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Holden caulfield character analysis
Probing the complexities of holden caulfield
Holden caulfield character analysis
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Cather in the Rye is full of questions. It is always leaving you wondering why he did something or what he will do next. Wondering why he is always lying when it is so much easier to just tell the truth. There are so many themes in this book it is hard to choose just one. However, my goal in this is to talk about the theme of lying. Holden cannot go one chapter without lying. Holden admits that he is a compulsive liar too. He feels that telling someone a lie can save him from people actually figuring out who he is. Even when he doesn’t want to lie he lies. He can’t fully understand why he always lies to people. In chapter 21, Holden lies to the elevator boy. “I’m supposed to wait for them. I’m their nephew” (Salinger 174). Holden and the elevator …show more content…
boy have never met before so the elevator boy doesn’t know who he really is. He lies to the elevator boy so he can sneak into his apartment without his parents finding out. The elevator boy says he should wait in the lobby because Holden’s so called aunt and uncle are at a party. Holden knows if he waits he will never get to see Phoebe so he lies again. “But I have a bad leg. I have to hold it in a certain position. I think I’d better sit down in the chair outside their door” (Salinger 174). In just one mere short answer he lies twice. He lies about having a bad leg and about the chair outside the door. He is desperately trying anything just to get upstairs to see his sister. That is not the only time Holden lies in chapter 21. After waking up phoebe and talking to her for a while she asks him a question, “How come you’re not home Wednesday? You didn’t get kicked out or anything, did you?” (Salinger 182). She knows Holden has a reputation for getting kicked out of school so she asks. He once again lies. He tries to lie and tell her that they let the whole school out early, but he can’t fool her. She cuts him off before he even finishes saying they let the whole school out early. He isn’t a very good liar so it’s no wonder she figured it out. No school just lets everyone out early without telling the parents. Holden’s lies are no match for Phoebe. Phoebe also lies in Chapter 21. We are told by Holden that Phoebe’s middle name is Josephine. Although it is a pretty name Phoebe doesn’t like it. So instead of telling everyone her real name she lies and makes one up. Holden says every time he sees her she has a new middle name. This time her middle name is Weatherfield. Weatherfield is the last name of Phoebe’s character in the story she writes. Chapter 22 is a whole other story.
In this chapter Phoebe catches Holden in the biggest lie yet. She was listening to Holden about school and was sick of hearing that he didn’t like the people there. So she finally said it. She gave Holden a piece of his own medicine. She had said, “You don’t like anything that’s happening” (Salinger 187). Of course he went straight to lying to try to defend himself. He kept trying to say he did like things, but he couldn’t come up with one thing he likes a lot. After a while he used his age old excuse, as Phoebe told us. “I like Allie” (Salinger 189). The only thing that Holden could think of was Allie because Holden does not like anything in the world. He is just too stubborn to admit that Phoebe is right and he is …show more content…
wrong. In the beginning of chapter 23 Holden lies to make his sister happy.
She tells him, “You cross your legs and hold your breath and think of something very, very hot. A radiator or something. Then your whole forehead gets so hot you can burn somebody’s hand” (Salinger 194). Holden realizes his sister really believes that so he lies to not crush her feelings. He acts scared and pulls his hand away from his sisters head. He says, “Thanks for telling me” (Salinger 195). This is the one time that Holden’s lies come in handy. Phoebe actually believes Holden when he says that and gets happy. She also tries to reassure him that she would never burn him. You know Holden is influencing his sister with his lying when she lies to her mom. Her mother opens the door to the room and asks why she is still awake. Phoebe merely replies with, “I was warm enough, I just couldn’t sleep” (Salinger 195). Phoebe continues to lie to her mother to help save Holden’s butt. Phoebe has to take the blame for the smell of a cigarette so she tells her mom she lite it, took one puff then threw it out the window. Phoebe could get in serious trouble for that, but instead of telling the truth she lies because she has such a great role model that teaches her to
lie. Phoebe even takes lying a step further and acts like Holden isn’t in her closet. She asks her mother if Holden will be home on Wednesday as if she doesn’t know that he is in her closet. Phoebe is one clever liar. Their mother even joins in on the lying. Phoebe had asked her if she had a good time while being out. Of course her mother said marvelous, but as we know from Holden that is not true. Holden says, “She doesn’t enjoy herself much when she goes out” (Salinger 195). From reading the book, it is obvious that Holden really is a compulsive liar. He was not lying when he admitted he was one. In just three short chapters Holden managed to lie six times to just two people. That is insane. No one is really able to lie that much, but for Holden it just comes naturally. His lying even starts to rub off on phoebe which is not a good thing. He is teaching her bad habits at a very young age, which is not good. As you can tell from the many examples from just three mere chapters lying is definitely a major theme in this book.
