Catcher in the Rye by Jerome David Salinger, J. D. Salinger for short, accurately portrays the experience of being a teenager through the main character, Holden Caulfield. Throughout the novel, Holden retrospectively tells the story of Pencey kicking him out of their institution after failing in most of his subjects. After he is kicked out, Holden wanders around New York City attempting to make sense of his life and purpose, and slowly descending into the madness of his own mind, wishing to latch onto any bit of childhood innocence he could. Holden is struggling through his teenage years, trying to figure out what he wants to achieve in his lifetime, and that clearly stresses him out tremendously. He wishes to go back to simpler times. He accurately …show more content…
And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they’re running and they don’t see where they’re going, I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.” (173), where he explains through symbolism that he wants to be the person to help keep children innocent, with the cliff side being a symbol for the delve into adulthood and the field of rye symbolizing a place and time of innocence. The connection between Holden and his wish to be the catcher in the rye shows Holden feels that adulthood and loss of innocence can make people worse off, and he’s trying to stop those who haven’t yet made the leap from falling into it. He wants the lives of young people to stay simple, carefree, and joyful. Holden shows the portrayal of what it is like to be a teenager through his obvious feelings and thoughts of isolation throughout his …show more content…
The answer is, you don't. I think I am, but how do I know?” (276). Holden is clearly struggling with his goal in life, and he does not know how to formulate his thoughts in a way that will help him succeed in this goal. Holden also feels this struggle due to his mental abilities. Holden hints in the quote “A lot of people, especially this one psychoanalyst guy they have here, keeps asking me if I'm going to apply myself when I go back to school” (276) that he is in a mental institution due to his attitude, actions, and the many times he has flunked out of school. This part of his personality heightens his inability to think logically, as well as hinders his ability to change the way he interacts with and interprets the world around him. Therefore, he is left feeling absolutely helpless, and full of despair. Holden’s poor circumstances led him to express the teenage emotion of cluelessness and helplessness in an exaggerated way. Throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger perfectly understands and communicates the mental struggle of being a teenager through his character Holden
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.
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
In the novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger,Holden the main character tries to take on adult and mature situations but finds himself in reality not getting very far. Holden Caulfield who goes to Pencey has failed four out of five classes and gets the notice that he is being expelled from the school. He leaves the school and goes out and tries to adventure into the real world. Holden takes on many challenges and obstacles throughout the book . Although Holden wants to be independent many people perceive Holden in numerous different ways to his actions and feelings. Faith and Stradlater both perceive Holden as irritating, when in reality he tries to distract himself from being depressed. For example when Holden was in the phone
...rdian to save the kids from losing their innocence by not letting them fall off the cliff. This is what Holden truly wants to do, and he says to Phoebe ‘I know its crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be’ (225). This is all Holden wants to do because he wants to save other children from losing their innocence because he does not want them to experience what he had to go through. He doesn’t want all the children to go through the tough times that he had to face through his youth because they have to enjoy their childhood. He wants to protect all the children by being their guardian and savor from innocence. In the end, Holden’s dream job of being the catcher in the rye is a job that he has dreamed about because he wants to be a savor of innocence for children.
One of the main conflict’s in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is the recurring theme of innocence. Holden attempts to resist maturing and wants to live his life as an innocent adolescent, by staying the same, like the exhibits in the Museum of Natural History. As he reflects on the corruption of innocence throughout the novel, he realizes that he cannot remain innocent forever. While sneaking home to see his mentally unblemished little sister Phoebe, she asks him what he wants to do with his life. Holden responses to her question with a quote from a poem called “Comin’ Thro’ the Rye” by Robert Burns. This poem is about two kids having sex in a field, but Holden believes that the poem is about kids playing in a rye field. He relates this to what he wants to do in life by stating, “ I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all” (Salinger 173). Holden implies if you fall of the cliff of childhood you mature, but if Holden catches you, you remain innocent.
This reveals Holden’s fantasy of an idealistic childhood and his role as the guardian of innocence. Preventing children from “going over the cliff” and losing their innocence is his way of vicariously protecting himself from growing up as well. Holden acknowledges that this is “crazy,” yet he cannot come up with a different lifestyle because he struggles to see the world for how it truly is, and fears not knowing what might happen next. Holden’s “catcher in the rye” fantasy reflects his innocence, his belief in a pure, uncorrupted youth, and his desire to protect it. This fantasy also represents his disconnection from reality, as he thinks he can stop the process of growing up, yet
The transition from a teen to an adult is one of the major steps in life. This major transition can be really scary. Some people are so scared of becoming an adult, that they try to keep their inner child alive. One person in the book The Catcher in the Rye is Holden Caulfield, Holden is the main character in the novel written by J.D. Salinger. A prominent theme in his novel, The Catcher in the Rye is the painfulness of growing up. As this theme is going on through the novel, Salinger weaves in symbols that Holden happens to use and talk about throughout the novel.
An image he has created in his mind as someone who overlooks children playing in a rye in order to save them shall they fall off the cliff at the end of the rye. Holden’s only dream serves as a parallel of his life, showing his inability to strive for anything real as it simultaneously reveals his fear of falling from childhood or innocence. Childhood is associated with innocence in Holden’s eyes as he sees all things beyond it as something you need to be saved from. Holden believes he needs to save these children before they fall from their
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.
J.D. Salinger’s Novel The Catcher in the Rye depicts the challenges of mentally growing up into a mature adult. The book illustrates a teenager, named Holden who no one seems to understand, therefore he faces many challenges in his life that create a difficult journey into adulthood. His childhood was quickly taken away from him when his brother Allie died, from then on his parents slowly faded away and started sending him to private schools for structure.This all made his transition into adulthood more difficult. Holden is not an ordinary teen, but Salinger takes us through relatable difficulties we all face when growing up.
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
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger shows the transition of a young teenager who struggles to find himself in the adult world. Holden Caulfield encounters many different elements that he had been influenced by the world around him. He views the world full of “perverts” and “phonies”. As a result of his views, Holden withdraws from society because he believes society is “broken” and very flawed. Holden’s view of society is developed based on his experiences such as the death of his brother, flunking out of many schools, an unrealistic dream of becoming the catcher and the rye. He becomes very judgmental of others which are his way of feeling better about himself by looking at things cursorily and His approach is to dismiss thinking deeply
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.
It takes many experiences in order for an immature child to become a responsible, well-rounded adult. In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger’s main character Holden Caulfield matures throughout the course of the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Holden is a juvenile young man. However, through his experiences, Holden is able to learn, and is finally able to become somewhat mature by the end of the novel. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield’s story represents a coming of age for all young adults.
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger develops Holden Caulfield as a morally ambiguous character. Throughout the book, Salinger speaks as Holden and introduces him as a callous and subjective individual. However, the author permits the reader to be within Holden’s mind, giving the audience an alternative perspective of Holden’s true character. Without the obscurity of Holden’s personality, the work would lack a crucial element. As the protagonist, Holden serves as an equivocal adolescent that is relatable for the reader.