Ideal And Reality In The Catcher In The Rye

Holden Caulfield is the narrator of Catcher in the Rye. He tells us about his life and describes his relationships with all the important people in his life. He just got kicked out of another school and does not want to go home. He just wanders from place to place. Holden has so many important people in his life. They all impact his life in different ways. Someone who plays a big role in Holden’s life, is Allie, his deceased younger brother. He impacts Holden because he was “the trigger” for all the chaos in Holden’s life, he makes Holden feel obligated to protect the innocence in children, and causes Holden to only want to live in the past.

Not many people realise that people come from different backgrounds and experiences, and therefore, people act stubborn. Many people fail to think through things and also fail to think through the possibilities. In the book, The Catcher in the Rye, it is heavily enclosed on regarding a 16-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield. The book goes through the memories he has, as many things are revealed about him and how he critiques, specifically, society. Holden is not an easy character to understand, which forces the reader to use clues and moments throughout the book to open up Holden. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden can be interpreted as a misanthrope because of his seclusion and hatred toward society.

In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield often refers to the people around him as ¨phonies.¨ Although he uses this word to describe almost everyone he meets, Holden never refers to himself as a phony. In reality, Holden Caulfield himself is the epitome of phony. He is a pathological liar, and he often pretends to be something that he is not.

In The Catcher in the Rye, it is observed that the novel is about grief. There are 5 stages of grief: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and finally acceptance. The Catcher in the Rye shows how Holden goes through the grieving process. By the end of the novel it shows how Holden has reached closure or a way to let go.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger has been a “banned” book several times, which means that a book has removed from the shelves. This story takes place in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Pencey is Holden Caulfield’s fourth school. He has formerly expelled out of three others, so he is planning on leaving this one as well, but he isn’t planning to return home to Manhattan until Wednesday. The cruelty that’s in the real world makes him unbearable to others, and through his sarcasm he tries to shield himself from all the pain, responsibility, and disappointment of the adult world. Sometimes, he shows phoniness, unkindness, and emptiness than anyone else in the book. Also, the dialect that the author gives Holden is inappropriate yet Holden has hatred that they’re vulgar words on the wall and that kids can be influenced by that and he wants to retain children innocent. As I was saying, the author gives Holden an inappropriate dialectal, for people in general, which for some people

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

Holden also has an abnormal perception of reality. This is demonstrated when Holden states, “Which always kills me. I’m always saying “Glad to’ve met you” to somebody I’m not glad at all I’ve met . If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff though” (Salinger 87) Holden lives in conformity doing things not because he wants to but because they’re the socially accepted. According to Freud’s theory this is because of Holden’s ego, stating, “ The ego operates according to the reality principle, the basis for operating in the world by taking into account what is practical and acceptable. The ego seeks to ways to satisfy the demands of the id without incurring social disapproval” (Nevid 470) Holden’s action do not represent his his true

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. Holden has the choice to either act like an adult or play like a child when he comes across a problem. But not surprisingly, he can’t choose which path to follow, so he stays stuck in the middle. This middle grey area of transitioning from childhood to adulthood for Holden is what is causing his problems and what is making his choices and decisions a lot harder.

He loves the innocence that children have and wants to protect that as much as he can. He sees how the world is full of phonies, lies, and people who care more about objects than people, and he wants to protect the children from ever losing their innocence. He doesn't like his older brother D.B. very much, calling him a phony at times, but he really likes his little sister Phoebe. He really wants to protect her innocence and keep her from becoming a phony for as long as he can. In addition, Holden has a younger brother, Allie, who died when he was very young and in Holden's mind Allie will stay innocent forever. It's why holden likes his little brother Allie so much, even though he isn't alive anymore. Another example of how holden tries to protect the innocence of children is when he sees the words “F**K YOU” written on the wall of phoebe's school bathroom. Holden states, “I kept picturing myself catching him at it, and how I’d smash his head on the stone steps till he was good and goddam dead and bloody.” (117) Holden shows here how he would literally kill someone to protect the kids from losing their innocence. Holden just wants to protect kids from every becoming obsessed with materialistic things and becoming phonies, he just wants to save them from the loss of their

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.

Usually considered a controversial novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger can often express the feelings of being an outcast and the desire to find a meaning in the world. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel, though often complains of the phoniness of the world around him, has a way of creating a deeper meaning within the readers. While the truth may be that Salinger purposely set the story in such a way that the readers will be able to connect with Holden, not often do readers find it easy to do so. While Holden believes that everything around him are wicked and phony, there is part of him trying to protect the innocence of those not corrupted by such phoniness. Although Holden wants to protect and save the innocence of children, can he really do so if cannot protect himself and trust those around him. Though Holden believes the world around him is phony and wicked, and while he wants to be the catcher in the rye, catching those who will fall over cliff; Holden does not only want to save those children but he also wants to save himself.

It is the “phoniness” he wants to blame. Salinger used “phony” this word many times in the book and is one of the most famous word from “The Catcher in the Rye” and it accurately describes the human nature of most adults’. During Holden’s three-day-trip in New York, he has met and encountered with many characters who are pretentious and fake, from Mr. Spencer to Luce and Sally. In society people have to lie or be “phony” just to socialize, or impress someone. Holden is a judgemental person who keeps observing other people’s phoniness but never notices them in himself. He lies intensely throughout the course of the novel, starting from lying to Ackley at the very beginning of the book. From his sarcastic tone in his conversation with other people, readers can denote his own cynical view on the world. Holden views adulthood as phony, hypocritical and fake while childhood in his mind is a world of innocence, honesty, and joy. That is the main reason why he wants to be a “catcher in the rye” to protect and save all the children from falling into the phony adult world. Holden Caulfield’s despise of fakeness causes his resistance of growing into a more mature person, with the lack of ability to interact with other people, make him a

Catcher in the Rye is Holden Caulfield’s recounting of the weekend after he gets expelled from the umpteeth time form another private school. His name can be broken down to reveal his struggle to retain his happier childhood memories and innocence, to grow up, and to protect others from the difficulties of life.

We see Holden’s fear of phonies shine throughout The Catcher in the Rye. Why does he have this fear? Shouldn’t someone who acts tough and often brags know that they will never become a phony? The answer would be yes if Holden wasn’t so insecure. Holden’s childish ways cause him to never mature and figure out who he is as a person. We see many signs of Holden insecurities throughout the book, like the fact that he contradicts himself. An example of this would be when Sally and Holden are in the taxi and he tells her he loves her, he then counties to say, “It was a lie, of course, but the thing is, I meant it when I said it” (Salinger 139). Someone who is confident would not lie and play with the emotions of someone else. Another example of Holden contradicting himself would have to be when he hired Sunny, a

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.