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Holden Caulfield Controversy

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Haley O’Neal English I 3/12/18 Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Sallinger, 1951 Catcher in the Rye is a fictional story by J.D. Sallinger that tells the story of sixteen year old Holden Caufield during the 1950s. It wasn’t clear as to where exactly the story took place, but it is inferred that Holden was narrating it from a mental hospital. Holden begins his story talking about how he is about to be expelled from Pencey Prep. He was failing four-out-of-five classes, and was not putting forth any effort. Holden’s parents were going to be informed of his removal from school the following week, so he was still living on campus. While he was enduring his last few days, his roommate, Stradlater, informed Holden that he was going …show more content…

He was immediately corrected by Holden, who said her name was Jane Gallagher. Holden had many fond memories with Jane, and was worried that they were going out with one another. Apparently, Stradlater had a reputation as a “player”. Holden was concerned that his only intentions with Jane were “unhonorable”. After Stradlater returns from his date, Holden and him got into a fight over what he had done with Jane. This causes Holden to pack his bags in the middle of the night and leave. He got on a train to New York, and stayed in a hotel for a while. While he was in New York, he met up with his younger sister, Phoebe. While Holden was in New York, he tried to get with a lot of women-all of his attempts failed. Holden is having a very difficult …show more content…

For example, he adequately portrayed Holden. I am assuming Holden had depression. A person with depression has many of the same traits as Holden. For example, suicidal thoughts, skepticisim, lack of motivation, etc. Sallinger did a fantastic job portraying the mental illness. I feel like one of the week points of the book is that it doesn’t have a specific plot it is just talking about Holden’s life, which could turn some potential readers away. I would reccommend this book to someone who is interested in reading a story about someone’s life; however, I would not reccommend this book to someone that can easily become depressed. While reading about some on Holden’s life, it is very easy to become sad. This book was a great read, and I am happy that I chose

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