In The Catcher in the Rye J.D.Salinger depicts a vivid picture of a teenager standing at a crossroads of childhood and adulthood.The story is an overlapping of ideas when truth get mixed with lie,alienation absorbes a solitary teenager,insomnia veils reality with reminiscences and in the middle of it all stands Holden Caulfield,the main character of the book.He shares his perspective of things during few days while he roams the city of New York and looks for a person who would be able to get into his shoes at least for a second.This alienation leads Holden to sleep deprivation,panick attacks and constant state of depression. The prehistory shows Holden’s complicated relationships with peers in different schoools that he went to. Although all …show more content…
It smelled like fifty million dead cigars. It really did. I wasn't sleepy or anything, but I was feeling sort of lousy. Depressed and all. I almost wished I was dead.”[49] The sensation of loneliness and depression gets deeper.That is why when he all of a sudden meets a suspicious man in the elevator Holden agrees to spend a night with a call-girl.This is not something he was looking for, but having no better alternative Holden catches at that casual straw.The outcome of the encounter is a night talk with a girl called Sunny,another lie and getting beaten up and robbed by Maurice,the man from the elevator.Holden feels unstable,he has high and low moments and at every low moment he considers committing …show more content…
“Anyway, I kept walking and walking up Fifth Avenue, without any tie on or anything. Then all of a sudden, something very spooky started happening. Every time I came to the end of a block and stepped off the goddam curb, I had this feeling that I'd never get to the other side of the street. I thought I'd just go down, down, down, and nobody'd ever see me again. Boy, did it scare
He shows no sign of interest in things he should at least be motivated about, like his education. When he is speaking with his world studies teacher about flunking out of Pencey, he states, "I could shoot the old bull with Spencer and think about ducks at the same time. " This shows that he does not have to put much effort into talking with teachers, even with conversations concerning his grades. Instead of being focused, he thinks about insignificant things that have no relation to the conversation. He also says, "you don't have to think much when you talk to a teacher," which reveals the careless mindset of Holden.
This inconsistency adds to the development of Holden as a character, he learns that being antisocial and
The Catcher in the Rye Thematic Essay Imagine living a lonesome life, full of fear and little hope of better days to come. Imagine the toll this would take on a person’s life and how they develop as a person. For Holden Caulfield, the main character of J.D Salinger’s classic The Catcher in the Rye this, is his reality. Holden is a sixteen year old troubled boy suffering through major mental issues and living a rather a depressing life for a teenager. Throughout the novel he goes through many hardships that only worsen his depression making him feel hatred towards his seemingly hellish world.
The beginning of Holden’s journey starts with the innocence and naivety of childhood. Childhood is the stage that ignorance is bliss with no care in the world. Holden goes to a prestigious boarding school for boys and he believes that everyone in that school is a phony in some way. Holden is an observant character as he stays in the background, but he can also cause the most trouble. Like a child, he asks many questions and he is very curious to the point that he can be annoying.
Holden is unreliable yet powerful as he is constantly desperate to decrease his
He is not willing to accept change and wants to stay as a young adolescent. Holden's alienation is also due to the fact that he is preoccupied with wanting to be
The Catcher In The Rye by J.D Salinger is a novel told from the perspective of the protagonist Holden Caulfield. Holden is a young teenage boy who was recently hospitalized at a mental institution for illnesses he faced, and during his time there he narrates the events that led him up to this moment. Throughout the story, Holden attempts to make new relationships and in the process is exposed to many elements that resemble adulthood and his need to grow up. Ultimately, Holden struggles to grapple with the idea of change which leads him to a feeling of alienation and loneliness.
In Chapter 9-14 Holden Caulfield leaves Penecy Prep and heads to New York City. Where he will stay for a couple days before winter vacation starts and he will head home. Delaying breaking the news to his family he got kicked out of school for as long as possible. These chapters are where Holden’s loneliness becomes abundantly clear. The reader is subjected to many long rants by Holden about the company he wants, though he attempts to settle several times.
He talks to his brother as if he 's there searching for help from him. This novel is about him moving through New York and witnessing this and not wanting to be a part of it, yet knowing he has to fit in there somewhere. Holden grows a very dangerous drinking problem. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, Holden is a lost and depressed boy looking for a purpose in life. Holden believes that growing up is going to cause him to lose all innocence in himself.
Holden Caulfield’s story begins on a December Saturday at Pencey Prep School in Pennsylvania, where he 's just been given the ax for failing all his classes except English. As it turns out, getting the ax is a frequent theme in Holden 's past. Before he leaves the school Holden runs to his favorite teacher’s house to say goodbye to him. Back in the dorm, Holden goofs around with Robert Ackley, a pimply and annoying kid. We 're introduced to Holden 's red hunting hat, and we meet his roommate, Stradlater, who is getting ready for a date with Jane Gallagher, an old friend and sort-of romantic interest of Holden 's. Holden is not happy about this impending date, but agrees anyway to write an English composition for Stradlater.
The Catcher in the Rye In the novel The Catcher in the Rye J.D Salinger writes about a teenager struggling to find his place within the existence of the reality of others. Salinger creates shocking events that lay out the foundation of the the main character Holden Caulfield’s life in the novel. Salinger uses Holden’s characteristics throughout the novel such as Holden’s stubbornness to establish a much bigger theme in the book along with many other symbols.
Holden´s Behavior Holden Caulfield is a teenager growing up in 1950’s America. He has been through an ordeal, both physically and mentally, and is going through a pivotal time in his life, arguably caused by the death of his brother, Allie, only a few short years before. Holden runs away from his school, Pencey Prep, and wanders around New York for the vast majority of the story. During this journey, he is faced with the fact that he must grow up, something he does not take lightly. While it may be noted that Holden Caulfield wasn’t quite able to express himself through practical means, his thought processes can be surmised as identical to those of the typical teenager.
In the beginning of the book Holden hints that he went through unfortunate events in this life. It can be foreshadowed that something bad has happened around Christmas and that Holden is getting help from some sort of institution. Holden came off to me as laid back and irresponsible, he was the fencing team captain but left all the equipment’s in the subway. Holden also did not seem to care about anything. I noticed that he thinks something in his head but does the opposite.
From the very beginning of the book Holden does not attend the football game at his private school, and that's a clear indication that he doesn't fit in. Specific events that occur throughout the book give off a very lonely
This describes Holden to-a-t, because of his alienation problem, his conflict with “phoniness” and his struggle of growing up and leaving his small problems behind him. Throughout the novel,