ipl-logo

Misfit In The Catcher In The Rye

1418 Words6 Pages

In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger portrays a fascinating juvenile misfit character extensively named Holden Caulfield. Holden goes to school at the age of sixteen and is said to be a misfit in society. However, even though society is corrupt in some ways, Holden Caulfield is a misfit no matter if people say he is misunderstood in the eyes of society. To understand why the character Holden Caulfield is a misfit, it must be understood. A misfit is a person that is not suited or is unable to adjust to the circumstances of one's particular situation. 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, …show more content…

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

Show More
Related
80 Words | 1 Pages

In Catcher in the Rye very early on in the book Holden admits to being a liar. Yet, Holden embodies most of the archetypal truth-tellers in some form. Holden isn't necessarily deceiving the reader for any personal gain, nor is he flat out insane he's just a kid telling a story. Humans, in general, are unreliable narrators, teenagers especially so. The point of having the narrator(Holden Caulfield) is that it firmly places you into the story and with a perspective.

Read More
1493 Words | 6 Pages

The Catcher in the Rye In the novel The Catcher in the Rye J.D Salinger writes about a teenager struggling to find his place within the existence of the reality of others. Salinger creates shocking events that lay out the foundation of the the main character Holden Caulfield’s life in the novel. Salinger uses Holden’s characteristics throughout the novel such as Holden’s stubbornness to establish a much bigger theme in the book along with many other symbols.

Read More
744 Words | 3 Pages

In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a peculiar character portrayed as a skeptic living in “a world of phonies” in circa 1950. These personality traits can be seen through his doubts of society as well as his way of thinking and acting toward others. He also demonstrates a lack of responsibility adding to his role as a slacker. Holden flunks out of school repeatedly and has no desire to confront his parents. He mopes around the city for days, delaying the inevitable punishments he’s sure to get.

Read More
904 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, the protagonist Holden Caulfield demonstrates his unusual behaviour. The narrator introduces the story of an emotionally damaged teenager whose suspicions and personal issues prevent him from being “normal” in a society full of phonies that he does not seem to get along with. It becomes clear that Holden has clouded judgement as he rides an emotional rollercoaster of mood swings with the people he likes, and dislikes. Therefore, it becomes obvious that some of his personal flaws include his distrust, depression, and unreasonable attitudes and thoughts are based on his underlying emotional problems. Holden Caulfield has a variety psychological problems, such as his skepticism, depressive behaviour, and

Read More
714 Words | 3 Pages

While reading this book, one may notice that the main character Holden calls almost every character that we meet phonies. Never once in the book did Holden call himself a phony. The word phony was used 48 times throughout this entire novel making it one of the top 5 words used in this book. The Catcher in the Rye is a novel written by J.D. Salinger. This book is narrated by the main character Holden Caulfield.

Read More
1308 Words | 6 Pages

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).

Read More
1400 Words | 6 Pages

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

Read More
1142 Words | 5 Pages

The beginning of Holden’s journey starts with the innocence and naivety of childhood. Childhood is the stage that ignorance is bliss with no care in the world. Holden goes to a prestigious boarding school for boys and he believes that everyone in that school is a phony in some way. Holden is an observant character as he stays in the background, but he can also cause the most trouble. Like a child, he asks many questions and he is very curious to the point that he can be annoying.

Read More
1157 Words | 5 Pages

-Does Holden have a “tragic flaw” or is he a victim of society? The Catcher in the Rye, is a fascinating masterpiece of American literature. The story revolves around the main character Holden, a teenager who was lived a complicated stage of his life. However the book, consist of peculiar problems and unique thoughts that characterized the plot and the protagonist.

Read More
1378 Words | 6 Pages

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual”. In the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield’s lies become habitual throughout the book. Holden is a sixteen-year-old boy, who has been kicked out of several schools including, most recently, Pencey Prep. Holden’s younger brother, Allie, died when Holden was only thirteen and his older brother is too busy working for Hollywood to care about Holden. Although his mother cares immensely for him, Holden saddens her by failing academically.

Read More
754 Words | 4 Pages

Even though Holden is sometimes honest, most of the time he confirms that he is a “pathological liar”, which demonstrates that he is a phony. Holden Caulfield is a phony because he frequently lies to those around him and regularly pretends to be something that he is not. He continually lies about insignificant subjects, such as his name. On multiple occasions he pretends to be tough, even though in reality he feels weak. Even though Holden is honest to those he loves and speaks frankly about his true emotions, these few truths do not outweigh his frequent lying and pretending to be a different person than he really is, which, overall, results in the conclusion that Holden Caulfield is a

Read More
858 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
779 Words | 4 Pages

Furthermore, Holden starts to hate all the adults or loses faith in them, calls them phony. Holden has a second thought of becoming an adult he loses hope in his future and it seems to him nothing in the world matters to him anymore. We can see that throughout the book. He smokes, gets drunk, and does daring acts like getting a prostitute in his room. He also tries to escape all this guilt and grief by wasting time with unnecessary people he calls phony.

Read More
1002 Words | 5 Pages

Sobrado, 1 Alexandra Sobrado 1B August 30, 2016 Who Runs the World...? Phoniness Holden Caulfield has a unique way of thinking, when he sees people he instantly begins to think they are phony. Throughout the whole book Holden calls everybody a phony, he thinks that everybody is fake. One example is Ackley. He begins to tell everybody about his summer and how he almost hooked up with a girl.

Read More
379 Words | 2 Pages

Hypocrites conceal their true identity to judge others based on their own ideals, yet neglect to follow the same values themselves. The book The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, is a coming of age story featuring a character named Holden Caulfield. Holden has recently been expelled from his school, Pencey Prep, when the story begins and follows him on his procrastinated journey home. Holden believes that everyone should abide by his standard of be who they really are, and anyone who is slightly dishonest or genuine is a “phony”. Throughout the novel he constantly judges other people and the world from his perspective of how everything should be, yet he fails to realise his own flaws.

Read More

More about Misfit In The Catcher In The Rye

Related Topics

Open Document