Holden Caulfield has often been depicted as rebel against the norms of 1950s American society by the readers of The Catcher in the Rye because of his desire to escape society and by rejecting the ideal of the American dream that societal institutions attempt to instill within him. However, throughout J. D. Salinger 's novel, the 16 year old’s anguish and actions reflect that he is still coming to terms with the death of his younger brother, Allie. Due to his grief, Holden is someone who cares more about assisting and protecting children and because of this, resists considering his own place within society and the process of becoming an adult. Through Holden’s recollections of his deceased brother, his interactions with children, and how he changes when interacting with his younger sister, it is evident that Holden wrestles with the expectations placed on him to grow up because he wishes to retain and preserve childhood innocence within others to cope with his grief.
Holden, who has been consistently disdainful of the ‘phonies’ in his family like D.B. and those he interacts at Pencey Prep at the beginning of the novel, shows rare pathos in the way he describes the personality of his younger brother: Allie Caulfield. He genuinely believes that Allie was, “the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways” (p. 38) which is high praise from a teenager who often refers to people as ‘crumby’. Allie, persevered in the past with the nostalgia and
Through Holden’s complicated journey of attempts to reach out to find companionship, or even just someone to talk to, someone he commonly mentions seeming to bring him a sense of comfort is his little brother, Allie, who passed away during Holden’s childhood. Allie is someone Holden deeply cares about, if not the person he cares about and loves the most. One way this is demonstrated is through a writing piece he did for a friend at his old school, Pencey, in which he described the only thing he has left of Allie: “I wrote about my brother Allie’s baseball mitt… You’d have liked him. He was two years younger than I was, but he was about 50 times more intelligent… He was also the nicest, in lots of ways” (49).
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger uses the main character Holden Caulfield to portray the loss of innocence. Holden is a teenage boy who struggles with adulthood and the innocence of being a child. Through Holden's experiences, Salinger shows that the loss of innocence can be painful and difficult, but it is also necessary for personal growth and maturity. Holden's journey towards loss of innocence is shown by several events, such as his expulsion from Pencey Prep School and his roams in New York City. Holden's expulsion from Pencey is a turning point in the novel, as it marks the beginning of his realization that he can no longer hold on to the innocence of childhood.
Unlike past generations teens today find it hard to relate to someone who is the same age as them. The Catcher in the Rye is a book written by J. D. Salinger with a boy named Holden as the main character. Holden is a 17 year old who got kicked out of Pencey. Holden through the book becomes more depressing and doesn’t take care of himself, he goes days without sleeping and eating and get’s suicidal thoughts. Holden has a little sister named Phoebe, Holden loves Phoebe, Holden wants to protect Phoebe's innocence and every child’s innocence.
In the book, The Catcher in The Rye, Holden Caulfield narrates his journey from his expulsion from high school to New York. In the beginning of the book, Holden Caulfield is very apathetic to his academics and fails out of school; however, by the end of the book, Caulfield begins to realize this through his conversations with his teachers Mr. Spencer and Mr. Antolini. A major change Holden experiences are when Phoebe asks to run away with him. He denies her request aggressively and makes her cry which goes against his beliefs of keeping the innocence of children intact and refraining from stopping their fun. Caulfield also changes in his philosophy of being “the catcher in the rye” when at the carousel, he says that he feels children should be left to grab the gold rings at the carousel.
Reveals about situation: This quotes shows an outside perspective about Holden and his future. Many outsiders can gather that Holden is wasting his life away by not applying himself. The thing is, Holden is already dying because of this unworthy cause. Specifically, he is letting his disorder control him and as a result, he gives up and terminates his goals. He is not physically dying, but he is internally dying because he cannot motivate himself to achieve happiness and a sense of accomplishment.
The period of transition between adolescence and adulthood can diminish one’s innocence and positive outlook of life. The Catcher in the Rye depicts a seventeen year old boy’s struggle as he deals with the the hopelessness and tragedies of reality. J.D. Salinger weaves together a wistful novel that details the depressing life of Holden Caulfield. Through his creative usage of simple syntax, mundane setting, and relatable diction, Salinger concocts a story so wonderfully written that the reader feels the same heartache and anger that Holden does. Salinger combines the understandable diction with very simple and straightforward syntax.
