ipl-logo

Examples Of Coming Of Age In Catcher In The Rye

651 Words3 Pages

Devin Sushil The Catcher in the Rye is a coming of age story with the overall purpose of providing a coming of age story that allows the audience, typically teenagers, to relate with the universal themes of growing up and fearing adulthood. Evidentially the authors tone, conveyed through Holden, is cynical, sarcastic and critical. Over the three day period that the events in New York occur, the narration by Holden allows him to be characterized by his innermost thoughts and feelings. The word choice of the author portrays Holden’s struggle in growing up. Throughout the novel, there are several examples of words and phrases that allow the author to characterize Holden. Often the author includes Holden using phrases like “and all” and “or anything” …show more content…

When words such as "ass" are used by the author in Holden’s dialogue, Holden's characterization of an immature youth is emphasized. The word is merely a part of the teenage vernacular for the part of the human anatomy; however, the author indicates Holden using this word to convey Holden’s bigger ideas. For example, when Salinger included " in a half ass way"(6) he illustrates that Holden believes there is incompetency in the particular situation. Other diction that the author incorporated includes numerous words that are religious but aren’t used in the correct context. Salinger displays Holden saying "hell" to mean "to a great extent" when describing something: "I had a helluva time convincing her"(77) or "old as hell"(7). The author additionally uses swearing when Holden casually refers to his "goddam hunting cap" or saying somebody is a "goddam moron". The excessive swearing used by Salinger stresses Holden's immaturity and his anxiety building toward crisis. While the words Holden uses may not be proper he is not trying to be sacrilegious. Salinger is simply using the language to make Holden seem like a normal teenager and to reflect Holden's state of

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between Catcher In The Rye And It's Kind Of A Funny Story

    1077 Words  | 5 Pages

    Holden is a very judgemental and immature character and often has vulgar language. Holden often criticizes everyone he comes in contact with and does not try to comprehend the mindset they may have. His childish nature and vocabulary are what make most of his comments laughable. “It was funny. You could tell the waiter didn’t like her much, you could tell even the Navy guy didn’t like her much, even though he was dating her.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Dialectical Journal For The Catcher In The Rye

    1685 Words  | 7 Pages

    Holden does not understand the reasoning behind sex, although he admits he would do it if he had the chance. 21. The author uses the name Faith Cavendish to show irony. Before Holden calls her up, he says “She used to be a burlesque stripper or something” (Salinger 71). This shows that Faith wasn’t all that pure in her earlier years.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of The Catcher In The Rye

    1003 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout the novel, J.D. Salinger uses slang as a method of style to not only show the time period when this book was written, but also the intelligence of Holden and his accompanying characters. In chapter two, Holden’s slang is especially evident when describing Mr. Spencer and the way he lives his everyday life. This chapter also depicts Holden’s feelings about Mr. Spencer and shows that Mr. Spencer is the only known father figure around Holden at this time and Holden just continues to disappoint and push Mr. Spencer further away. The author uses this passage and passages like it to further develop the characterization of Holden and show how he views the world and its inhabitants. This style is evident in the paragraph “They each had

    Read More

  • Holden Caulfield Satire

    1045 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Catcher in the Rye Salinger gave the tone of the book humorous so that the book can be more relatable to teenagers in society. He talks about how Holden is lonely and he’s lost like every other teenager but he more like he doesn’t see from the real world. He is judgmental, he judges everything he sees and knows. Salinger writes this book to let us know what some teenagers go through and how people stay strong no matter what. He’s wanting us to know how teenagers are all different and they go through different things and they act a certain way because of what they’re going through.

    Read More

  • Holden Caulfield Symbolism

    724 Words  | 3 Pages

    Holden stated, “While I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody’d written “F*** you” on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they’d wonder what the hell it mean, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them-all cockeyed, naturally- what it meant, and how they’d think about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple days”(Salinger 221). Holden is mad because just when he thought that he was doing a great job at preserving a childhood innocence this one thing just had to jump out and ruin his entire operation.

    Read More

  • Examples Of External Conflict In Catcher In The Rye

    668 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a rebellious and angsty teen who suffers from internal and external conflict. Holden continously tries to create a conflict where there is none. However, after he creates these issues he is unwilling to face them. Holden’s internal conflict is his inability to accept responsibility for his actions, while his external conflict is the tension between him and anyone who succeeds. In this manner Holden continually pushes people away and refuses to accept the existence of these conflicts until the end of the novel.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Holden Being Depressed In Catcher In The Rye

    728 Words  | 3 Pages

    I was already sort of sorry I 'd let the thing start rolling, but it was too late now” (Salinger 19). This quote goes to show that Holden is trying to be a different person. He normally would accept a night with an escort but as stated in the quote he was so depressed he couldn 't even think about his decisions. A later quote shows that he doesn 't even use his real name he uses the name “Jim Steele”.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye

