More handpicked essays just for you.
Holden caulfield character analysis
Holden caulfield character analysis
Analyse the character of holden caulfield
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Everyone has their own perception on what defines a hero; some may argue that they exhibit characteristics such as honesty or courage, while others may think that heroes have special power. Our society may have changed the values in which we associate heroes with, but one thing seems to have never changed: the main character of the book turns out as the hero. In my analyst, Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye, is put on trial as we see through our own eyes how Caulfield can not be considered a hero in modern society. In modern society, we would consider a hero as a role model, and someone who we would want to emulate. For example, George Washington, the first president of the United States, is considered a hero by …show more content…
He also exhibits honesty; as a child, he chopped a cherry tree by accident but confessed and told the truth when asked by his father. Now, let’s view at Holden and see how he fits in when compared to one of the most known hero of the United States. Holden lacks honesty as he confesses to the reader how, he’s the “most terrific liar” (16). Another clear example is when Holden talks to Ernie’s mother at the train station. From when they first met, Holden already lied by telling her that his name was Rudolf Schmidt, an obvious phony lie. As the conversation went on, more lies were told about Ernie. Holden “shot the old crap” by saying how everyone adored Ernie, while Holden thought that he “was doubtlessly the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey” (54-55). This shows how that Holden can’t even manage to tell the truth which shows a character trait that a hero wouldn’t display. In addition, Holden clearly lacks courage, which is a vital thing a hero would have. One example is when Holden narrates his story of his …show more content…
However, Holden doesn’t have the most important ones such as integrity and bravery. Also, Holden is stubborn as he refuses to learn from the mentor, a key role in the hero’s journey along with having the reward. The hero’s journey plays a critical role because all of the known hero goes through this cycle. Even in modern times, a hero like Nemo undergoes the same cycle as other heroes. For example, Nemo met Gill, who is considered his mentor because he tries to design a plan in order to escape to the ocean. In addition, Nemo’s reward by the end of the journey was a closer relationship with his dad. However, Holden is missing these two critical elements of the journey. Using a hero’s journey to evaluate a protagonist is extremely useful because despite society's changing virtues of a hero, these twelve steps remain the same. Holden Caulfield is not a hero because he started the hero’s journey, but has not finished
Years ago, a man named Homer wrote The Odyssey. It told about King Odysseus of Ithaca's mystical and perilous adventure home after the Trojan War. An odyssey can simply be defined as an adventure. Holden Caulfield, the main character in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, had an odyssey of his own. On his adventure in New York City, Holden encountered many tests and learning experiences.
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.
To summarize, the Hero’s Journey is a challenging process, yet Holden answered to his call of journey, undertook challenges under rigorous environments, and finally returned with satisfactory with aides from the helpers.
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.
With every articulated drop of knowledge and accentuated measure of experience, comes a vast crescendo of soundness and wisdom. Acquiring these necessities of life may take a person, or a nation, decades of determination and desire for change to develop. If not given enough time, however, the individual or nation might descend and linger in a stage of naivety—where knowledge is too scarce to truly understand and evaluate all the experiences they have gone through in the world. Our nation is, and has always been, a nation succumbing to the weakness of our naivety due to the critical lack of the incandescent wisdom and maturity it needed in order for peace to prevail. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the young character named Holden Caulfield displayed an image of naivety that shadowed the immature lifestyles of 1950’s America and served as a critique towards this nation for the lack of wisdom reflected in the course of our actions.
Varying from time, location and person, what it takes to be considered a hero has remained for the most part unanimous and throughout time has been represented in multiple ways. Most present in dated writing, a hero 's image and pride make up a big portion of most heroes. Their heroes aren’t so humble and they aspire to keep their title of "hero". On the contrary, most heroes in literature today are quite modest and don 't expect to be viewed as or considered heroes (more often than not they themselves do not classify with being heroes). As is the case for Beowulf and Katniss Everdeen, both different and yet also similar in terms of action, motives and thought (their personality being what really separates the two). Perhaps the biggest part of how a hero is treated and acts depends on what their society is like. Throughout time, the overall qualities of a hero have remained very similar. What has changed, is
I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera. It's terrible. (pg.16) Holden's ability to lie is one of the first traits that he reveals about himself. He takes pride in saying that he is a good liar. His inability to have normal conversations and relationships is possibly one of the factors that has him shunned by his peers. Holden's insecurity is one of the reasons for his compulsive lying. This, in turn, is why he can't find his place in the world.
When people think about heros it is a person in a cape flying into burning buildings to save people or fighting a villain to save the world. According to Oxford Dictionary a hero is a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. This shows how just normal people can be qualified as heros. A book that exemplifies this is To Kill A Mockingbird because it is filled with people that went out of their way to help others or the society as a whole. A person who did this in particular was Atticus Finch. Atticus Finch was a hero because he fell under the definition and was admired for his courage, achievements, and noble qualities.
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
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.
Many of the times that Holden criticizes people, it is something he does himself. (Pg 13) “. one of the reasons I left Elkton was that I was surrounded by phonies.” Holden himself is many times what he refers to as a “phony”. He knows that he lies and pretends to like people that he would rather not be with.
It takes many experiences in order for an immature child to become a responsible, well-rounded adult. In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger’s main character Holden Caulfield matures throughout the course of the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Holden is a juvenile young man. However, through his experiences, Holden is able to learn, and is finally able to become somewhat mature by the end of the novel. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield’s story represents a coming of age for all young adults.
According to google.com a hero is someone who “is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievments, or noble equalities.” (google.com). For example, superman , superman is an all time american classic modern hero who is admired for his courage and for saving earth multiple times from super villains. Another example of a hero is Beowulf. Beowulf was created around 1000 AD and was known far and wide throughout the lands for his selflessness,bravery, and courage .
Hello there reader. I’m guessing you don’t know who I am, so I’m going to tell you. I am Holden Caulfield, a 20-year-old bumming their way through life and living in their parent’s home. When I say home, I mean an apartment building. We’re apartment 66 on the sixth floor. Oh did I mention that I got the axe from multiple schools. I did, I really did. Anyhow, now I live in New York which is a gorgeous place for bums like me. I used to go to Pencey Prep, an all-boys prep-school, and I had the time of my life. But in reality, it was one of the worst times in my goddam life. It was like jail to help weed out the phonies from the real smart guys. It really was. Don’t get me wrong, I learned some stuff at the schools, but it didn’t do much for me. I mean now I work at lousy Chipotle. If you didn’t know already, Chipotle is one of these phony restaurants that tries to act like they’re genuinely Mexican, even though they’re not. If you want to know the truth, it’s just a fancy sounding Spanish word. There used to place a genuine Mexican restaurant
When I think of a hero I immediately think of someone who is strong, intelligent, handsome, and daring. Upon closer examination, many different qualities than these become apparent. Courage, honesty, bravery, selflessness, and the will to try are just a few of the overlooked qualities of a hero. The definition of heroism changes with the context and time. Heroes of the past are not necessarily heroes of present time and vise versa.