Character Analysis: The Catcher In The Rye

In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye a teenager, Holden Caulfield, faced many problems at a young age, such as his brother’s, Allie’s, death and being kicked out of schools. As these events occur, Holden is conflicted between choosing childhood and adulthood. However, no one can choose between childhood or adulthood, but Holden feels like he must. The death of his brother leads Holden to believe he should be strong and mature.

(his older brother). Or simply anyone who fits into society norms, for example, Sally Hayes. Holden’s obsession stems from his fear that he may become a phony one day. So, he spends the book running from adulthood by doing childish things and struggling to keep his life from changing. We see Holden’s fear of phonies shine throughout The Catcher in the Rye.

The Catcher In The Rye is a book about Holden Caulfield’s physical breakdowns and his self-centeredness. People in his life have cause this to be relevant, his family, his teachers, and friends. He is also greatly effected by the events that occur in his life. The people with the biggest impact on Holden are the people who have taught him something. The person with the biggest impact on him was his younger brother Allie Caulfield.

Family; a blessing, or a curse? In the book Night, Elie Wiesel offers many significant themes, but the question, “is family a blessing or a curse,” is one of the most prevalent and begging themes in the novel. During the novel, Wiesel often questions if he should try and keep his father around, or if life would just be better without him in the picture. “‘Don’t let me find him! If only I could get rid of this dead weight, so that I could use all my strength to struggle for my own survival, and only worry about myself,’ I immediately felt ashamed of myself, ashamed forever,” (Wiesel, 111).

In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s present life is being affected by all the troubling things he 's had happen to him in the past. Holden has never really stopped grieving his superlative brother—Allie’s—death which can lead to sudden anger outbursts abuse. Holden had hinted at being sexually abused at one point of the book which can lead to him doing bad things to cope with the abuse. A boy that Holen liked—James Castle—jumped out of a window after a few boys bullied him.

This however would slowly die down, before it completely dies out, as Elie experiences the deaths that plagued the camps. Progressively he slowly lost faith in God. “For the first time I felt anger rising within in me. Why should I sanctify His name” (Night 33)? He felt as though the “Almighty, the eternal, and terrible Master of the Universe” decided to not do anything to save them from their nearly certain deaths (Night 33).

When Holden is faced with a problem, instead of facing it and slowly working his way through it, he tries to get rid of it entirely. He does not want to be thrown into the real world and will do anything to not be put in those “adult like situations”. I believe that Holden’s issues arose about the time when his younger brother Allie passed away due to leukemia when he was only eleven. Holden has the choice to either act like an adult or play like a child when he comes across a problem. But not surprisingly, he can’t choose which path to follow, so he stays stuck in the middle.

Not only were the townspeople’s thoughts on Mr. Hooper changed, but also his personal thoughts were affected to the point that “he never willingly passed before a mirror… least, in its peaceful bosom, he should be affrighted by himself” (Hawthorn 395). Mr. Hooper knew that his image is frightening to some and was fearful to find that same image looking back at him. This presence he now has attached to his being lasts for years up to and after his death, where the questions of why he wore the black veil are still asked and follow his

Reader do not figure exactly what happened to Jim’s father, but we know he is gone and Jim’s mother is a single parent. Over the story, Charles proves to always be there for him as Jim continues to get himself into trouble. Next, Jim is a anti-hero, a protagonist that lacks moral personality traits given to a hero. Jim wants to stop the carnival, but still wants to ride to carsel to become older. He is conflicted on helping Will and Charles, or getting the life as a n adult that he wants.

The Catcher in The Rye by JD Salinger illustrates the journey of Holden Caulfield, the main character who travels the bumpy roads of adolescence into the daunting world of adulthood. Holden experiences many trials and tribulations of the real world as the adults in his life try to guide him onto the right path. Although others around Holden want to help him, he acts in irrational ways making it hard for them to alleviate his issues. Thus his decisions only make his condition of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder even worse. Because of Holden’s self alienating tendencies, and the depression that he gets due to the death of his brother Allie, his questionable words and actions can be understood and explained.