In the novel, A Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield, narrates his experience during a two-day period of the previous December that led to his eventual hospitalization. Holden is 16 years old and is suffering from depression, mood swings and general poor health due to his chronic smoking habit. He has a history of school expulsions due to his failing grades and has recently learned that he will no longer be attending his prestigious boarding school, Pencey Prep for the same reason. Holden is from New York, and has a younger sister Phoebe that he is fond of. Within the first chapter of the novel, the reader learns that Holden also has a younger brother, named Allie, who died of Leukemia on July, 19, 1946. Holden has since been unable to properly cope with this traumatic loss and suffers from depression and fails to succeed socially and academically as a …show more content…
I thought I’d just go down, down, down, and nobody's ever see me again. Boy did it scare me,” (217). Holden then begins to ask Allie to save him from this abyss he feels he is falling into. His feelings are similar then to how he describes his desire to be “The Catcher in the Rye”. saving children from falling to their deaths. Holden wants to save people from the world, more specifically children, like his brother Allie. This is evident when he is walking to get Phoebe at school and he sees the curse words on the school steps. Holden becomes angry the words are there because he doesn’t think kids should have to look at those words, are understand the meaning they convey. He doesn’t want kids growing up and having to deal with death and lost love. These are things Holden internally wrestles with and wants to ensure kids don’t have to deal
The loss of his older brother and the absent parents have really affected Holden’s behavior. He lives a life without any care but with exception of younger children. Holden has a fascination with younger children and their innocence possibly because he wasn’t able to enjoy his adolescent years and nor did his brother. Holden mentions “‘Every time I'd get to the end of a block I'd make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I'd say to him, "Allie, don't let me disappear.
The catcher in the rye tells the story of Holden Caufield, a teenage boy who recently got kicked out from his fourth school. Holden decides to leave the school before he is scheduled to and wanders around New York. Holden shows many symptoms of depression throughout the novel such as, disengaging from activities, not doing his school work and having no interests or hobbies. Holden shows little to no change throughout the novel and does not develop as a character. Holden’s flight reaction is something that stays with him throughout the book.
However, there are solutions to help with anxiety. Holden would recover best if he sees a therapist and spends time at home, instead of boarding school. He will be able to have multiple people talk to about his struggles. The therapist can help him learn different ways to deal with anxiety and PTSD. The New York Times explains how talking about personal issues to others will help them cope with the problems they are dealing with.
From breaking windows to the present, Holden's grief from losing his brother and the inability to accept reality is evident to readers and how it affects his present day.
The reason that Holden Caulfield is always trying to stop kids from growing up in the first place is because he want’s to protect them, and shelter them from the bad things in the world. By the end of the novel Holden realizes that he can’t protect kids all the time or save their innocence. Holden comes right out and say’s that you can’t protect kids, or their innocence when Phoebe is riding the carousel toward the end of the book, Holden says “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them". This quote is one reason that proves Holden was successful throughout his journey in the
This means that he wants to protect children from the nasty adult world, and to protect their innocence. " 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 and all " (p.156).From this quote you can see, this is what his purpose is. Due to alienating himself, he finds out that he want to help kids and protect them because they are the only real people in the world according to Holden.
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.
Holden’s Struggle To Find Himself: Throughout the novel, The Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden struggles to find himself and who he truly is in order to be happy. His struggles relate to many things that he does or say in particular. Holden lacks with a social status with women and his family, whether it’s a relationship or being antisocial. Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield experiences the complexities and struggles involved with both physical and emotional relationships.
While Holden does not always directly tell us, he implies that he has not had the best childhood. The events that Holden has gone through, have caused him to act up and look at life in this way. As a child, Holden’s brother, Allie died resulting in Holden smashing the windows in the garage, and being put in a hospital and missing the funeral. Allie’s death really shook up Holden. While not directly telling us, Holden has dropped some hints that there has been some form of abuse in his childhood, “That kind of stuff’s happened to me about twenty times since I was a kid.
This quote was delivered after Holden sees a “Fuck you” in both Phoebe's school and in a museum. The significance of this is that these two places are most likely to be filled with children, which means that Holden is aggravated by the miscreant trying to taint the minds of the otherwise oblivious and naive children. Holden rubbed off the obscenity in the school, but only in the museum does he display his actual temperament towards those who would disturb an otherwise tranquil place. In short, Holden is idealizing what a perfect world would be.
Holden says that all he want to do is be the catcher in the rye protecting children from falling. The whole novel Holden makes observation around him that are taking away from children's innocence. This is what upsets him the most the fact that everyone will eventually have to grow up. While he is trying to go get Phoebe he is reminded this in the following quote. “I went down by a different staircase, and I saw another "Fuck you" on the wall.
She makes Holden reconsider his actions and his aspirations, causing him to come to terms with his desire of being a “catcher in the rye,” keeping children from falling off of a cliff. This represents him wanting to keep
Throughout the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a deep character that shows(possesses) many personality traits. His character is what connects many readers to him and helps in understanding him. Some character traits Holden possesses are that he is generous, kindhearted, usually honest, very intelligent, makes quick judgements, speaks his mind, is anxious about change, and likes kids. Considering his many character traits, it is easy for the reader to understand and relate to Holden. There are many character traits that I share with him.
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
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.