Intro paragraph:
Accepting the end of childhood could be a struggle for many of the young. (elaborate on hook and maybe use a more literary description.) In J.D Salinger’s memorable creation, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is one of those people who want to strife against (time), and have difficulties moving onto the next stages of life awaiting them. Salinger uses the motif of “music” to illustrate that childhood is not to be preserved and one will need to face and cherish maturity, for it could be harmful to stay in a child's state of mind. Body paragraph topics: (#1 can’t get into relationships, #2 arrive to contradictions and therefore alienate himself, #3 accepts)
Body paragraph 1:
One problem people face through evolving into
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In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden gains strength to overcome his infatuation with childhood through a carousel his sister Phoebe rides and the song the carousel plays. When Phoebe and Holden have an argument, he takes his sister to ride the carousel, and when they get there Holden realizes the carousel still plays "that same song about fifty years ago"(page number). Similar to the lack of change in the museum that Holden likes visiting, the carousel and the music it plays are a representation of consistence. The carousel doesn't change. "That's one nice thing about carrousels, they always play the same songs"(page number). He still enjoys the idea of preserving childhood and preventing children to take the pathway that leads to the adult world. However, Holden doesn't ride the carousel, thinking that he is "too big". He has accepted he is no longer a person who can ride the road that never really goes anywhere, never moves forward, but only goes onto a journey of never-ending innocence. He no longer feels responsible for catching children from falling into adulthood on the carousel because "if they fall off they fall off". Holden brings himself to let children enjoy their childhood while it lasts, and take their chances to reach maturity. Salinger uses Holden and his appreciation for music to reveal that people will grasp the reality of
In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, the cyclical symbols of the broken record and the carousel imply that Holden will ultimately be unable to avoid adulthood.
J. D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye explores the ambiguity of the adult world Holden must eventually learn to accept. Throughout the novel, Holden resists the society grownups represent, coloring his childlike dreams with innocence and naivety. He only wants to protect those he loves, but he cannot do it the way he desires. As he watches Phoebe on the carousel, he begins to understand certain aspects of truth. He writes:
good and got all the girls but in fact he was a slob. His razor that made him
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.
Growing up is not easy. The desire to slow down or stop the process is not unusual for adolescents. Resisting adulthood causes those who try to run away from it to eventually come to terms with the reality of life: everyone has to grow up, and fighting against it makes it much harder to accept in the end. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield often tries to resist the process of maturity in an effort to avoid the complicated life he might face as an adult, making him an unusual protagonist for a bildungsroman; this struggle, however, opens Holden’s eyes to the reality and inevitability of growing up, helping him realize that innocence does not last forever.
Holden has a very hard time throughout the book trying to keep people’s innocence, only to come to notice that it really can’t be tamed pure. “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she was going to fall off the goddam horse, but I didn’t say anything or do anything. 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 of, the fall of, but it’s bad if you say anything to them.” (273) In the quote, Salinger changes Holden into learning that innocence is something that is learned about and can’t be kept fully pure forever. The carousel is usually thought of a place where kids are set free and have fun all around, and in the book the carousel going around is seen as how life and innocence goes. Kids trying to grab the golden ring, is a very common thing, but Holden is seeing it as failure always teaches a lesson. The whole book he is trying to fight the loss of innocence and is looking for an unrealistic society where ”phonies” don’t exist. The loss of Allie, had really affected and confused Holden causing him to not relate to others decisions. At the end though he finally realizes that innocence is the cycle of life and something everyone will have to deal with and to try and make the
Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist in the book “Catcher in the Rye”, is usually described as an uncouth, impolite, inappropriate character, who has little to no respect for anyone but himself. However, after I completed the book, I realized that while Holden did a poor job of establishing his positive characteristics to the readers, his behavior often proved he was a respectable, honest human being that was often misjudged. My opinion is that Holden possessed contrasting characteristics that were both undesirable and admirable qualities. I believe that because the book was written in the first person point of view, Holden is often judged based on his thoughts and not on his actions. Throughout the entire book the reader was given a perspective
J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, follows Holden Caulfield on his coming-of-age journey as he struggles with a fear of adulthood and makes futile attempts to protect children’s innocence. While there are moments of clarity for him, there is one pivotal moment that changes the psychological fabric of Holden’s mind and further illustrates one of the themes of the novel. This moment is shown through the carousel scene near the novel’s end. Before going through the transformative changes, he starts off as an immature young man without a grip on reality and lacking discretion.
Costello, Donald P. "The Language Of The Catcher In The Rye." Critical Insights: The Catcher In The Rye (2011): 251-264. Literary Reference Center. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, Holden is deals with one of the largest obstacles one would ever face in one’s lifetime. He must deal with the concept of development and the idea that he’s growing up, that he’s no longer a child and must accept maturity. This internal struggle is evident in multiple aspects of this novel, particularly highlighted when Holden visits the museum and the carousel at the conclusion of the novel.
From the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the youthful protagonist Holden Caufield, employs the word “phony” to describe the behavior of a number of characters including Mr. Spencer and Ossenburger, however it is not them who are“phony”, it is the young main character. First, Mr. Spencer, Holden’s ex- history teacher, is not described as phony, but according to the adolescent, his choice of words are. Secondly, according to our main character, Ossenburger is not the generous philanthropist he portrays himself to be, but rather a greedy undertaker. Lastly, the protagonist could quite possibly be the authentic phony. All in all, the main character’s use to describe many other characters in the book is with the single word phony, when in fact the word phony would be the most probable word to describe the lead character.
Holden does not have knowledge that in the process of growing up, there are always risks and obstacles. The author explains “She went and got on the carousel..watched her go around and around...All the kids kept trying to grab the gold ring...afraid she will fall off...they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it...they fall,they fall… bad if you say anything.” (211) Holden comes to a comprehension that his dream of being “ the catcher of the rye,” has a flaw of protecting the children. A carousel embodies a safe place and the happiness the children pride in. When Phoebe goes after the golden ring which represents hope, makes Holden notice that kids need to take risks in order to mature. Your parents will not always be there by your side to help you and protect you. Holden’s hatred toward adulthood is powerful enough that he was not able to see deep into it. Towards the end of the story Holden explains “..I felt so damn happy…the way she kept going around and around, in her blue coat and all.” (213) A carousel goes around and around meaning that life keeps repeating till you make a mistake that will take you off the route to triumph and if you fix, then you are successful. This carousel is an acceptable example of accomplishment because it keeps going around till a child falls and realizes their mistake, this leads to thinking outside the box to achieve. Holden
Some people feel all alone in this world, with no direction to follow but their empty loneliness. The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, follows a sixteen-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield, who despises society and calls everyone a “phony.” Holden can be seen as a delinquent who smokes tobacco, drinks alcohol, and gets expelled from a prestigious boarding school. This coming-of-age book follows the themes of isolation, innocence, and corrupted maturity which is influenced from the author's life and modernism, and is shown through the setting, symbolism, and diction.
The carousel is similar to the rye. It represents childhood innocence. In the beginning of the novel, Holden is preoccupied by the idea of preserving that innocence. However, his final decision on just watching children contradicts his dream to be The Catcher in the Rye. This decision shows that he is not waiting for the catcher for himself anymore; he has just started to fall.
Jerome David Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is a truly unique novel in terms of writing style. The story is told in a second person narrative style by a character named Holden Caulfield, and is written loosely in a fashion known as 'stream of consciousness writing'.