Loneliness In The Catcher In The Rye
A Perspective on Loneliness in The Catcher in the Rye What should a person do if he or she is kicked out of boarding school? JD Salinger traces Holden, the main character in The Catcher in the Rye, on his lonely path after he is expelled from a boarding school. Salinger writes a tale about the coming of age of a teenager who pushes away all of his friends when he needs them the most. In The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger shows how Holden’s struggles with developing and maintaining friendships result from traumatic events in his past. The death of Holden’s younger brother, Allie, causes Holden’s struggles with developing and maintaining friendships. Allie died of leukemia about 4 prior. The reader learns more about Allie from when Stradlater asks Holden to write him a descriptive composition. Holden writes the essay on Allie’s baseball mitt. In the process of writing, Holden describes Allie’s characteristics. “But it wasn 't just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody” (Salinger 38). When Holden talks about Allie, he describes only positive qualities about his brother; this is in stark contrast to almost everyone else he describes. This emphasizes how important his younger brother is to him and shows he thought Allie was perfect. It also seems like Allie …show more content…
The theme of loneliness is demonstrated multiple times through Holden’s self destructive behaviors with his friends and family, his fear of rejection, and his rude behaviors and language when he feels rebuffed by a friend. As a result, Holden is confused, he is pushing his friends away, and his emotions are in disarray. Holden’s loneliness in The Catcher in the Rye illustrates what life would be like without friends, and reinforces how important friends are in
Analyzing The Conscious Mind Of Holden Caulfield
808 Words | 4 PagesAllie was Holden’s everything, he looked up to his brother and respected him. Holden never really had anyone to discipline him or tell him right from wrong. Even though Holden liked too seem as if he was already older then he actually is, he is still a young kid who needs his parents. Allie was Holden’s angel who took care of him while his parents couldn’t. Holden is a protagonist that has been through many harsh events throughout his
Examples Of Mental Illness In Catcher In The Rye
881 Words | 4 PagesThrough the traumatic life event that was the death of Allie, he was frozen in time psychologically, as the immature creature he is seen as now. The aforementioned habit of calling others phony is quite immature and childish, similar to how a child would call someone names when angered. “Traumatic life events can cause the child to become ‘stuck’ at a particular level of psychological development... s/he may, therefore, often seem immature.” (Hosier, 1) Allie’s death is something in Holden’s life that he has been unable to come to terms with, as he was never given closure.
How Does Holden Caulfield Contradiction
138 Words | 1 PagesWhile doing Stradlater’s assignment, Holden mentions his younger brother, Allie. Recalling Allie and his baseball mitt, Holden said, “he’s dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You’d have liked him” (Salinger 49). Holden showed a contrast and contradiction with this quote.
What Makes Holden Misunderstood
403 Words | 2 PagesThe loss of Allie links directly to Holden's loss of innocence. “…the night he [Allie] died…I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it…I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie” (Salinger 39). Salinger uses Holden
Examples Of Thematic Essay On The Catcher In The Rye
1107 Words | 5 PagesThe Catcher in the Rye Thematic Essay Imagine living a lonesome life, full of fear and little hope of better days to come. Imagine the toll this would take on a person’s life and how they develop as a person. For Holden Caulfield, the main character of J.D Salinger’s classic The Catcher in the Rye this, is his reality. Holden is a sixteen year old troubled boy suffering through major mental issues and living a rather a depressing life for a teenager. Throughout the novel he goes through many hardships that only worsen his depression making him feel hatred towards his seemingly hellish world.
Catcher In The Rye Theme Of Loneliness
602 Words | 3 PagesGretchen Rubin once said, “Negative emotions like loneliness, envy, and guilt have an important role to play in a happy life; they're big, flashing signs that something needs to change.” However, in The Catcher in the Rye there is no one who understands Holden’s loneliness, and Holden does not quite know how to express it. In his novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger develops the theme of loneliness through Holden’s need for human contact, suicidal thoughts, and his separation from others around him. One way J.D. Salinger expresses Holden’s loneliness is through his need for human contact.
Catcher In The Rye Grief Analysis
656 Words | 3 PagesThroughout 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 Caulfield Isolation
894 Words | 4 PagesThe novel The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, delves into the theme of alienation as a form of self-protection, through three main motifs which are embodied by the protagonist, Holden Caufield. Holden is a teenager struggling with finding “real” relationships, resulting in him continuously retreating into loneliness and frequently lying to most people he encounters daily. These actions carried out by Holden reflect the three main motifs of the story which are loneliness, relationships, and lying/deception. The nature of Holden’s actions within the novel displays his enigma of emotions, as he wants to speak to others and create relationships with them, but also says they are “phony” which pushes him back into his shell of isolation.
Catcher In The Rye Loneliness Analysis
1305 Words | 6 PagesLoneliness is a state many have experienced, but it is scarcely felt to the point of insanity and utter hopelessness. In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield’s loneliness is a self-defense mechanism from socializing with others, making it the greatest source of his pain. Though his loneliness is caused by uncontrollable external forces, it is only overcome by his own choice of introspection. Initially, Holden did not chose to be lonely.
Catcher In The Rye Allie's Mitt Analysis
779 Words | 4 PagesIn this quote he tells that his brother died. This shows his brother died when he was young. Furthermore he dies as an innocent child who was not exposed to the adult world or the “phoniness.” Allie's death was tragic to Holden but maybe, in some ways Holden wanted the death himself, he wanted to preserve his innocence. Another point that shows Allie's mitt represents innocence is when Holden says Allie used to read poems on his glove while playing baseball which he wrote before the game so he wouldn’t be bored.
Examples Of Change In Catcher In The Rye
1022 Words | 5 PagesAfter talking about his childhood memories with his brother he states, ¨He is dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You´d have like him.¨ Then after talking about Allie’s old baseball mitt he said, ¨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¨(43-44). Allie’s death is used to show the unexpected change that Holden had experienced during his life. Allie was only eleven when he died, and Holden was thirteen.
The Theme Of Isolation In Catcher In The Rye
1615 Words | 7 PagesIn the novel The Catcher In The Rye written by J. D. Salinger shows that Holden goes through his journey and is depressed because of his isolation from
Examples Of Loneliness In Catcher In The Rye
646 Words | 3 PagesYou don't need water to feel like you're drowning do you ? That is a question that many people ask when they are going through many obstacles and can not seem to overcome their problems. The water is used to represent isolation, loneliness, and alienation. To be isolated, alienated, and lonely you can either push yourself away from people or someone is making you be alone. Suffering from these things you may have some issues that make you feel that way.
Holden Caulfield Loneliness
1039 Words | 5 PagesThe Catcher In The Rye, Loneliness is the main topic of the book. Holden Caulfield is an outsider from the beginning , which makes it easier for him to feel lonely. The author wanted his readers to somehow connect with the book by making him a young teenage boy who is in a stage in his life where his is lonely. Just like how our youth today goes through stages of loneliness in their
Alienation And Self-Protection In Catcher In The Rye
664 Words | 3 PagesAlienation as Self-Protection in The Catcher in the Rye Throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye, there are many themes, motifs and symbols that emerge and develop along with Holden, the protagonist, and the plot. Though the most significant theme is alienation as means for self-protection. In many instances, Holden isolates and alienates himself from his peers and the world in order to protect his morals and his self-imposed superiority. The first evidence of this alienation occurs when Holden speaks to his history teacher, Mr. Spencer. While talking about Mr. Thurmer’s lecture, Holden begins to ponder the “right side”, stating “if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s the game about?”
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