A Duck Out Of Water Essay

Literature has always relied on techniques to catch the reader’s attention and format the story, and “the Catcher in the Rye” is no exception. Salinger brought many different writing styles into his novel to make it a bestseller. With his knowledge, Salinger was able to depict the persona of Holden to the reader without directly stating his characteristics. Salinger proves Holden is a lonesome figure who wanted to fit in but struggles to be accepted. The Catcher in the Rye depicts Holden as one who struggles with his sexuality and adulthood and wants to save children from adulthood because of the difficulties that it has brought himself. Salinger greatly expresses Holden through the use of metaphor, imagery, symbolism,

Another quote that shows that Holden is a victim of society is ¨I'd pretend I was one of those deaf mutes¨. ¨That way I wouldn't have to have any goddam stupid useless conversations with anybody¨ [Salinger] page 198. This quote demonstrates that Holden

Holden has very noble goals, he wants to protect children’s innocence. He says to his little sister “‘Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around-nobody big, I mean-except me. And I’m standing on the edge of

Holden is unable to accept realities of life because of his negative personality. He claims that many people are phony and that they try to do things to make them look better than they are. Holden also thinks of many things as depressing. “It was really nice sightseeing, if you know what I mean. In a way, it was sort of depressing, too, because you kept wondering what the hell would happen to all of them” (p. 123). Holden always finds a down side to a situation. He fails to recognize the good sides of life, and this prevents him from seeing advantages in adulthood that are not present in his life.

Throughout the novel, Holden attempts to find the true from of himself as he struggles with the social interactions around him. Due to the struggle and confusion that arouses from it,

Teenage years are difficult. Time tells this story of struggle again and again. The Catcher in the Rye is a classic novel showing the struggles a teenager goes through while transitioning into adulthood. The main character, Holden Caulfield, is a judgmental and temperamental boy who struggles to see the positivity in life. Throughout the story, Holden searches to find himself, as he feels forced to grow up. He holds onto aspects of his childhood and isolates himself so much that it is even harder for him to transition. J.D. Salinger uses the red hunting hat, the museum and cigarettes as important symbols in the story to convey the themes of transitioning from childhood to adulthood, loneliness, and isolation.

Many Americans think that people who are different than them in some way or another are inferior. Holden embodies this need for judgement with his feeling that all adults or other adult-like students are “phonies.” He thinks that because they are different than him, they are less than him. Holden rarely sees an adult that he does not think of as a phony, “It was very phony- I mean him being such a big snob and all” (Ch.12 pg. 110). Even though Holden admits that this piano player is very talented and humble he thinks that he is still a phony. This gives good insight into how Holden sees people around him. Like many people in America, Holden jumps to conclusions and judges people who are different than

This quote is from Holden’s conversation with Mr. Spencer. Mr. Spencer is his former history teacher, who has asked Holden to meet and discuss about the latter’s situation at Pencey. Mr. Spencer tries to understand Holden and is probably one of the few people who tries to point Holden in the right direction. This conversation is significant because Holden is lectured about the importance of playing by the rules. Likewise, through this talk, Holden shows his isolation and victimization. He identifies himself as the victim on the ‘other’ side of the game where everyone is against him. At this point, Holden shouldn’t have any grudges because he’s from a good family, and he’s a bright guy when he applies himself. His bitterness is also understandable as he’s only trying to protect himself from the perplexing games of the world.

This character is going to tell it like it is, and he does. The most powerful emotional standpoint in the story is when Holden goes to his sister’s elementary school to deliver her a note. While he is there, he discovers two words scribbled on the wall. “Fuck you.” Most people would look at that and think nothing of it. Some would bow their heads in shame at the person who thought it was funny. Others might laugh. Not Holden. He did not think about the normal persons response to the note. He thought about the child’s response. About how a little kid is going to see that seemingly meaningless phrase and wonder what it means; about how some dirty kid would explain what it meant; and about the person who wrote it and how they are destroying the childhood of everyone who reads the ‘harmless’ graffiti. This section takes the reader to the door of Holden’s mind. It is at this point that one truly understands his emotions.

He hides under a visage of a cool ‘bad boy’ trope, seeing the world through a heavy filter- to him, anyone who's anyone is a phony, a liar, or just plain bad, despite him judging many things he later goes on to do himself. Over the course of the book we come to see Holden has built an opinion of the world that shields him from the pains and complexities of life. The author displays Holden’s traits quite prominently, especially through his use of language; he writes as Holden speaks- vulgar, rambling, and easily derailed, jumping from idea to idea infinitely

The Catcher in the Rye was about Holden, who admires in children attributes that he struggles to find in adults to talk to him and he is undergoing treatment in a mental hospital. Holden Caulfield,who is 16 year old teenager went to three schools, but fails four of his five subjects only passed English he also struggles with the fact that everyone has to grow up. In the novel, Holden tells the reader through a few days of his life, in which he flaunts his hostile environments. Throughout the book,

In J. D Salinger 's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden, goes through many hardships in his journey to self-knowledge. In the beginning, Holden has to deal with being kicked out of school and not having any place to call home. He is also struggling with the unfortunate tragedy of the death of his beloved younger brother Allie. At the same time, Holden is trying to deal with growing up and accepting the adult world. Throughout the novel Salinger addresses the conflicts faced by a young man struggling with the trials and tribulations of growing up while also confronting personal loss and loneliness along the way.

    J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is the chronicle of a young man's metamorphosis from immaturity to unsure manhood. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist, is a sixteen-year old boy who leaves the prep school he has been expelled from to escape the frightening reality of dealing with his parents. However, during his visit to New York City he is faced with the harsh reality that he cannot continue to hold onto his childhood. Holden is an extremely complex character and it is only by examining each layer of him that the reader is able to understand his painful metamorphosis.

Holden Caulfield plays a timeless character in the sense that his way of life is common for the American teenager, in his time as well as now. Today parents dread the terrible and confusing adolescent years of their child's life. In J.D. Salinger's book, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is in this terrible and confusing point of his life. At this point in his life, as well as in modern teenager's lives, a transition occurs, from child to adult. Holden takes this change particularly rough and develops a typical mentality that prevents him from allowing himself to see or understand his purpose in life.

This passage proves that Holden is dissatisfied with the boys at his school, he believes they are fake and he does not social well with them. Although Holden doesn’t want to interact much, when he does end up interacting with people, he usually gets the short end of the stick. For instance he invites Ackley, a boy he meets at Pency Prep, along to the movies, but Ackley won't return the favor by letting Holden sleep in his roommate's bed. ‘“I’m not worried about it. Only, I’d hate like hell if Ely came in all of a sudden and found some guy-”’ (Salinger 49). Another instance is when Holden pays Sunny even though they don’t have sex, and ends up getting scammed. At a young age, Holden lost his younger brother, Allie. This had a huge traumatizing effect on him; Holden felt useless because he was unable to help his brother. Holden turns his emotions into anger; stating that he punched out all the windows in the garage. Another time Holden felt unable to help was when his peer, James Castle, was harassed and bullied, leading to James’s suicide. Holden says, “... and there was old James Castle laying right on the stone steps and all. He was dead, and his teeth, and blood, were all over the place, and nobody would even go near him. He had on this turtleneck sweater I'd lent him”’ (Salinger 170). Holden feels that society had