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Holden caulfields psychological journey
Holden caulfields psychological journey
Holden caulfields psychological journey
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Rebellion and alienation are central themes in the book Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. Throughout the book the main character, Holden Caulfield, struggles in his relationships with others; especially with adults. Holden does not seem to fit in wherever he goes; whether in his private school or at the bar in New York. Through all of the misfortune he encounters while searching for his identity, he encounters a great deal of resistance and rejection from the world. This rejection from the world is a result of Holden’s rebellious actions, which are a cry for help stemming from his need for companionship. Holden’s desire for a meaningful relationship however, is an external portrayal of his innate longing to find himself; culminating in his incessant creation of problems for himself. In the beginning of Catcher in the Rye, Holden …show more content…
sits on a hill above his campus; watching a popular football game from a distance as one of few students not in attendance. This intentional act of isolation exemplifies his sense of alienation and resulting rebellion from his private school society. Although he feels dejected from society, Holden is largely responsible for his alienation and isolation through his intentional act of rebellion against the status quo. This voluntary, rebellious act is a cry for help, yet he fails to realize that by building a barrier between himself and society he is perpetuating his alienated state, thus inhibiting companionship from occurring. Later Holden reveals that he is being expelled from school for not performing well academically. He does not seem to be too distraught at the idea of expulsion or express remorse for lost peer and teacher relationships. Holden’s lack of academic drive and detachment from his colleagues is another prime example of rebellion and alienation. Holden is rebellious in the fact that he is indolent in regards to his academic pursuits. It illustrates ungratefulness because others are not as educationally privileged as he and despite his good fortune he easily dismisses his advantageous opportunities. While he was given a multitude of tools to succeed, such as; an excellent educational institution, a greatly invested professor, Mr. Spencer, etc., Holden deliberately fails academically. His failure to act has the unintended consequence of alienation. If Holden were to be more proactive in his studies he would be able to stay somewhere long enough to settle in and make friends, but because of his indolent attitude he is constantly shuffled around and feels rejection. Holden decides he is despondent with his school and the people that are there, so he chooses to leave school early and go to New York City.
His leaving school early and not telling anyone is an enormous act of rebellion, but it can also be seen as a cry for help. Holden acts rebelliously because he wants to gauge people’s reaction in order to determine the degree to which they care about him. When people do not react in the way he anticipates, however, he turns to alienation as a means to protect himself from the hurt of rejection. Immediately after leaving the school he goes to catch a train. While at the train station he debates calling someone he knows; anyone he knows at this point. A list of several people circulate through his mind; all the people who care about him and who would try to help him at the least. But instead of calling any of them, he goes one by one down the list and creates excuses as to why he should not call them and alienates himself further. This highlights how Holden is his own worst enemy by projecting his thoughts of rejection onto others as a mechanism of protection which results in further
alienation. As the book continues this pattern persists. Holden acts out in rebellion and then sinks back into alienation. He is responsible for the rejection that he receives, builds walls and burns bridges, and alienates himself from companionship he so desperately needs and desires. In his defense, no one makes any great attempts to reach out to him and answer his cries for help. The path that Holden choose made life much harder for himself than it needed to be.
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.
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.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is a popular novel that was originally published in the 1950’s. In the book, Salinger explores various themes through the main character Holden and his interactions with others. Some of these themes include, alienation, loss and betrayal. Holden constantly feels betrayed throughout the novel by several people, including his roommate, teacher, and sister.
Holden experiences both alienation and disillusionment when meeting with people like Sally Hayes, Sunny and Ackley. Holden is so desperate to have human connection yet, when he starts to talk to them, he experiences them as ‘phonies’. This makes him more depressed, continuing his downward spiral. Holden is caught in a trap of his own making.
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.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is an enthralling and captivating novel about a boy and his struggle with life. The teenage boy ,Holden, is in turmoil with school, loneliness, and finding his place in the world. The author J.D. Salinger examines the many sides of behavior and moral dilemma of many characters throughout the novel. The author develops three distinct character types for Holden the confused and struggling teenage boy, Ackley, a peculiar boy without many friends, and Phoebe, a funny and kindhearted young girl.
Since Holden relies on his isolation to sustain his detachment from the world and to keep intact a level of self-protection, he frequently sabotages his own efforts to end his seclusion. When Mr. Spencer explains that “life is a game that one plays according to rules” Holden reveals that he feels imprisoned on the “other side of life” where there are no “hot-shots”. Here, Mr. Spencer is lecturing Holden on his failed attempts at schooling and illuminating key aspects of Holden’s character. After hearing this advice from Mr. Spencer, Holden immediately goes on the defensive and internalizes his thoughts of not belonging in this world. This event shows Holden’s failed attempts at trying to find his way in this “phony” world that he feels is against him and leaves him feeling alone and victimized.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is a coming-of-age novel set in New York during the 1940’s. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the story, is a detached seventeen-year old boy harboring feelings of isolation and disillusionment. He emphasizes a general dislike for society, referring to people as “phonies.” His lack of will to socialize prompts him to find nearly everything depressing. He’s alone most of the time and it’s apparent that he is very reclusive. This often leads him to pondering about his own death and other personal issues that plague him without immediate resolution. Holden possesses a strong deficit of affection – platonic and sexual – that hinders and cripples his views toward people, his attitude, and his ability to progressively solve his problems without inflicting pain on himself. The absence of significant figures in his life revert him to a childlike dependency and initiate his morbid fascination with sexuality. In this novel, Salinger uses Sunny, Sally Hayes, and Carl Luce to incorporate the hardships of discovering sexual identity and how these events affect adolescents as they try to understand their own sexuality.
Many young people often find themselves struggling to find their own identity and place in society. This search for self worth often leaves these young people feeling lonely and isolated because they are unsure of themselves. Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger's main character in the book The Catcher In the Rye, is young man on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. One contributor to this breakdown, is the loneliness that Holden experiences. His loneliness is apparent through many ways including: his lack of friends, his longing for his dead brother, and the way he attempts to gain acceptance from others.
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.
What do you get when you cross a angsty adolescent with constant alienation from both strangers and peers? The punchline is the life of literature’s angstiest alienated adolescent, Holden Caulfield. The novel “Catcher in the Rye” Caulfield is afraid of being emotionally hurt thus he disconnects himself from people he should care about to spend time with those that he doesn’t. The voice of his narration also reveals his secluded, and pessimistic world view. The people once closest to him — D.B., Jane and Allie can no longer support him, as he spirals into adulthood.
The novel Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger is about a young teenage boy who gets kicked out of school and he roams the streets of New York because he is afraid to go home to his parents. The main character, Holden, is always being alienated from society and he plays a big part in this because he isolates himself. He isolates himself from society. He has no one to talk to. Also, when he tries to talk people push him away. In the story Holden gets alienated because he isolates himself from society, he has no one to talk to, and when he tries to talk he gets pushed away.
The Catcher in the Rye is a novel about a boy named Holden Caufield, whose continual struggle throughout the novel of when to act like an adult or a child provides many situations in which his paradoxical personality, thoughts on innocence, and three major themes come out which in turn help provide many lenses for those two ideas. The three themes of loss of innocence, search for identity, and pursuit of happiness are the three main means in which