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.

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. Why does he have this fear?

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.

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. These past instances have made Holden the cold, lying, introverted person we know.

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). This attitude only continued to grow as things progressed in the camp.

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. This middle grey area of transitioning from childhood to adulthood for Holden is what is causing his problems and what is making his choices and decisions a lot harder. Holden 's past experiences have taken a toll on him and are starting to cause present issues for him. Holden was only thirteen when his younger brother passed away and it hit him hard.

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

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. However, the thought of riding the carousel motivates Jim to sneak out of the house without telling Will and to kill Mr. Cooger.

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.

In The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the story talks about a boy and his father after the apocalypse. The setting is so terrible the father needs the sustenance of the past. The father wants to commemorate the past, but it misleads him from survival, due to the pain he obtains from it. While the boy was sleeping, the man acquired a flashback.

Have you ever had so much on your mind but no one to tell it to? The world renowned famous author Jerome David Salinger felt this way too. He used his writing as a way to tell people what was on his mind. More often than not, he based his characters on himself; especially Holden Caulfield from his book Catcher In The Rye, which was an instant bestseller.

'Royal Royal ' is a tale around a dark kid that is mentally wakened when he catches what his granddad says at his deathbed to his dad. This kid, before he understands who he truly is, and his social remaining in the general public that he lives, is seeking to get himself. However this inquiry is loaded with numerous deterrents, in light of the fact that he lives in a period when individuals of his status are adapted to act, talk, and carry on certainly. Our saint 's voyage toward the light (truth) is begun quite a while prior. However first and foremost he can 't get on the right course, because of the wrong guidance he is given by distinctive individuals; he says it as 'All my life I was searching for something, and each were that I turned

In The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, Salinger established Holden Caulfield’s introverted character through his background and experiences. As a sixteen year old student, Holden had to encounter many life and death obstacles. He becomes traumatized from witnessing the deaths of people close to him. Holden’s experiences with death changed his perspective of the world. For example, Allie’s death allowed him to realize the weaknesses that death has upon everybody, old or young.

Rick Riordan once said, “It's funny how humans can wrap their mind around things and fit them into their version of reality.” The difficulties of life mostly revolve around the battle of what people want to believe versus what is actually there. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club, Holden Caulfield and Waverly Jong become puppets of their own illusions and fall to their realities which creates new internal struggles.