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Essays on the catcher in the rye
Essays on the catcher in the rye
Catcher in a rye character analysis
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Robert Ackley is an absolute slob who is excruciatingly irritating as well, yet Holden is still friendly with him, unlike most of the other boys from Pencey. This is most likely because Holden is very lonely in his dorm and will take any company he can get and also because Holden is actually a kind-hearted young man. When Holden and his friend Mal are going out to watch a movie, Holden asks Ackley to come and join them because he felt sorry for him, “I asked was because Ackley never did anything on Saturday night, except stay in his room and squeeze his pimples or something” (Salinger 41). Holden is compassionate when he invited Ackley, simply because he did not want Ackley to be lonely on a Saturday night. Even though Holden is troubled in
Holden is not just abnormal, he has problems that other teenagers, including the students at Pencey, experience going through adolescence. An example of this is Holden's jealousy towards Stradlater when he finds out he is going on a date with Jane Gallagher, “Boy,was I getting nervous” (42). Every teenager has bouts of jealously especially about the opposite sex, and Holden is no different. Holden's rebellious nature, to an extent, is typical for a teenage boy. His rebellious nature of smoking when it is not allowed, “You weren't allowed to smoke in the dorm...I went right on smoking like a madman.” (41-42). Holden is also anxious about change, which again to an extent is normal, “Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks...”(60), and he has the right to be; change,especially during adolescence, is a terrifying but exciting ride into the unknown, and similar to other adolescents Holden is afraid but intrigued about the unknown.
After many years of ideas coming and going, one that seems to stay the same is the thoughts of tennagers. In the book The Catcher In The Rye written by J.D Salinger many can still relate to Holden’s story even after a 76 year difference. While exploring the city around him Holden takes the time to try to find himself on a deeper level and try to grasp how growing up really makes him feel. Given the fact that everyone is unique in among themselves the need for self satisfaction is always current meaning many run from the true responsibilities that come with age.
Holden has been to three different boarding schools before he attended Pencey. At Pencey, Holden was rooming with Stradlater, who Holden thought lived his life as a secret slob and a moran. Stradlater and Holden do not see eye to eye on most things. One Saturday night, Stradlater had plans to go on a date with Holden’s friend Jane. Jane was very close to Holden and Holden knew that Stradlater would try and put the moves on her just like he does on every other girl. After the date, Holden and Stradlater are talking and Stradlater ignores his questions. Their conversation gets heated and it results in Holden cutting up his face and then exiting his room and entering Ackley’s. Ackley, who is asleep, gets woken up by Holden and Holden asks if he can spend the night in his room. As they both lied in their beds, Holden asks Ackley, “‘What’s the routine on joining a monastery?’”(Salinger 50). After Ackley gets mad for Holden asking questions, Holden changes his mind about the monastery, “Aah, go back to sleep. I’m not gonna join one anyway. The kind of luck I have, I’d probably join one with all the wrong kind of monks in it. All stupid bastards. Or just bastards.” (Salinger 50). Holden believes that the world is full of bad, crumby people even in the places that have good people. Holden wants to get away from people like
Holden's idealism is first brought forth when he describes his life at Pency Prep. It is full of phonies, morons and bastards. His roommate, Stradlater, " was at least a pretty friendly guy, It was partly a phony kind of friendly..." (26) and his other roommate, Ackley is "a very nosy bastard" (33). Holden can't stand to be around either one of them for a very long time. Later, he gets into a fight with Stradlater over his date with Jane. Holden is upset because he thinks that Stradlater "gave her the time" and that he doesn't care about her; 'the reason he didn't care was because he was a goddam stupid moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron' (44). Holden not only sees his roommates as phonies and bastards, but he also sees his headmaster at Pency Prep as a "phony slob" (3). This type of person is exactly what Holden doesn't want to be. He strives to be a mature adult; caring, compassionate, and sensitive.
