Flashbacks and Caulfield: How Memories Explain the Novel In the story The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the narrator, Holden Caulfield, depicts a crucial part of his life mainly through the use of memories and flashbacks. Starting from his time at Pencey Prep, his current school, Caulfield’s always been criticizing everyone, from his fellow peers to strangers he barely knows. However, Caulfield shows that there is more to him than there seems to be at first. Through his usage of flashbacks, Caulfield was able to convey that despite his cynical, harsh, and overall, negative personality, he also is guilty to his own faults, and suffers through pain and depression just like everyone else; he is so quick to criticize others, and yet he really does care for those who matter the most to him. …show more content…
One of the first flashbacks Caulfield uses in his story was of the boarding schools of Whooton School and Elkton Hills that he used to attend.
Caulfield states that, “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surround my phonies… This headmaster, Mr. Haas… was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life… I hated that goddamn Elkton Hills,” (pg. 19). This shows that unlike his current school, Pencey, he had a pure hatred of his older schools, with nothing but terrible memories about them. Caulfield also says, “I didn’t exactly flunk out [of Elkton Hills] or anything. I just quit, sort of,” (pg. 18). With Pencey, he hated it, much like these prior schools. However, Caulfield also missed Pencey when he left. During the times when he was depressed, Caulfield yearned for Pencey, even for his peers, Stradlater and Ackley that he loathed so much. However, with Elkton Hills, he merely quit. This is regret and a bit of hypocrisy. Again, while Caulfield criticized his years at Pencey, he still regretted flunking out, showing how he really did care for the
place. Another instance where flashbacks were used was with Allie. Back when Caulfield was still at Pencey, he had to write a descriptive paper for his roommate, Stradlater. Caulfield decided to write his paper on a baseball mitt he had. This caused him to reminisce on the previous owner of said mitt, his late brother, Allie and remember the day his brother died. He “slept in the garage… and… broke all the goddamn windows with my fist, just for the hell of it,” (pg. 50). Allie’s sudden death had caused Holden emotions to take the best of him, causing him to smash windows in blind fury. Furthermore, his memories of Allie created a sharp contrast between Caulfield and his younger brother. Caulfield recalls that Allie “was the most intelligent member in the family… also the nicest… never got mad at anybody,” (pg. 50). Meanwhile, Caulfield, views himself as being unintelligible, flunking out of most of his classes, as well as being highly cynical of anyone he meets, calling them “boring”, “lying”, and worst of all, a “phony”. The later chapters show that Caulfield yearns to be like his younger brother, and misses him, to the point where even thinking about Allie causes Caulfield much pain. While Caulfield might seem like a hardened, cynical person, Allie’s death brings out his pain and anguish that is usually hidden, and sheds light on Caulfield’s emotional vulnerability. Finally, perhaps the last important usage of flashbacks in Caulfield’s storytelling was of Phoebe, Caulfield’s younger sister. Their intimate closeness is depicted in Caulfield’s numerous memories of her. For example, he “...kept walking over to the Mall anyway, because that’s where Phoebe usually goes when she’s in the park. She likes to skate near the bandstand. It’s funny. That’s the same place I used to like to skate when I was a kid,” (pg. 153). This flashback not only shows Caulfield’s knowledge of Phoebe’s life, but how he compares himself to her. Unlike the stark contrast between his younger brother Allie, who he admires so much, Caulfield actually starts to show some similarities with Phoebe. Caulfield also remembers the time he went to the carousel with his sister. He states, “I got pretty soaking wet… I didn’t care, though. I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around,” (pg. 275). This shows that despite all the horrible events that go on in his life, causing him to become depressed, he did not really care. Phoebe was all he needed to remain happy. Despite all of the negativism that surrounds Caulfield, his memories of interacting with his sister say otherwise, showing that Holden cares about important people in his life. To conclude, the usage of flashbacks provides the reader a deeper perspective of Caulfield’s life. They show that he still misses the things he thought he hated, like Pencey. They show the pain and closeness Caulfield had with his brother, bringing to light his emotional vulnerability and weakness. Most importantly these flashbacks show his faithful love and compassion towards those he cares about, such as his younger sister, Phoebe. It is through these memories that the reader learns there is more to Holden Caulfield than his cynical personality.
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.
As Eugene McNamara stated in his essay “Holden Caulfield as Novelist”, Holden, of J.D. Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye, had met with long strand of betrayals since he left Pencey Prep. These disappointments led him through the adult world with increasing feelings of depression and self-doubt, leading, finally to his mental breakdown.
