Holden Caulfield Loneliness

In the book, “The Catcher In The Rye” the author, J.D. Salinger, tells us a story through the eyes of a lonely young teen that hides his emotions. The young teen known as Holden Caulfield has a vexation so strong with society and the people around him,that it causes him to not only push others away, but in the process push himself away.

The very first example of loneliness that the author reveals about Holden, is at the beginning of the book, in chapter one page two, where we are told about the Pencey Prep football game. Holden tells us about how that day, he was supposed to be on a trip with the fencing team as their manager, but because he left their equipment on the train, they were able to return home earlier, in time for the football game. Holden describes the football game by telling us, “The game with Saxon Hall was supposed to be a very big deal around Pencey. It was the last game of the year. And you were supposed to commit suicide or something if old Pencey didn’t win.” When Holden says this, the reader automatically realizes just how important the game is

Salinger, is also a very lonely character who loved to ostracize himself. In the documentary, “Salinger”, we find out that as a married man who had a child, Salinger would go off into his own “barn” that he would spend days writing in. The constant spending of time in the barn, took it’s toll on his daughter, whom didn’t get many chances to spend time with her father. Another example of Salinger’s ostracization from the world is shown, when we are told about how after writing his book, “The Catcher In the Rye” he avoided the media completely and didn’t want fame for his work. He even went a far as to completely shut out everyone who knew him before and live an entirely new life, that did not include his family. Although, Salinger is right in his want to have some peace, he should have acknowledged the effect that his story had on the people that read