In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger develops Holden Caulfield as a morally ambiguous character. Throughout the book, Salinger speaks as Holden and introduces him as a callous and subjective individual. However, the author permits the reader to be within Holden’s mind, giving the audience an alternative perspective of Holden’s true character. Without the obscurity of Holden’s personality, the work would lack a crucial element. As the protagonist, Holden serves as an equivocal adolescent that is relatable for the reader.
The term “phony” reoccurs over the course of the novel; Salinger informs the reader, “you’ll find that you’re not the first person who was ever… sickened by human behavior.”(189) Initially, Holden is portrayed as an extremely judgmental individual; however, the reader cannot help but ignore the underlying truth to what Holden observes around him. Overall, Holden is disgusted by the superficial and hypocritical world that is evolving around him. Holden Caulfield encounters numerous “phony” people. Many of his acquaintances have traits that make them easily capable of being labeled as pretentious, much like Ward Stradlater and Carl Luce. Yet, there are other individuals that the common reader would not consider “phony”, for instance the actors of the play. He describes the actor as doing more showing-off than real acting, and makes them appear conceited. Additionally, when he is conversing with other viewers, he also believes they are superficial in the way they are discussing the play. By Holden’s quick perceptions of people, Salinger presents Holden as a hypocritical, disapproving villain. Alternatively, Holden describes people for what they really are and wishes that the world could be a much simpl...
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...’s habitual lying relates back to times where he is hypocritical about his environment being full of phonies. Salinger provides these small details of deceitfulness in order to further advance Holden’s character and the work as a whole.
Throughout the novel, J.D, Salinger develops Holden’s character with numerous situations. Holden makes the reader question his rectitude through his perspective of those around him, his sexual desires, his general attitude, and his chronic lying. Because Salinger permits the audience to know how situations proceed from Holden’s perspective, the audience has an alternative side of Holden available to evaluate. Without the varying traits Holden presents, The Catcher in the Rye would not thoroughly depict Holden as a suffering individual. Thus, Holden’s character is morally ambiguous and crucial to the overall development of the novel.
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.
Salinger went through many of the experiences Holden went though. Salinger much like Holden had a sister that he loved very much, in the novel Phoebe is the only person that Holden speaks highly of; both men also spent time in a mental institution; Holden is telling the story from inside a institution; they were both kicked out of prep school and most importantly they were both a recluse from society. This is why Salinger uses Holden as his persona all though out the book. The ‘catcher in they Rye’ is almost like an autobiography for Salinger. He is using Holden as his persona to let us, the reader, dive into his thought pattern and find out some of the thoughts that he kept locked up in there.
Since Holden was isolated from his family, in order to not get hurt again he tries to find hypocrisy in people to stop himself from trusting others. Holden feels isolated after being sent to a boarding school that “was full of phonies” by his parents (Salinger 90). Salinger’s message to the audience with this quote is that when
In the novel, Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is an example of a prosaic rich adolescent boy,with a pedestrian set of problems, but a psychoanalysis reveals that Holden has a plethora of atypical internal conflicts. Internal conflicts that other students at Pencey, such as Stradlater and Ackley, would not normally experience.
Due to J.D Salinger’s personal and relatable narrative treatment, Catcher in the Rye continues to engage audiences, even 64 years after it was first published. The way the book deals with alienation and disillusionment in regards to Holden’s past trauma - through the closeness of first person narration and conversational writing among other techniques - creates a personal connection to Holden’s character and helps adolescents relate his troubles to their own.
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily link him to the typical teenager living today. The fact that the book was written many years ago clearly exemplifies the timeless nature of this work. Holden's actions are those that any teenager can clearly relate with. The desire for independence, the sexually related encounters, and the questioning of ones religion are issues that almost all teens have had or will have to deal with in their adolescent years. The novel and its main character's experiences can easily be related to and will forever link Holden with every member of society, because everyone in the world was or will be a teen sometime in their life.
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.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is an enthralling and captivating novel about a boy and his struggle with life. The teenage boy ,Holden, is in turmoil with school, loneliness, and finding his place in the world. The author J.D. Salinger examines the many sides of behavior and moral dilemma of many characters throughout the novel. The author develops three distinct character types for Holden the confused and struggling teenage boy, Ackley, a peculiar boy without many friends, and Phoebe, a funny and kindhearted young girl.
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.
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
The protagonist, Holden Caulfield, interacts with many people throughout J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, but probably none have as much impact on him as certain members of his immediate family. The ways Holden acts around or reacts to the various members of his family give the reader a direct view of Holden's philosophy surrounding each member.
To Holden ever one is a “phony”, and every one has a problem that he feels he needs to exploit. While Holden is speaking to the psychiatrist, he criticizes each person as he meets them in his story.
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.