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Essay on the catcher in the rye symbolism
Literary criticism ulysses james joyce
Essay on the catcher in the rye symbolism
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The ducks in Central Park are first mentioned in the novel during Holden’s conversation with Old Spencer and they are used to teach the reader about Holden’s feelings regarding flunking out of Pencey and give the reader a status report on Holden. Throughout the conversation, Holden stays relatively on topic and the few tangents he goes on are very short and related to what he talks about. The only time in the whole conversation when Holden really blanks out is when he “[thinks] about the lagoon in Central Park” (16). Holden wonders if the lagoon will be frozen over when he arrives home and where did the ducks go if it was frozen. When Holden’s focus returns to his conversation with Old Spencer, the conversation turns in a different direction.
Allie, his brother, was ripped away from him in a tragic accident. Then, Holden was immediately sent to a school where he was taunted and shunned by his classmates. As shown by Holden’s feelings with the ducks in the pond, he is still trying to find his innocence: “ ‘You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? THat little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know here they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know?’ ” (60). Holden is desperately trying to hold on to his sense of innocence because he is afraid of growing up and facing his
Holden twice inquired about the “disappearing” ducks in Central Park. When the pond is frozen in the winter, where would the ducks go? This symbolizes that Holden is curious about his own mortality which was affected him by his brother’s death. So he came here to look for answers, but he didn’t find any duck. “I nearly fell in, but I couldn’t find any…Boy, I was still shivering like a bastard… I thought I probably get pneumonia and die.” (154)
Immaturity of Holden in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden, cannot accept that he must move out of childhood and into adulthood. One of Holden’s most important major problems is his lack of maturity.
At several points during the course of the novel, Holden asks as to what happens to the ducks who are normally on a pond in Central Park, when winter comes and the water freezes. On page 60, Holden asks, "You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over?
People rebel for a cause. In the book “The Catcher in the Rye” , the protagonist, Holden Caulfield is living in a school called Pencey Prep. Holden is failing all of his classes except English, and he often curses and smokes cigarettes in his dorm. One of Holden’s main problems in life is the death of his brother Allie. Allie, who died of leukemia 3 years prior to the events of the book, was the only person who deeply understood Holden. When Allie died, Holden broke all of the windows in his garage while breaking his own hand. Holden even states that he tried to break his family’s station wagon, but his hand was broken. This event shows that Holden really cared about Allie and that his death had a huge impact on his life. The death of Allie created a fear for Holden, Holden became afraid of change. Holden himself stated that Allie was very mature for his age and very smart in the quote “He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent.” (p. 21). The way Holden sees change is the more you grow, the closer to death you find yourself. In the poem “Novel” by Arthur Rimbaud, the narrator talks about drinking and walking around. The narrator is having fun and is in tune with the environment. A quote that supports this is “At times the air is so scented that we close our eyes,” Other lines in the stanza also support this idea. In the next section, the narrator talks about his/her surroundings and how he feels. He is interrupted by a sudden kiss and starts to tremble like a small insect. In the next section, the narrator starts to talk to himself in his mind. The narrator uses the word ‘you’ not to the reader, but to himself to think about the things he is seeing, for example the attractive girl. The narrat...
Nineteen million American adults suffer from a major case of depression (Web MD). That is a staggering one in every fifteen people (2 in our classroom alone). Holden Caulfield is clearly one of those people. Depression is a disease that leads to death but is also preventable. Psychology, stressful events, and prescription drugs are causes of depression. Stressful events brought on Holden’s depression. Holden has been trying to withstand losing a brother, living with careless parents, and not having many friends. The Catcher in the Rye is a book that takes us through the frazzled life of Holden Caulfield, who appears to be just a regular teen. But by hearing his thoughts and through heart-wrenching events in the book, the reader learns that Holden is not the innocent boy that he once appeared. In his book, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger shows that Holden’s depression is not only affecting him, but also the people around him through Sally, Phoebe, and Sunny.