One of the best known novels in English-speaking countries, J.D Salinger’s Catcher In The Rye deals with Holden Caulfield’s past trauma which is the triggering factor in his depression, anxiety and alienation. Holden tells an unnamed person what has happened in the three days prior to his mental breakdown. Through Holden’s relatable characteristics and Salinger’s narrative treatment, the book continues to engage audiences across generations.
I would like to discuss how Holden’s misinterpretation of the Robert Burns poem, “Coming Through the Rye”, sums up his deepest desires by taking a journey through his troubled adolescence and his journey to self–discovery that results in his breakdown. According to Phoebe, the original line in the poem is “if a body meet a body”. However, Holden’s misinterpretation of “if a body catch a body” removes all sexual connotations from the original poem. Holden is a deeply disturbed adolescent in search of a way to preserve his childhood innocence. His “red hunting cap” is a symbol of his uniqueness and his rejection to conform to society.
At first glance, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye simply tells the story of Holden Caulfield, who is often characterized as annoying and whiny by the people around him. The anti-hero frequently speaks on impulse, making quick and often inaccurate observations of others. Holden’s immature and overly critical attitude turns off those he encounters, who are displeased with how callow he is. However, what these characters fail to understand is that there is actually a sort of sophistication behind Holden’s reasoning. In fact, throughout the novel, Holden disguises his maturity through outward displays of childishness.
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.
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is seen by some critics a a drop out student destined for failure in life, but I see him as a symbol of an adolescent who struggles to adapt to the reality of adulthood.
Over the years, members of the literary community have critiqued just about every author they could get their pen on. One of the most popular novels to be critiqued has been J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. In favorable critiques, Holden Caulfield is a good guy stuck in a bad world. He is trying to make the best of his life, though ultimately losing that battle. Whereas he aims at stability and truth, the adult world cannot survive without suspense and lies. It is a testament to his innocence and decent spirit that Holden would place the safety of children as a goal in his lifetime. This serves to only re-iterate the fact that Holden is a sympathetic character, a person of high moral values who is too weak to pick himself up from a difficult situation.
Have you ever pondered about when growing up, where does our childlike innocence go and what happens to us to go through this process? It involves abandoning previous memories that are close to our hearts. As we can see in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, we listen to what the main character; Holden Caulfield has to say about it. Holden is an average teenager dealing with academic and life problems. He remains untouched over his expulsion from Pencey Prep; rather, he takes the opportunity to take a “vacation.” As he ventures off companionless in New York City, we are able to observe many things about him. We see that Holden habitually states that he is depressed and undoubtedly, wants to preserve the innocence of others.
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”.
In J. D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield exhibits many symptoms that can be directly linked to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, as well as other forms of grievance. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental illness which generally implicates exposure to trauma from single events that oftentimes involve death. It is frequently divided into three main categories: Reliving the Past, Detachment and Agitation. When analyzing the novel itself, it can be viewed as one large flashback in which Holden is constantly reflecting on past occurrences: “I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy” (Salinger, 1).
J.D Salinger’s novel, Catcher In The Rye is about a teen, Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the narrative. Holden is full of unique problems and most of the time lost in his own world, that can’t face reality. The psychoanalytic theory arranges a lens of definition when working at Holden Caulfield. Holden is seen as a lonely, rebellious teen who flunked out of an all boys private school, Pencey Prep. Failing school exemplifies how Holden controls his own decisions in the real world. As stubborn Holden is, opening up his persona and experiences to people is very hard for him, “I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me…” (Salinger 1). From a Freudian psychoanalytical perspective Holden would seem to keep all his thoughts all bottled up, not speaking, and opening up to people. “The preconscious holds information we’ve stored from past experience or learning. This information can be retrieved from memory and brought into awareness at any time.” (Nevid 469). Holden is one step closer to becoming a better changed person by speaking to his psychiatrist, and there is only way to find out if he did.
Superficially the story of a young man getting expelled from another school, the Catcher in the Rye is, in fact, a perceptive study of one individual’s understanding of his human condition. Holden Caulfield, a teenager growing up in 1950’s, New York, has been expelled from school for poor achievement once again. In an attempt to deal with this he leaves school a few days prior to the end of term, and goes to New York to take a vacation before returning to his parents’ inevitable irritation. Told as a monologue, the book describe Holden’s thoughts and activities over these few days, during which he describes a developing nervous breakdown. This was evident by his bouts of unexplained depression, impetuous spending and generally odd, erratic behavior, prior to his eventual nervous collapse.
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.