In J.D. Salinger’s only novel published in 1945, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield finds himself in an emotional conundrum between being happy while accepting people and their flaws or seeing the world as full of phonies, which would lead to depression. J.D. Salinger makes out Holden to be an adolescent who is troubled and does not apply himself too much besides his family. Holden constantly gets kicked out of boarding school and when we leaves Pencey Prep he wonders off to New York City to visit old friends and cause some trouble along the way. Holden’s feelings of emotion and family are represented through a looming red hunting hat that he wears in a black a white world. While coming back from a disastrous fencing field trip, Holden …show more content…
decides to visit an old teacher, Mr. Spencer, whom Holden always considered a friend. Mr. Spencer then ambushes Holden by trying to talk about grades and attitude. Depressed and betrayed, Holden finds himself back in his small dorm room, alone with his thoughts and his new red hunting hat, which he wears in his own special way: “I swung the old peak way around to the back—very corny, I’ll admit, but I liked it that way. I looked good in it that way” (CR 21). When Stradlater then asks Holden to write a composition for him, Holden accepts but, he does not choose to write a normal one, instead he writes about his little brother’s baseball glove. Holden is still wearing the hunting hat, and his emotions start to pour onto the paper. He writes about this glorious baseball glove that Allie would write poems on, so that when he was in the outfield, he would never get bored. Allie also passed away at 10 years old, when Holden was only 12, and this particular event never strayed from Holden’s mind. The composition that Holden writes truly emphasizes that Allie means the world to him. This also explains why Holden wears his hat backwards, and it seems to be because this is how catchers in baseball wear their hats. Holden’s nostalgia for home finally catches up with him when he decides to sneak into his family’s apartment so that he could see Phoebe.
He wakes her up and in seconds she is up, energized, and very excited to see her older brother. After they catch up, Phoebe decides to give Holden all of her Christmas money, 8 dollars and eighty-five cents. Holden cannot help himself and he begins to choke up and starts to cry. Holden loves Phoebe so much because she makes him happy and he shows it by: “ I took my hunting hat out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn't want to take it, but I made her. I'll bet she slept with it on. She really likes those kind of hats” (CR 198). Holden wants to repay Phoebe not only for the loan of money, but also for his happiness, and he expresses his gratitude by giving her his hat. Another point, while Holden is still wearing his hat he suddenly breaks down and begins to start bawling crying. The raw emotion represents how wearing the hat allows him to exhibit his feelings in ways that he usually …show more content…
wouldn’t. At the Zoo, Phoebe is mad at Holden because he will not let her leave town with her, and this results in Holden becoming depressed again. When Holden spots a familiar carousel he quickly tells Phoebe to buy a ticket, hopeful that the old memory will lighten the mood. Phoebe quickly remembers all the good that Holden has done and forgives him when she: “she did –it damn near killed me--she reached in my pocket and took out my red hunting hat and put it on my head” (CR 233). After Phoebe puts Holden’s hat back on his head, he mood changes once again. As long as Phoebe is not mad at Holden and shows her love towards him, Holden’s depression ceases. When Phoebe places the hat on Holden’s head, it means that Phoebe has accepted her brother and forgives him for everything that he had done to hurt her. Finally, while Phoebe is ridding on the carousel for a second time, Holden is relaxing happily on a park bench when it starts to rain.
Holden notices that all the parents are getting their kids and leaving the Zoo or finding cover from the rain. Holden chooses to remain still and let the rain pour down on his moist skin. As it continues to rain, Holden remains steadfast on the bench and thinks to himself: “My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection, in a way, but I got soaked” (CR 233). Allie’s death greatly effected Holden’s life and Holden usually thinks about all the great memories that they shared together. During this moment in the novel, Holden’s hat is not representing the emotional state that he is in, but is instead depicting the hat watching over. Salinger chooses to make the hat protect Holden from the rain because Holden feels that he was always trying to protect Allie, but now Allie is watching over Holden in the form of the
hat. To conclude, The Catcher and the Rye, is a story about a teenage boy named, Holden Caulfield, who battles with his thoughts of depression and happiness. Surrounded by family, Holden’s dark thoughts seem to fad away because he knows that family is one thing that will never change and one thing that will always love you. Holden’s red hunting hat allows him to be emotional and revels his true feelings towards the world.
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.
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. While in New York with the fencing team, Holden loses all of their equipment, then buys a red hunting hat.
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.
Jerome David Salinger’s only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is based on the life events shaping main character, Holden Caulfield, into the troubled teen that is telling the story in 1950. The theme of the story is one of emotional disconnection felt by the alienated teenagers of this time period. The quote, “ I didn’t know anyone there that was splendid and clear thinking and all” (Salinger 4) sets the tone that Holden cannot find a connection with anyone around him and that he is on a lonely endeavor in pursuit of identity, acceptance and legitimacy. The trials and failures that Holden faces on his journey to find himself in total shed light on Holden’s archenemy, himself.
