Holden Caulfield has a Nihilist view on the world where he lives in the beginning of the novel but later develops a more ethical view. In the beginning of the novel, Holden believes that the world is out to get him, so he alienates himself for protection Holden brings forth his hunting hat as a method for protection, “‘This is a people shooting hat,’ I said. ‘I shoot people in this hat.’” (Salinger, 22) Holden’s hunting hat is the strongest symbol in the novel. It gives Holden protection from people who could be potentially harmful to him. Whenever he is afraid or anxious he regresses and puts on his hunting hat for comfort. This anxiety is triggered by memories from his past. The world has stepped on him and beat him down, so now he uses …show more content…
Meursault has an absurdist attitude toward his world inside of his mental and physical world. Meursault blames his rash actions on the world and environment. At Meursault’s trial, after he killed the Arab, he defended himself by saying, “it was because of the sun.” (Camus, 103) Meursault actually believed that the sun made him kill the Arab man. In The Stranger, the sun is the main antagonist. It vindictively attacked Meursault and caused him to act the way he did. Meursault claims that he didn’t intend on shooting him, but the sun blinded his thoughts and his ability to think and reason quickly and rationally. The environment parallels the Gods in the myth of Sisyphus. The Gods are stubborn, harsh, and irrational, just like the environment. Neither of them have good intentions for the protagonist, yet both protagonists eventually overcome them and absurdly prosper. Meursault’s external world has rational order, but the world inside of his head doesn’t have any order whatsoever. His external world contains his occupation and things that he does on a daily basis, which seem to be scheduled and orderly, but the world inside of his head is disarranged. With what appears to be a hectic life, Meursault doesn’t seem to realize, because a vast majority of his physical life is so scheduled. It is routine to him. But, his mental life is disorganized. Meursault constantly has varying thoughts dancing around his mind, one of which is the environment. The environment is behind all of Meursault’s struggles and problems in his mental world and interferes with his physical world as well, causing him to think that the world is irrational. Holden’s attitude toward the world is particularly similar to Meursault’s because nihilism and absurdism are quite similar. Both believe that the world is irrational and out to get them. The only difference between the two is that Meursault discovers that even though he believes that the world manipulated him and demanded to kill the
To Holden, having this red hunting hat is a feeling of safety and reassurance.
Throughout the book, Holden Caulfield occasionally feel lonely and depressed. He hates how people are trying to pretend someone they are not. Holden Caulfield wears his hunting hat while he was in one of the biggest city in the world, which is unique. Caulfield’s red hunting hat made Holden
Including when he is leaving his school he puts it on and screams “"Sleep tight, ya morons!"(68) he uses his hat to be as a reassurance and allows him to change his attitude and become almost a different person. He Uses it as protection figuratively and literally in one of most emotional moments in the novel“My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection, in a way; but I got soaked anyway. I didn't care, though. I felt so damn happy all of sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around. I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy, if you want to know the
Keeping these things in mind, Holden Caulfield is presented much like the author. Caulfield has a very immature attitude that fall under the category of Ego-Defensive. The Ego-Defensive category has four subcategories within itself called; denial, repression, projective, and rationalization, that are labeled as defense mechanisms through psychological lenses. According to McGraw-Hill’s Dictionary of Modern Medicine, denial is the “primitive–ego defense–mechanism by which a person unconsciously negates the existence of a disease or other stress-producing reality in his environment, by disavowing thoughts, feelings, wishes, needs, or external reality factors that are consciously intolerable.” Holden presents his state of denial in the way he tries to maintain his relationship with his deceased brother, Allie.
J.D. Salinger fully utilizes the literary device of symbolism in characterizing Holden Caulfield in the novel, Catcher in the Rye. Whether through a red hunting hat symbolizing a desire for individuality or ducks representing an escape from life’s challenges, Salinger conveys Holden’s struggles deftly, his traits elegantly, and his character development insightfully. Salinger takes one of Holden's most apparent qualities, his desire for uniqueness, and expresses it through his red hunting hat. Aside from being different through its garish red color, Salinger adds another layer of character through the way he shows Holden wearing it. "... I swung the old peak round to the back -very corny I'll admit, but I liked it that way."
