In the novel, Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist Holden is forced to face with the reality of growing up though he is trying to hold on to his innocence of childhood. Salinger uses many rhetorical strategies to reveal how Holden deals with being faced with the adult word. Whenever Holden is verbally confronted with not facing his adult problems he always denies it, he gets very defensive in his words. “ Yes I do. Yes I do. Sure I do. Don’t say that. Why the Hell you say that?” (Salinger 8) Holden constantly feels the need to verbally reassure himself. This is because he really doesn't know what he feels and he is at this moment going through a breakdown. He is also in front of his younger sister who has so much innocence so he must keep confirming the positive and not ruin her innocence by telling her what is really going on. …show more content…
He is too focused thinking about a boy named James castle. James Castle committed suicide in Holden's sweater. “Instead of taking back what he said, he jumped out the window” (Salenger 42). Holden states this in the most simple way possible. Even though he knew this person and they were acquaintances, he states his death more like a story he heard about a stranger rather than a person he knew. “He was dead” (Salinger 49). Holden refuses to let emotion into this story because he doesn’t know how to deal and or react to it. The fact that he was wearing Holden’s sweater when he committed suicide also confuses him. “He had on the turtleneck sweater i’d lent him” (Salinger 51). Holden states this so simply as well because he refuses to actually think of why it had to be his sweater. The fact that he wore the sweater while committing suicide ties holden to this problem, and makes Holden even more confused and so when thinking about it he doesn’t go into any deep
Noah Pedrazzoli Mr. Krajca English 9 HR 30 March 2017 “The Catcher in the Rye” essay Why Can’t Holden pass as an Adult Have you ever felt the pressure of Adulthood closing in and felt that you would never fit in as one? Did you ever feel Childish or immature? In J.D Salinger’s novel “The Catcher in the Rye” Holden Caulfield is in the midst of a mental break down because of the pressure of Adulthood. After being expelled from yet another school, Holden Caulfield goes to New York City to experience the “Adult life”, but he just can’t fit in.
J.D. Salinger uses varying diction and syntax in “The Catcher in the Rye” to create mood and tone throughout the novel. The specific choice of words (diction) that the author uses contributes to the characterization of Holden Caulfield. The use of profane and jargon-like word choice encapsulates the voice of the teenage narrator Holden. Holden’s informal diction emphasizes his immaturity and allows the reader to learn more about Holden’s character. Holden often uses the word “and” in a repetitive manner which gives the reader a child-like impression of Holden.
To begin with, one of the most common characteristic found in teenagers including Holden, is a desire for independence. Throughout the story, Holden is struggling with many issues and problems in his life, but he is one of these teenagers that like to deal with the problems in life on his own, without asking for assistance from his parents. For example, in the story Holden has problems dealing with everyone and everything at his school (where he is failing out anyway) and decides on his own to give up for now and drop out. He thinks that he can wait for the next school year to start, so he can start all over again with a clean slate. However, he decides not to go home and see his parents for a few more days, so his parents would not know
His brother’s death however was not his only literal encounter with death. The second death was that of James Castle, Holden’s Classmate at Elkton Hills School. He jumped out of the window when he was mercilessly bullied by some classmates of his and ended up dying. “He was dead, and his teeth, and blood, were all over the place. He had on this turtleneck sweater I 'd lent him” (Salinger 2010 : 92), although Holden didn 't know James well enough his death still left a mark on him.
These two struggles are what causes Holden to realise his purpose is being a catcher in the rye. His struggle to adulthood is quite evident. Holden states that the adult world is a nasty and horrible place, he thinks that the adult world is very phony, fake, and corrupt. These are words he uses quite often to describe the adult world, proving that he despises the thought of being an adult.
Holden recalls the time he spent the night in his garage: “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. It was very stupid I have to admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie (Salinger, 39).” His denial is represented when he does not admit why he did what he did to the garage. Holden
Holden lies as a result of his depression, in order to hide the fact that he’s lonely and bored with his life, to divert any questions which he believes are too personal, and to create his own reality. In this way, Salinger illustrates how, during difficult times, people resort to lying as a coping mechanism. In the beginning of the story, Holden lied to divert questions in order to protect his personal information.
Holden Caulfield, in the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, is an ideal transcendental hero. Though the question here is to what extent is Holden a transcendental hero. Holden’s way of being can be hard to understand, he has those “soft” moments where he seeks for his sister for comfort, or his red hunting hat, but most of all, a baseball glove that belonged to his younger brother, Allie who passed away. Other time, it’s the complete opposite, he goes for cigarettes, or alcohol. Another way that helps him with his moments, is going out into nature and relaxing.
He has trouble growing up and accepting life as it is. Holden thinks adults are "phony" which makes him hate the fact of growing up and staying innocent as much as he can while he is old enough to become an adult. He is frustrated with the world and people which makes him act with anger. His innocent childish dream is to be the Catcher in the Rye, to catch the kids before they become phonies like Holden says about adults. The moment he realizes that he cannot keep kids from falling or in other words, from growing up and becoming adults, he, reaches adulthood, and takes a big step towards it at the end of the novel.
In every novel around the globe you can find carefully constructed paragraphs, written by the author to send a specific message to the readers. In The catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, one particular section overflows with symbolism, metaphors, and hidden messages. By analyzing the passage’s diction, setting, and selection of detail it is possible discern the less overt statements hidden in the text and reveal the turbulent nature of the main character, Holden Caulfield. The diction of this passage appears to be the key in unraveling Holden’s mood swings.
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.
The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” was about the journey of a adolescent boy finding his way to adulthood. In the book Holden Caulfield was unsuccessful in finding his way to adulthood. Holden’s attitude in the novel throughout his journey was very immature. He also can't accept the fact that innocence can’t be forever protected. Lastly, Holden calls everyone a phony when in reality he is the real phony.
While in school, Holden also witnesses someone dying, a kid was being bullied and then committed suicide by jumping out a two story window. Holden heard the kids body hit the ground and witnessed him laying on the cement with blood everywhere. That also played a factor in the way he
In The Catcher in the Rye, the author J.D. Salinger, introduces the protagonist; Holden Caulfield. Holden feels the sense that he cannot choose between the two worlds. For example, he makes it seem as both of them are complete opposites from each other. In the book, Holden wants to keep his innocence, but he also wants to grow up and toss that innocence away. He still keeps his childhood personality by constantly obsessing over things that shouldn’t matter.
The hardest part about growing up is letting go of the past and moving on to the unknown. For Holden he can’t let go for his childhood; he is stuck in his childhood not knowing how to let go of his past. The past was hard for him, but he keeps staying in the past and it is pulling him down. According to J.D. Salinger in “The Catcher in the rye”, growing up is an important issue in the real word, and he exemplifies this message through characterization.