Catcher in the Rye is a complicated book about a young man going through, what appears to be a nervous break down. This is a book about the boy’s negative self-talk, horrible outlook on life, and a life itself that seems to keep swirling down the toilet. He keeps trying to fill his life with something, but the reality of it is he doesn’t exactly now what he needs. It’s complicated to understand at parts, because all he does is think of things in the worst possible conditions.
The Catcher in the Rye Holden Gets Influenced Everyone gets influenced by someone, even heroes do. The Catcher in the Rye, a novel written by J. D. Salinger, talks about Holden Caulfield, a 16 year old boy that is trying to live through his problems. Holden tries to learn from his experiences as well as from the ones of others. He goes through many hard times, but he always takes them as a chance to imagine how it could have ended if he had done something about them or what cold had happened if he was not so “yellow”.
The protagonist, Holden Caulfield, interacts with many people throughout J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, but probably none have as much impact on him as certain members of his immediate family. The ways Holden acts around or reacts to the various members of his family give the reader a direct view of Holden's philosophy surrounding each member.
In The Catcher in the Rye Holden fears growing up he will get uncomfortable when talking about adult situations, he would avoid seeing people just to avoid an adult predicament. Whether it will be a confrontation with his sister, or talking about a racy book with an adult he always seems to get timid. He is not quite yet ready for adulthood. This is something he needs to get ready for soon. He is 16 going on 17 and before he knows it he will be a grown up and will have to support himself and have a steady job. That involves communication.
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.
David Malmfeldt Seidmen English10 P3 1/1/16 Holden The Duck Ducks are a reoccurring topic in "The Catcher In The Rye". The Represents his innocence, as he remembers them growing up and seeing the ducks. In" the Catcher in The Rye", the Ducks represent Holden's innocence because he fears it has vanished. Holden Connects the ducks to his childhood growing up in New York City, near the lagoon. As Holden faces challenges, he thinks about the ducks. As he gets kicked out of Pency , he wonders where the ducks disappear to , just as he wonders the same about himself. This shows the connection to the ducks and Holden. Holden acts as if he cares what happens to the ducks, but is just looking out for himself. If the ducks die, a part of his childhood
The setting of my “Found poem” is when Holden is thinking about his brother D.B. on page 154, and when he went to war, then wrote a story about it. Holden expresses an extreme distaste towards being a soldier and doesn't understand why his brother who hated being a soldier would write such a nice story about a kind General.
When Holden arrives in New York his burning question to the cab driver is ‘where do the ducks go in winter’ (2). Demonstrating that Holden is on a journey. He thinks if he finds out where the ducks go, he thinks he ought to find an answer to where he ought to go. Meaning that Holden is lost. Later on in the book Salinger mentions the ducks again to another taxi driver this time the ducks ‘[are] frozen right in one position for the whole winter‘ (82). This is when Holden has no companion on his trip in New York. Even the taxi driver does not agree to have a drink with him. Therefore he is staying right where he is like the ducks. One last time in the book Salinger mentions the ducks again, ‘It [is] partly frozen and partly not frozen, ... [I had been walking all over the lake and] damn near fell in once, I didn’t see a single duck’ (154). Everything is phoniness to him, nothing helps him so the ducks are his only reliance for change. The lagoon itself is a mirror metaphor for the world as Holden sees it because as Holden is saying what it is, is ‘Partly frozen, partly not frozen‘ (40). The pond is in transition between the two states, just as he is in transition between childhood and adulthood and he sits down and thinks about suicide because he
On his way to New York City, he meets and has a conversation with Ms. Morrow, whose son Ernest also goes to Pencey Prep who he hates.Holden lies by saying Ernest is an extremely popular kid and would be class president if he would just let himself be nominated. Holden despises phoniness in others, but can't avoid it in himself. By lying to people, he makes himself feel above everyone else. But in reality, this provides him an excuse for his