No one wants to grow up. The transitions from innocent childhood, to fearless adolescence, to sudden real and terrifying adulthood is enough to scare anyone. So, because of this, people have a natural desire to want to protect innocence, or perhaps to even stop time and live young and free forever. J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye portrays this dilemma of becoming an adult and the protection of innocence through the story of Holden Caulfield. Holden’s story is essentially that of a teenage boy bumming around New York City for a few days in search of someone to listen to him about his fears of becoming an adult.
Almost as if the hat was a shield for a superhero or a suit of armor for a knight. The hunting hat is Holden 's protective
Holden Caulfield is the protagonist in J.D. Salengers, The Catcher in the Rye. Due to his lack of maturity, he fears adulthood. He believes it to be superficial, however he simply does not understand it. Early in the novel we witness Holden’s attempts to protect his innocence and individuality, by running away or isolating himself. However this approach throws Holden into a deep depression and his only way out is to accept life for what it is.
Amid the activities of normal day society, the collisions and situations conferred has fabricated the personalities and thought process of each individual human being, and thus the encounters that arbitrarily shaped today’s society and with that represents the physical embodiment of the discrete people. How the effects entwined with everyday lives can be very shocking to even the most adventurous or exploration of people. Holden’s story is nowhere near the exception of these set base of rules of environments and drastic situations changing him as a character. Take past occurrences that helped contrive Holden as a person as he is now, “[I had] old Allie’s baseball mitt. I happened to have it with me, in my suitcase, so I got it out
Why Holden Caulfield is Such a memorable Character Holden Caulfield may have a rough outlook on life but there are many things in his life that are dear to him. Holden’s red hunting hat, his sister Phoebe and the Museum of Natural History are some major examples. There are a couple of other things that meant a lot to him like the ducks in the park, his deceased brother Allie, and Jane Gallagher. These things not only help the reader get an understanding of what kind of person Holden Caulfield is but they also show how Holden can be such a memorable character.
As Meursault perceives life contains no meaning, he is a hollow man who can not see the reality of life. He is much ignorant and lives in the present. “whole landscape shimmer with heat, it was inhumane and oppressive”(Camus 15).The sun represents the intimidating power of the natural worlds over human action. The sun is not repeated once, but many times during the funeral, which distracts Meursault’s attention and prevails the emotions, Meursault is unable to deal with himself. The sun is also the driving force, which makes Meursault murder the Arab man at the beach.
The book “The catcher in the rye “ by J.D Salinger shows a teenagers journey through horrible days of misfortune. The main character, Holden, have interesting ways of dealing with his problems. It is anything from loneliness to his way of alienating for self protection. J.D Sallinger has chosen a special way of illustrating Holden’s life in forms of an iceberg, the inside of him is much larger than you think. Holden knows about how people feel about him but does not want to realise it and therefore uses a special technique to protect himself.
“Adolescence is society’s permission slip for combining physical maturity with psychological irresponsibility.” (Terri Apter) In the fictional novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is making a journey through adolescence. Throughout this book, Holden is making a trip from immaturity to maturity and finding his way through adolescence. In the story, Salinger uses symbolism to show how Holden changes in the story.
The Stranger, written by Albert Camus, It follows the story of our tragic hero, Meursault, shortly after his mother dies through the events that lead to him being sentenced to death. Camus uses the motif of weather to express Meursault’s emotions. The Stranger shows how even when a person does not explicitly express emotion they are shown in some way. How emotions are expressed is a window to a person's personality. I will first discuss how Meursault appears emotionless, than how Camus uses the motif of weather to express Meursault’s emotions for him and lastly what impact this makes.
J.D Salinger, in the novel The Catcher in the Rye demonstrates how Holden is affected by the tragic death of his brother Allie. Allie’s death is the root of Holden’s depression and negative choices. The first literary device J.D Salinger utilizes is Holden Caulfield's character. Allie's death at a young age may have resulted in Holden not wanting to grow up himself.