In many cases, people may be forced by external circumstances to make decisions that they would not have made if such circumstances did not present themselves. The results of such decisions can either have a positive or negative impact on the lives of an individual. Such a case is well presented in the story A &P by John Updike where the major character, Sammy is portrayed to be rebellious. His rebellion appears to have more disadvantages than advantages as it complicates his life in many cases, which leads him into making uninformed decisions. It is, therefore, true to say that Sammy's rebellion in the John Updike's A & P is more futile than heroic and only makes negative complications in his life.
Within the first few chapters and later on in the book, the author shows Holden’s emotions toward Stradlater very prominently. The author mainly keeps Holden’s thoughts in his head but other time Holden will lash out because of the circumstances. Holden is
The dialogue of spy fiction’s role in regards to detective fiction does tie somewhat into realism, which is connected to the useful properties of American detective fiction. It still, however, stands apart because the focus is on the lack of realism and the glorification of violence. Though these things are not wholly removed from the topic at hand, the—fairly lengthy—discussion feels misplaced. The result of the long detour to spy fiction is that it is “no more a clouded mirror than any other” (9). While this conclusion is intriguing, it seems as though it could be another article in its own right, and it lessens the strength of the thesis.
“A true piece of writing is a dangerous thing. It can change your life.” (47) This quote explains how a piece of writing pulled straight out of the past can be detrimental to how people think and how people live their lives. The narrator thought that if the writing is true about him, then the story is co-owned by him and others who relate to it. “Without pandering to your presumed desire to identify with the hero of a story, they made you feel that what mattered to the writer had consequence for you, too.” (5). This quote portrays how one relates to the hero and not the writer.
He wants to protect the innocence of the children by making sure that they will not fall off the cliff into the world of adultery, on accident. Throughout the story, Holden has always wanted to protect kids innocence, especially Phoebe’s. When he is in the stairwell of the school, he thinks to himself,” But while I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody'd written ‘Fuck you’ on the wall… I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it.. And then finally some dirty kid would tell them… what it meant...But I rubbed it out anyway, finally.”(Salinger 260-261). His care for other people’s innocence is shown whenever he thinks about Phoebe’s future reactions which is why she is
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.
The reader may recognize Christopher’s misunderstanding, resulting in different views of the events that takes place. For instance, even though Christopher creates a fear of his father because he think he is going to murder him, the readers can see that the way Christopher reacts is rather excessive. These different viewpoints gives the novel a sense of irony and a bit of comedy, as even some characters gets frustrated when they can’t get Christopher to understand them. This actually emphasizes the idea that people have their unique way of viewing the world. We might sometimes see Christopher as simply just ridiculous; we might also sympathize with Christopher and understand his struggles.
The eye of the beholder is the one that creates the society of their choice. Therefore, in the end of Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield is the problem, not society, but this is not a surprise because Holden is the most overly narcissistic and selfish characters to ever have the unwarranted and unnecessary fortune of having an entire book written about him. Holden’s perceptions of the world around him say more about him being the problem than society being the problem. Society is what people make of it, if a person surrounds themselves with counterfeit people than their society will appear to be counterfeit to them. Holden constantly complains about society and the world around him, it’s always too much for him, it’s always forgery.
The reason for this is because of the use of the first-person pronouns “I” and “We”. By using a central narrator in the novel this allows the reader to read the character, in this case Holden’s, thoughts although this limits the point of view in the novel with respect to experience and thoughts. Holden is believed to be a reliable character but in fact he is unreliable with inaccurate judgement and in often cases lies to himself and by doing this lies to the reader simultaneously. Holden even says, “I 'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. If I 'm on the way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody
He wants to be the only big person around in a rye field, near a cliff, to catch all the kids playing from running off the cliff. It is obvious from this statement that Holden wants to help children, but how can Holden when he cannot even take care of himself? A capable catcher would be somewhat like a counselor or social worker in the sense that they would help children from following a destructive path. A counselor or catcher must be honest, mature, responsible, motivated, and caring. Although Holden is caring, which is a quality that makes a good catcher; he still lacks many of the other necessary qualities to be a capable œcatcher in the rye.