also shows when, later in New York, Holden meets up with an old school friend who immediately inquires if their talk is “going to be a typical Caulfield conversation” and repeatedly asks when Holden is going to grow up (Salinger 145). Thus, Holden seems to be a somewhat childish, cynical, and arrogant person. However, this is only on the outside. On the inside, it is clear that Holden is a much softer, more caring
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.