To What Extent Does Salinger Make You Sympathize With Holden Caulfield

To What Extent Does Salinger Make You Sympathize With Holden Caulfield

The Catcher In The Rye By J.D.Salinger

J.D Salinger has made the main character and narrator, Holden

Caulfield, very complex. He has many good qualities that help the

reader to sympathize with him. However throughout the novel the reader

comes to realize that Holden’s behaviour around other characters often

contradicts the opinions he has expressed to t he reader. This makes

us see that, at times, Holden is no better than the characters he

dislikes. It makes him seem “phoney.” However his use of colloquial

language helps the reader to realize that Holden is still quite young

and has a childish and immature view of life.

You can see how immature he is because even though he is sixteen he

still made a snowball and tried to get on a bus without realizing that

the bus driver would make him throw it out.

“The snow was very good for packing. I didn’t throw it at anything,”

Holden then complains,

“But he wouldn’t believe me. People never believe you.”

This is a very childish thing to say, if he doesn’t get his own way then Holden believes that it’s the other person’s fault. He never considers that the bus driver is just doing his job or that eventually the snowball would melt on the bus creating more work for the bus driver who would probably have to clean it up. He instead immediately assumes that everyone is biased against him instead of maturely just accepting that you have to follow the rules and you can’t just create your own. Holden is disillusioned and sees everyone as being cynical and believes that everything is either black or white; Holden Caulfield sees childhood as being ideal and he thinks adulthood is filled with corrupt p...

... middle of paper ...

...the windows on the station wagon.”

Stradlater seems to make these repressed emotions resurface by

insulting Holden through his lack of respect for Jane and the hard

work Holden had just put into writing that essay for him.

I think that Salinger is mainly successful in his attempt to make the

reader sympathize with Holden. Although at the beginning of the book

Holden appears to be fake and uncaring towards several of the other

characters, as the book progresses the reader is shown how he has been

through the tragic loss of his brother and suppresses any emotions he

had about him, and how Holden really wants to fit in with the “Adult

world” even if some of the things he is doing he disagrees with.

Holden is just a normal person with flaws like anyone else, the

difference is that Holden can admit his faults and doesn’t judge

others immediately by theirs.