Chapter 1: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana In this chapter this song captures Holden's rebellious and disillusioned nature as he struggles with conformity and the phoniness of the adult world. Rebellion is a key factor in Holden’s character development. He has an interesting nature and world outlook due to the way he thinks. He does not see any value in conforming with those around him. In Chapter 1, Holden's disdain for the social order and his yearning for authenticity are echoed in the raw energy and defiant lyrics of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Chapter 9: "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day In Chapter 9, Holden's sense of alienation and his quest for companionship are reflected in the lyrics of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." In this song we listen to lyrics with feelings of loneliness and constant searching. In this chapter, we see Holden in this same sense of loneliness on a search to find companionship. These two show the different emotions a person might feel when searching for something you’ve been longing for. The song captures his feelings of loneliness and the constant search for a place where he truly belongs. …show more content…
Holden's internal struggle with his faith and spirituality is highlighted in Chapter 16. “Losing my Religion” is the perfect song for this chapter. Here we saw Holden having trouble finding any real reason to believe in religion or God. In the song we hear the artist metaphorically Losing his Religion, or rather losing his trust in his beliefs. We see these characters questioning their beliefs, both in extreme states of doubt and uncertainty. This song resonates with his questioning nature and the doubts he harbors about organized religion and the existence of
Holden had to cope with big changes without the support of anyone. Adjusting to a new way of life is difficult on its own, but without anybody being there to teach and support him, it becomes increasingly more problematic. As he is reflecting on his life he states, "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, an what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me," (3). He felt like he couldn’t talk about his life to anyone and open up because the people who are supposed to be there to love and support you were absent for him. Holden thought that he did not belong, he says, “how my parents were occupied”, they were never able to give him support so he considered himself to be all alone.
This repeated action of Holden’s clearly shows his desire to connect with the people he misses and cares about the most, but it also reveals that something is restraining him from reaching out to them for companionship, as his unreliable excuses fail to shield Holden’s true feelings. Holden’s fruitless consideration and excuses plainly display his hand held out for connection, but also the fact that something is pulling him back
Moreover, Holden struggles with feelings of disconnection and
Holden is a moral character who has been influenced by society’s expectations
So he gives up. After talking to several adults about this book, this moment became a huge wake up call for me as a reader. I was reminded that Holden is lost because he refuses to see the world for what it is, choosing to live in the fantasy that somewhere life is greater. He seeks a place where life is easy, where everyone sees the world through his eyes, where he must put forth no effort. This is immature and shows that as much as Holden views himself as a grown up, he has not reached maturity.
In summary, Holden searches for people to belong to in order to feel a sense of peace and
Another way that Holden is a typical teen is that he feels all these emotions that he can't hide because he’s a kid. Holden has felt depressed, hopeless, and stressed by having to grow up too fast, like most teens. Holden desires good connections with his siblings, proving that he feels love and compassion, even a bit of romance; he is just a teen that has grown up too fast. " About all I know is that I sort of miss everybody" (214). Holden in the book shows emotions and can't hold them back because he is like everyone else.
After his brother Allie died, the first thing Holden did was punch out all the windows in his garage. He also attacked Stradlater after he refuses to use Holden’s essay because he felt Stradlater was dissing Allie. Most grievers bargain with God, but Holden is not religious so he bargains directly to Allie, praying to keep him from disappearing. Holden Begins to feel adulthood as he’s maturing from childhood. He does not only grieve for the death of Allie, but also for the death of his childhood.
This leaves Holden feeling unwanted and out of place. He feels a wave of depression and loneliness wash over him that is so strong that it drives him to leave Pencey all together and take to the streets of New York to try to mend his broken
Holden is able to face his problems because he has met the psychological “need of belonginess and love needs” when reaching his goals (Maslow’s Hierarchy). After forming a stronger relationship with Phoebe, more of his psychological needs are met; Holden feels safe trusting his sister and becomes more affiliated with others instead of using isolation as a defense mechanism. Holden’s bohemian ideology on people around him is very similar to Chris McCandless from Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild. They both struggle to form connections with others and have relationship issues with their family. “He acted like it was it was hard for him to be around people...
This song tells the story of someone who believes they don’t belong where they are and feel an immense loneliness. “But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here?I don't belong here.” (Radiohead Creep) Holden feels socially and academically inferior to the other students at Pencey, therefore, he starts to become an outcast, ditching social gatherings and school events to be alone in his dorm room.
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.
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
These few lines from the book are a clear indication of Holdens loneliness. Holden didnt have a good explanation as to why he started crying out of blue, only to say himself that he was depressed and
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,