Ideal and Reality
Everyone has an idea of an ideal world, particularly children. When children grow up, they start to realize that the reality is different from their ideal world. While children go through the adolescent stage, they will act differently than normal and have to handle huge changes both mentally and physically. This is demonstrated by the main character Holden Caulfield, in the Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger. Holden Caulfield, a sixteen year old boy, grows up and he realizes that the real life is very different from his ideal world due to him going through his brother Allie’s death and his transition to adulthood. Holden goes through a serious grieving process by constantly observing people and calling them “phonies,” phoniness means talking and acting fake in front of people by his definition. He always talks hostile towards others and uses negative language because he can’t connect with surrounding people due to his high standard, which includes Holden’s comparison between his brother Allie’s genuine personality and other people’s phoniness. Holden grieves Allie’s death by resenting the world full of phonies and regrets that he couldn’t save his brother and tries to make up for his guilt by saving the innocent.
…show more content…
He wants to save all the innocent people because of the guilt from his brother’s death. Even though there would always be phonies in reality, there would be the Catcher in the Rye arises. For example, when people meet each other for the first time, it’s not genuine because they just greet each other to be polite. Though the reality is different from what Holden imagines, God will give him a chance. What he imagines is an ideal world of people who are genuine and sincerely nice, where in reality doesn’t exist. As Holden grows up as an adult in future, he will have the ability to be the Catcher in the Rye, to protect those who need to be
In more depth, this quotes shows his need to save children like his sister phoebe or his dead brother Allie from losing their childhood innocence and becoming adults which he believes are all phonies. In reality, Holden is one person so he can not be the catcher in the rye; despite that he keeps trying to be till he reaches a loin where he is truly lost in touch with reality and blinded. He does however realize that in the back of his mind, which is what leads him on such a destructive path of competing with himself constantly on meeting the idea he believes he is. He does this by drinking, smoking, becoming involved in fights and even attempting to have meaninglessness sexual encounters. However in the end he comes to the realization that he can not be the catcher in the rye despite what he’s done, and what triggers this realization for him is when he sees the word “Fuck you” on the walls of phoebe’s school.
During the narrative, Holden is irrealistic with what he wants out of life. “I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be.” (ch. 22
Throughout a child 's life, sooner or later they get thrown into the teenage experience which starts their transition from childhood to adulthood. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield is stuck in his childhood and does not want to grow up. He is a very complex character and has an odd way of dealing with his emotions; he doesn 't. When Holden is faced with a problem, instead of facing it and slowly working his way through it, he tries to get rid of it entirely. He does not want to be thrown into the real world and will do anything to not be put in those “adult like situations”. I believe that Holden’s issues arose about the time when his younger brother Allie passed away due to leukemia when he was only eleven.
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.
Throughout the book, Holden is struggling to get by. The death of his brother Allie has left him in a tough spot. Holden doesn’t exactly know how to deal with this. The different stages of grief are represented through Holden. Holden shows denial and anger when he flashbacks to one of his memories after his brother’s death.
To expand upon, Holdens overarching fear of letting other people know the real him is rooted to his ideal that he is not desirable. Significantly, Holden subconsciously is aware of his sadness since he discusses the tumor in his brain, which the reader can connect to his toxic, bitter thoughts that filter through his mind daily. Therefore, every time Holden starts to uncontrollably lie to others, he is also deceiving himself as a way to try to convince himself that he is not as sad as his mind makes him believe. Above all, one of Holden’s origins of his depressive case is by reason of his compulsive
Holden’s answer was, “‘I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff--I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye(191). Holden wanting to be the catcher in the rye is a good dream to have but it is also an immature dream because he cannot catch everybody that falls off the cliff, which can also be seen as trying to save the children's innocence.
In conclusion, Holden is a phony because because he pretends to be someone that he is not, he contradicts himself, and he blames others for things that he is responsible for. Holden, making such a big deal about phonies ended up being one. This shows that no matter what you do, the society will always play a big role in influencing one’s behavior and the way that one
In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Holden Caulfield’s story is seemingly aimless and without any sense of direction. However, Salinger brings the novel into focus in the final chapters by introducing the idea of being the “Catcher in the Rye” from the poem by Robert Burns. Holden confesses to Phoebe his desire to be a “Catcher,” but the definition of this role is only given in a short exposition. A “Catcher in the Rye” can be defined unofficially as a person that is a savior of others and exhibits the qualities of control and bravery. The Catcher is meant to save people from going over the fictitious cliff that Holden imagines.
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.
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
Holden’s obsession stems from his fear that he may become a phony one day. So, he spends the book running from adulthood by doing childish things and struggling to keep his life from changing. We see Holden’s fear of phonies shine throughout The Catcher in the Rye. Why does he have this fear?
Purpose: To show how a small change in choice could affect holden’s life The Catcher in the Rye is about Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy from New York. The novel starts with Holden, writing in his book, hinting that he is in some sort of mental facility .Even though he comes from a wealthy family,because of his loss of interest in studies,and low grades, he gets expelled from all schools he has studied in .Holden leaves his final school, Pency Prep and decides that he will stay in New York City until his parents learn of his expulsion and “cool down” .Most of the novel is dedicated to Holden’s time in the city, Holden lives in a hotel room for a few days during his stay .Holden then starts meeting with people that he used know, some strangers and goes to places with. From his conversations, he
This describes Holden to-a-t, because of his alienation problem, his conflict with “phoniness” and his struggle of growing up and leaving his small problems behind him. Throughout the novel,
Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, embodies the classic teenager in the process of discovering himself, and how the world works. But, regardless of Holden 's rich, prep school lifestyle, the series of events that have mapped out his life up to this point have utterly affected his emotional well being and perception of the world. Many traumatic events such as the death of holds brother Allie, the death of a class mate, and countless numbers of awkward incidents with adults have all added up to affects Holden 's well-being and detach him from reality. The death of Holden 's younger brother Allie has caused him to confuse his perception of reality and to alienate himself.