First and foremost, Holden gifted Phoebe with his red hunting hat as a demonstration of his need to protect her “Then I took my hunting hat out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn’t want to take it, but I made her” (180). In this quote Holden and Phoebe are dancing around, and Phoebe feels like Holden is acting crazy yet she refrains from judging him. Instead Phoebe wants to support him. To Holden, Phoebe is in no way phony, and in handing over his hunting hat he is trying to protect her, and in doing so he is giving up the protection from himself. Holden’s mission to defend Phoebe is rooted in wanting to protect her innocence’s, and keeping her from becoming phony like the rest of society. Moreover, Phoebe also looks to Holden to protect her not just the other way around “Then what she did- it damn near killed me- she reached in my coat pocket and took out my red hunting hat and put it on my head” (212). In Phoebe, giving Holden back his protective hat, she is forcing Holden to watch over her. In order for Holden to protect his sister’s innocence, he will be forced to give up his alienation and be realistic. Holden’s loss of innocence is his driving power to shield Phoebe from the realities of life. The exchange of the red hunting hat from Holden to Phoebe to Phoebe to Holden is the
Holden’s hat allows him to show and hide his emotions. Holden uses his hunting hat to speak freely and emotionally about his brother in an essay for Stradlater. After Holden gets back from being out with Brossard and Ackley he sits down to write a composition about Allie. Before he does this, he “put on [his] pajamas and bathrobe and [his] old hunting hat,” (37). Holden puts on his hunting hat so that he can write about his brother who died three years before this story takes place. Holden would not normally wear his hat to bed, so we can assume that he doesn’t wear it as a part of his pajamas. Putting it on before he writes an essay about his brother suggests that he put it on for that reason. At another time Holden uses h...
The novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” revolves around the protagonist Holden Caulfield as the story is told from his perspective. J.D. Salinger constructed Holden Caulfield as a cynical person who cannot accept to grow up. Throughout “The Catcher in the Rye,” J.D. Salinger uses symbolism to reveal and reinforce critical aspects of the protagonist Holden Caulfield. Three important aspects Holden acquired through Salinger’s use of symbolism are: his stubborn, uncompromising mentality; his softer, more caring respectful side; Holden’s cowardly way of acting and thinking.
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 distance that Holden makes sure to keep in place isolates him from others and manifests in curious actions and mannerisms. One example could be the red hunting hat, which advertises his uniqueness and also gives him a sense of protection. Holden explains to Ackley that his red hat is not a “deer shooting hat” but a “people shooting hat”. Out of all the mentions of the red hat in the novel, this is the most enlightening. Holden uses the hat as a sign of individuality and independence; this hat serves as another way Holden is able to isolate himself from the rest of the world. The red hat serves as symbol for Holden’s desperate desire for independence and his distaste for conformity. Although Holden does not kill anyone in the novel, he does “shoot people” in his own cynical way by spending all of his time and energy belittling the people around
Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye follows the journey of a young boy, Holden Caulfield, from adolescence to adulthood. There are a number of symbols that Salinger uses to help to portray the various stages that Holden goes through as he matures into adulthood. The snowball incident, his sense of fulfillment when at the museum, and his run in with a pimp, are all representations of how Holden is deeply obsessed with innocence thoughts and how reluctant he is to give them up.
“I was crying and all, I don’t know why, but I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome” (53), Holden says. As humans, we have a hard time belonging in society. This is the same case for Holden Caulfield, the main character from the Catcher in the Rye. The Catcher in the rye, a novel by J.D Salinger, is about Holden, a lost boy in desperate need of help. Throughout the novel, Holden seems to be excluded by the world around him. He continually attempts to try and belong in a world in which he is isolating from. In this novel, Salinger uses symbols such as the red hunting hat, the ducks and Allie’s glove to support the theme, belonging and isolation.
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.
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caufield believes that innocence is corrupted by society. He exposes his self-inflicted emotional struggles as he is reminiscing the past. For Holden, teenage adolescence is a complicated time for him, his teenage mentality in allows him to transition from the teenage era to the reality of an adult in the real world. As he is struggling to find his own meaning of life, he cares less about others and worries about how he can be a hero not only to himself but also to the innocent youth. As Holden is grasping the idea of growing up, he sets his priorities of where he belongs and how to establish it. As he talks about how ‘phony’ the outside world is, he has specific recollections that signify importance to his life and he uses these time and time again because these memories are ones that he wont ever let go of. The death of his younger brother Allie has had a major impact on him emotionally and mentally. The freedom of the ducks in Central Park symbolize his ‘get away’ from reality into his own world. His ideology of letting kids grow up and breaking the chain loose to discover for themselves portrays the carrousel and the gold ring. These are three major moments that will be explored to understand the life of Holden Caufield and his significant personal encounters as he transitions from adolescence into manhood.
Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he expresses this attitude through his dialogue, tone, and diction.
J.D. Salinger, the author of The Catcher in the Rye, uses the behaviour of protagonist Holden Caulfield to shape his personality in the way he alienates himself from the rest of the world. Holden alienates himself from the society he lives in, his relationships with others and also the relationships he has with himself. Holden struggles to cope with the fact that eventually he will have to grow up, and so will everyone around him. Holden see’s the world not being perfect as a huge problem that he alone has to fix because everyone else is too much of a ‘phony’ to do it. The novel explores Holden’s weekend after he got kicked out of his fourth school, Pency Prep, and the struggles he faces with alienating himself.