    704 Words  | 3 Pages

    This can be seen as Holden erasing profanity. While Holden attempts to erase the “fuck you” from the wall he states that the profanity “wouldn’t come off” as it was “scratched in” which shows that he believes the adult world has been permanently stained and that once one loses their innocence there is no going back. One thing that permanently stained Holden’s own adolescence is the death of his younger brother Allie. After Allie’s passing, Holden states that he smashed all the windows in the garage resulting in permanent damage to his hand; However, the death also permanently stained Holden’s childhood innocence. Holden also suggests that “If you had a million years you couldn’t rub out half the ‘Fuck you’ signs in the

    Read More

  • Examples Of Isolation In Catcher In The Rye

    1436 Words  | 6 Pages

    What a deal that was. You never saw so many phonies in all your life, everybody smoking their ears off and talking about the play so that everybody could hear and know how sharp they were (Salinger 98). Instead of talking about the play and appreciating the play, Holden judges the people who surrounded him outside the theater. This suggests his immaturity by making fun of people who are just trying to live

    Read More

  • Stubbornness In Catcher In The Rye

    1493 Words  | 6 Pages

    In this paragraph, the audience hears Holden’s negative immutable perspective about his school Pencey as he seems to not like the school at all, much less the people in it. The author uses words like “splendid” and “clear-thinking” to really express holden’s strong opinion about the guys at Pencey and how they don’t meet the expectations that the school holds. In the beginning of the book the reader is introduced to Mr. Spencer who is one of Holden’s teacher’s. Mr. Spencer comes out as a nice teacher whose only intention is to help Holden and guide him through the misfit of society as he realizes that Holden needs a hand to hold. Salinger writes, “Game, my ass.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Maturity In Catcher In The Rye

    837 Words  | 4 Pages

    Holden struggles with growing up and facing reality. There are many examples of Holden’s immaturity that are displayed in many forms such as facing responsibilities, his speech, his actions, and etc. Holden’s outlook on adult life is that it is superficial and brimming with phonies, but childhood was all about looking pleasing and innocent. He wants everything to stay the same and for time to stop. As Holden progresses in age, he will discover more about becoming mature in the

    Read More

  • Catcher In The Rye Loss Of Innocence Analysis

    408 Words  | 2 Pages

    Holden get upset and mad when he walks to his younger sister phoebe's school and sees a swear word painted on the wall “ it drove [him] damn crazy,” (Salinger 221). He gets upset because he doesn’t like that the kids at the school are going to wonder what the word is and eventually find out what it means and use the word. When he thinks about the kids’ innocence being affected it made him mad because he wants to protect them from the bad things in the world. Holden learns throughout his life that when he was exposed to negative experiences it changed him and made him depressed. He doesn’t wants the kids at the elementary school to have to deal with that even if it's not as extreme as to make them depressed.

    Read More

  • Catcher In The Rye Internal Conflict

    1032 Words  | 5 Pages

    If the book is read solely on its surface level, it just seems like a book about an annoying teenager who just complains about everything, but the messages it carries are actually profound. For example, near the end of the story Holden is upset by some profane graffiti on the wall at a museum that says “F*** you” (Salinger 224). He is upset by it because he is worried some little kids will see it and wonder what it means, and then be curious enough to find out adn have their innocence stolen. He finds the graffiti multiple times in the museum. The profane graffiti, if looked at beyond the surface level, symbolises the fact that Holden can not do anything to stop little kids from losing their innocence.

    Read More

  • Coming Of Age Symbolism In Catcher In The Rye

    464 Words  | 2 Pages

    J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is considered a coming of age novel. Throughout the novel, Holden, a confused teenage boy, matures and understands more about himself. Salinger conveys Holden’s increasing levels of maturity by using a variety of symbols. The ducks in central park, the red hunting hat, and the carousel ring symbolize the the development of Holden’s adulthood.

    Read More

  • Coming Of Age Theme In Catcher In The Rye

    1571 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Catcher in the Rye tells the story of Holden Caulfield who is a teenager growing up in the 1950’s in New York, has been expelled from school once again for poor achievement. In order to deal with his failure, Holden decides to leave school a few days before the end of the term and escapes to New York before returning to his home for the punishment. Written entirely in first person, the book describes Holden’s experiences and thoughts over the few days he takes for himself. During these few days Holden describes a nervous breakdown he experiences with symptoms of unexplained depression, impulsive spending, and unpredictable behavior. The strongest theme in The Catcher in the Rye is the main character Holden Caulfield 's fascination

    Read More

More about Examples Of Coming Of Age In Catcher In The Rye

Open Document