This is perhaps most evident when he discussed his relationship with Ackley. On the surface, Holden portrayed Ackley as an unhygienic annoyance stating, “He had a terrible personality. He was also sort of nasty guy”(13). However, as the story progressed Holden invited Ackley to the movies. Furthermore, after Holden is punched by Stradlater, and is at his most vulnerable, he went to none other than Ackley. This shows that Holden truly likes Ackley. Holden’s unwavering fear of abandonment forces him to create barriers to prevent himself from truly caring about Ackley and possibly getting
He is a bothersome and continues to annoy Holden by entering their dorm without any permission. Holden believes that Ackley has no life since he does not go anywhere. I think that Ackley enjoys the company of Holden and appears to like Holden quite often. Holden does treat Ackley awfully because he doesn’t listen and gives sly remarks towards Ackley. Holden acts as if he is more superior than Ackley, who is a senior, since he doesn’t want to start a conversation and doesn’t care about Ackley. In fact Holden describes Ackley as a peculiar roommate and as a result, it affects the way Holden acts around
Holden alienates himself by believing he is better than everybody else. Every time Holden meets or talks about someone he is judgemental. Even when he is talking about someone he spends time with, he cannot help but ridicule them, “I never even once saw him [Ackley] brush his teeth....he had a lot of pimples. Not just on his forehead or his chin, like most guys, but all over his whole face. And not only that, he had a terrible personality. He was also sort of a nasty guy. I wasn't too crazy about him, to tell you the truth.”(Salinger,14 ). Ackley is probably the closest thing to a friend Holden has. Yet he criticizes him is a very nitpicky way, convincing himself he does not like
Ackley barges into Holden’s room and Holden thinks to himself: “He ha[s] a terrible personality. He [is] also sort of a nasty guy. I wasn’t to crazy about him, to tell you the truth” (26). The whole time Ackley is in Holden’s room, he talks about how mean, rude, dirty, etc. he is. He even tells him to his face what he thinks about him. When Stradlater comes to join them, Holden thinks to himself, “He was at least a pretty friendly guy, Stradlater. It was partly a phony kind of friendly, but at least he always said hello to Ackley and all” (34). Holden seems to have conflicted feelings about Stradlater. He thinks that he is nice although it may be phony, and that he is handsome and built, but he also thinks that he is a hot-shot, a secret slob, and thinks too highly of
Another trait that was portrayed throughout the novel was peculiarity. The teenage boy Ackley who lives across the hall from Holden is very strange and has few friends. Ackley was very dirty, never brushed his teeth, and almost always stayed alone in his room. Holden says " His teeth were always mossy- looking, and he was dirty as hell, but he always had clean fingernails."(pg.22)
The lack of nurture that Holden receives from his environment and the conflict he engages in with it are yet another factor that brings Holden down. Person versus Environment contributes greatly to his descent. Holden is shipped between schools, being kicked out of one only to be expelled from the next. To Holden, the environment that he is surrounded by at Pencey represents the phony, cruel world of those who run it. He is unable to connect with anyone in this school, The disgust and disinterest he has with the institution is shown in the quote, “Pencey was full of crooks.” (pg. 6). As well, he is seen incessantly attempting to defy social norms. Holden battles his environment, flunking out of school and showcasing the opposition he has towards
'The novel has long ignited disapproval, and it was the most frequently banned book in schools between 1966 and 1975. Even before that time,
Holden has not have many friends. He feels like he is outside the society. He does not accept society, thinks that society is not sincere. So he thinks everyone is “phony”. “ ‘How'sa boy, Ackley?’ he said to Ackley. He was at least a pretty friendly guy, Stradlater. It was partly a phony kind of friendly, but at least he always said hello to Ackley and all.” (Catcher 30) According to quote, even though Holden thinks Stradlater is a friendly guy, he calls him phony. That is the problem of Holden. Holden always thinks that friendships are fake. He always thinks people are insincere, that is one of the reason why Holden is running away from being a part of the “society”. On the other hand, Charlie is happy with his new friends- Patrick and Sam but he had no friends before he meet Patrick and Sam. His one friend shot himself. “It’s hard to remember. But Dave with the awkward glasses told us that Michael killed himself. His mom played bridge with one of Michael’s neighbors and they heard the gunshot.”(Perks 4) Charlie is affected by his friend Michael’s death. He feels sorry for him. He cries and gets angry to guidance counselor. “Then, I started screaming at the guidance counselor that Michael could have talked to me. And I started crying even harder.”(Perks 5) Charlie cares about friend relationships more than Holden. He feels sorry for him, gets sad, cries… Charlie is pretty emotional about what happens around his friend life. Michael’s death affected Charlie to feel sad because Michael was a good friend of him. Charlie always thought nobody ever will notice him after Michael. He was outside the “society”. So his emotions about friend life was pessimistic after Michael’s death. Both Holden and Charlie feel alone and outside the “society” in some points. Holden has some problems finding a friend, he always thinks friendships are fake. On
To Holden, everyone is either corny of phony. He uses these terms to describe what a person is if they do not act naturally and follow other people?s manners and grace. Holden dislikes phonies and thinks of them as people who try to be something they are not. He loathes people who showed off because it seems unnatural every time they do not act like themselves. Holden does not allow himself to have friendship because of his dull attitude. In the beginning of the book, the reader knows that Holden is lonely when he separates himself from the rest of the Pencey students by watching the football game from Thomsen Hill and not the grand stands. Holden is not a very sociable person partly because he finds himself better than many others. He dislikes his roommate because of his generic leather luggage. His next door roommate Ackley does not seem to want a friendship with him either. Holden finds Ackely?s zit crusted face ridiculous and doesn?t want him in his room at first. This shows the reader that Holden is a lonely person because he chooses to be lonely and does not want anything to do with people who do not fit into his perception of normal.
Upon introduction, Holden Caulfield gives the impression of being a textbook teenage boy. He argues that Pencey Prep, the all-boys academy at which he studied, is no greater than any other school and is “full of crooks.”(Salinger, 7) His harsh language only further argues that he is situated in an all-male environment and has no apparent filter for when swearing is inappropriate. Despite all of the indications that Holden is typical, it soon becomes evident that Holden’s personality does not conform to the teenage stereotype. Although he appears to have some friends, namely, his roommate, Stradlater, and ‘Ackley kid’, it is clear that he does not integrate well with his peer group. Holden’s inability to read social cues leaves him in the dust when all of his “friends” have matured enough to recognize his need for improvement. He is constantly making jokes out of everything without any thought as to how h...
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'.