From the outset, I have to say that “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger has been one of the most important and influential pieces of literature I have ever read. At its core, the book is a superb coming of age novel which discusses several extremely powerful themes such as the difficulties of growing up, teenage angst and alienation and the superficiality, hypocrisy and pretension of the adult world. These themes resonated deeply with me and were portrayed excellently through the use of powerful symbolism and the creation of highly relatable and likable characters. One such character is Holden Caulfield whom the story both revolves around and is narrated by.
The only motivator that Holden has to continue living is his younger sister, Phoebe, who is extraordinarily intelligent for her age. After he gets kicked out of Pencey, Holden is lost in life. He speaks to many people, seeking advice and comfort, but they are not able to help him find a human connection. Holden’s depression increases throughout the novel, almost to the point of suicide. He criticizes many people and ideas, labeling them as ‘phony’.
During therapy, Holden recalled numerous events where he would act cynical towards 'phony ' people. Although acting mean towards people you don 't like may seem somewhat relatable, the extent of Holden 's skeptical behavior was simply beyond comprehensive. Holden always tries finds errors in companions he wishes to relate with, but as a result of the discovery of these flaws, he ends up breaking relationships. I remember him talking about a couple of people in particular, one of them being his own brother, D.B.. "
Catcher in the Rye In the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, the narrator and protagonist Holden Caulfield a sixteen year old junior undergoes a series of changes. Holden learns multiple life changing lessons; one of them is you must grow up. In the beginning of the novel, Holden starts out as “that kid”; the one with the parents who expect him to get into an ivy league school, and end up with a kid with no intentions of doing so. At the beginning of the book it is very apparent that Holden lacks motivation; he also has hit rock bottom.
J.D Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye, follows the main character, Holden Caulfield, and his experiences that lead him to be talking to a mental therapist. Told through Holden’s eyes, his profane and blunt explanations of major moments in his life allow readers to see that Holden is not crazy but is actually struggling with transitioning from child to adult. Throughout the story, he fondly remembers his early childhood and is trying the best he can to run from adulthood. He fears that he, like so many around him, may become phony when he becomes an adult. This fear drives his actions and gives him a feeling of hatred toward phony adults and a feeling of obligation to shield children from the harsh adult world.
Throughout “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger, Holden Caulfield shows great difficulty making long and meaningful connections with other people. Holden believes he is the normal one but it is actually the other way around. He holds on to a deep emotional road block of the death of his innocent brother Allie. Holden keeps this dragging around with him which causes him to veer from connecting and having a long term relationship with others.
She is very dear to Holden and is almost like his best friend. Allie Caulfield is Holden’s younger brother who had tragically died at age eleven from leukemia. Holden used to be very close to Allie due to them only being two years apart. ‘Till that day, Holden still kept Allie’s left-handed baseball glove from when he was very young.
In Catcher in the Rye, the narrator Holden Caulfield grew up with a troubled childhood. The premature death of his brother Allie forced him to grow up at an early age, and he soon developed a very cynical, pessimistic view of the world around him. Accordingly, he adopted a darker, sulky mood, and called many of the people around him for being phony. Holden believes that many people in his world are not showing their true colors, and are actually dark and corrupt behind their happy, joyous exterior.
In J.D. Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield undergoes a perpetual encounter with growing up or otherwise remaining innocent, provoked by his deceased brother Allie and little sister Phoebe. Holden’s unwillingness to grow up is often perplexed by Allie’s death and his own inability to transition into adult hood. As Holden deliberates his admirations with his sister, he states, “I like Allie”, revealing his continuous glorification of his long time dead brother (Salinger 222). Although this exaltation is visualized as an act of adoration towards Allie, in this instance, it can be seen as Holden averting from the outlying truth that he must move on from his parted brother. Accepting Allie’s death correlates with the first step