Holden struggles with himself mightily and cannot fulfill his responsibilities. One of Holden’s struggles is that he has a bad attitude towards everyone. For example, at the school he goes to, he hates his roommates and his teachers. In addition to not liking anyone, Holden
He has nothing but nice things to say about her and wants to protect her. She makes many adult observations that you would not expect a ten year old to notice, yet still acts like a ten year old. She realizes that Holden got kicked out of school, and then responds by repeating, “Daddy’ll kill you!”(214). She corrects Holden about the words in a Robert Burns poem and realizes that Holden does not like anything, yet at the same time acts like a ten year old. She resembles Holden in the way she goes between adulthood and childhood. She is like a younger version of Holden. Holden wants to protect her and keep her from ending up like him. Holden gives his hunting hat to Phoebe, this shows how much he cares about her. He is able to give up the symbol of his independence and accept that he has ties to his family. The only time Holden is happy during his trip is when he takes Phoebe to the carousel. After deciding not to run away Holden realizes, “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off,” (274). At this point he realizes that growing up might not be the worst thing in the world and that even if he gets hurt in the process it is something he needs to
Again, this is one of the few people that Holden likes and doesn’t consider a phony like everyone else. He talks highly of her and he sees himself in her in the way that she alternates between behaving like an adult and behaving like a child, the way he says he also does. It bothered him greatly when she asks him if he “got the ax again,” referring to his expulsion. She starts asking him questions about his future and what he likes (if he likes anything at all) and it forces him to wake up. Everyone has been telling Holden to realize his situation and put more effort into schoolwork and relationships and to start caring. Holden’s reality is very simple: he wants to be the catcher in the rye to protect children’s innocence and stop them from growing up because all adults are phonies. Again and again, being told that that isn’t plausible annoys him. He feels betrayed, when his own sister, someone who he thought would understand him, joins everyone else in telling him to put forth more
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.
Phoebe tries to help Holden by asking him to name one thing he likes. However, when Holden mentions Allie, Phoebe tries to be his wake up call and remind him that Allie is dead (Salinger 171). This part in the novel shows how Holden is still attached to Allie, and will not forget about him. However, Phoebe tries to remind Holden that Allie is dead, attempting to make Holden let go of what happened in the past. Phoebe attempts to get Holden’s mind off of his removal from his school by asking him what he wants to become in the future (Salinger 172). This is when Phoebe’s words of advice and support start effecting Holden. Holden begins to think about his options, and what he truly wants to do in the future. “Why can’t I? Please, Holden! I won’t do anything-I’ll just go with you, that’s all! I won’t even take my clothes with me if you don’t want me to-I’ll just take my-” (Salinger 206). This quotation shows how supportive and encouraging Phoebe is towards Holden. When Holden tells Phoebe that he is leaving, Phoebe’s reaction is very affectionate. Phoebe brings a suitcase filled with her clothes, and begins to beg Holden to let her follow him. Phoebe’s encouraging words of advice, is another source of familial love for Holden to move on, and look forward towards his
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 childhood was far from ideal, with Allie dying, his dysfunctional parents and the revelation that he had some “perverty” stuff happen to him when he was a kid. Due to this, he isn't ready to step into adulthood and leave his childhood behind. This is why Holden is mostly alienated from adults and connects more to the innocence of children like the girl at the park and his sister, Phoebe. However, Holden is disillusioned with both adulthood and childhood. He already knows how it feels to be an adult; drinking alcohol, being independent, living by himself and caring for Phoebe, but isn’t ready to immerse himself in it.
Susan K. Mitchell's comments talk about how Holden is confused about the world and the people who are around him. He is an immature man who is still recovering from the effects the war had on him. He has also just failed out of school and so that has sent him into further depression. Holden sometimes contradicts his statements that he said earlier on and he doesn't realize it. "Holden is a man who does not practice what he teaches."(Mitchell 1) "You cannot believe what Holden says about his family after he has told you that he lies."(2) "Holden tells falsifications so often that he doesn't even realize whether he is lying or telling the truth."(2) Holden tells Sally he loves her, "It was a lie of course, but the thing is, I meant it when I said it."(2) "Since the book is told through the eyes of the narrator our observations are biased.
Throughout the whole novel Holden has always been in denial of everything. As stated by Freud, denial is the “Refusal to recognize a threatening impulse or desire” (Sigmund Freud). When he visited his ten year old sister Phoebe, she was trying to communicate with Holden but she was nervous that it would displease him. She stated “Because you don't. You don’t like schools. You don't like a million things. You don't…Why the hell do you have to say that?” I said. Boy was depressing me” (Salinger 169). Even though Holden is very fond of Phoebe he didn't bother to listen to what she had to say, this demonstrates that Holden is very in denial because he got very upset when Phoebe said that he dislikes everything. Which furthers shows how he is unable to recognize that what Phoebe is
Holden often talked about how phony people in his life were, however, he was also a phony, which made him a hypocrite. Holden would often mention things he hated that someone did, but sooner or later Holden was guilty of doing the exact same thing. In chapter one Holden is hypocritical towards his older brother, D.B. He says “Now he’s out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute.”(Salinger
A scene where she shows her influence over Holden is where Holden states, “I kept thinking about old Phoebe going to that museum on Saturdays the way I used to see, I thought how she’d see the same stuff I used to see, and how she’d be different every time she saw it… Certain thing is they should stay the way they are… I know that’s impossible, but it’s too bad anyway.” Holden shows his fear of change. He also demonstrates that he does not want to change, and does not want to grow up, but to stay as a kid.
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.
Holden shows a particular liking towards children over adults. He values the innocence and authenticity of children and he tries to protect them from the phoniness and evil of the world. When he goes back to his old school at the end of the novel to give a note to Phoebe, he sees an obscenity on the wall that infuriates him. He says, "Somebody'd written `F*** you' on the wall. It drove me near damn crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them-all cockeyed, about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days. I kept wanting to kill whoever'd written it" (201). When Holden's sister Phoebe demands that he tell her one thing that he really likes, Holden's responds saying, "I like Allie...And I like doing what I'm doing right now. Sitting here with you, and talking and thinking about stuff..." (171), showing that he's most content in the simple and innocent world of his childhood.
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.
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.