Catcher In The Rye Analysis

In the first chapter of this novel, we get introduced to the protagonist and narrator of the novel, Holden Caufield, from a rest home in which he has been sent for therapy. He refuses to talk about his early life, although he does explain that his older brother “D.B” sold out to writing for Hollywood. His story and breakdown begins in the school of Pencey Prep, a boarding school set in Pennsylvania. The setting for the early chapters in the narration is his "terrible" school, to which he describes the atmosphere to be “as cold as the December air on Thomsen Hill”. Holden’s student career at Pencey Prep has been destroyed by his refusal to apply himself. We know this after Holden explains he failed four of his five subjects, passing only English. Due to his lack of effort and determination, he was forbidden to return to the school after the term. The Saturday before Christmas vacation began, Holden overlooked the football field, where Pencey usually

The death of Holden’s brother Allie at a young age adds to Holden’s negativity as well as stopping Holden from accepting inevitable change. Allie dies immaturely of leukemia. “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” (p. 39). Holden is in the hospital because he broke his fist, and he was unable to attend Allie’s funeral. Holden has trouble accepting Allie’s death because he never said goodbye to Allie. His relationship with Allie is similar to his maturity. Just as Holden is unable to accept his brother’s death, Holden is not able to accept that

Holden is an immature person but also one with a cause and a mindset. Not because he is thinking of committing suicide, but because he is just letting life run by and pointing out the things he hates in life. When in reality, a second later he does the things he hates himself, proving to the

Secondly, most teenagers have struggles grieving for the loss of of their loved ones. Holden struggles multiples of times to grief for the death of his younger brother, Allie, who died at the age of 11 due to leukemia. Holden writes about Allie for Stradlater’s english homework and tells the reader, “He was terrifically intelligent. His teachers were always writing letters to my mother, telling her what a pleasure it was having a boy like Allie in their class...But it wasn’t just that he as the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anyone...I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because i broke all the windows in the garage. I don 't blame them. I really don 't. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the

J.D Salinger expresses Holden growing up in a vivid image where people can see the clear view of Holden rising upward to be an adult. Throughout the book, Holden ostracizes himself in the society and makes him lonely. The readers can visualize Holden maturing when he realizes that not everybody is his enemy. For instance, when Holden leaves his teacher’s house in fear because the teacher was petting his head; he wondered “if just maybe [he] was wrong about thinking [the teacher] was making a flitty pass at [him]” (194). When he starts wondering if it was his own fault, it exemplifies that Holden is deeply thinking about his acts toward other people. His thinking can also relate to the last sentence “don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” (202). The last sentence is an example of Holden setting his importance on the people around him. But with all the obstacles that he goes through, he realizes that people that are involved in his life are an important factor of his life, and regrets having a live social life. This realization is an example of coming of age because we can truly see Holden’s thinking of what he thinks of a good life is which involves people around him.

The lost of innocence can totally change the way people view the world. A person who illustrates this can be found in J.D. Salinger’s novel, the Catcher in the Rye. The story happened during the 1950s, in a small town in Pennsylvania called Agerstown. A teenage boy named Holden, who witnesses the death of his older brother Allie when he was only 13 years old. Then consequently, he blames himself all his life for the death of Allie. As time went by he starts to search for a sense of innocence that was lost in the beginning of the novel. Throughout the course of the novel, the author conveys that Holden is continually stuck in between childhood and adulthood. The author uses Holden’s struggle to convey that in reality often times people who

Why does Holden continuously judge people based on their physical appearance? Could this be a projection of his insecurities or a reflection of his mental health?

The coming of age phase in a young person’s life is a transitional phase which prompts the idea of individualism, decision making, acceptance, moral challenges, disappointment, and individual needs. These years are essential for the overall learning and growing-up part of someone’s life. Coming of age characteristics transpired in the novel The Catcher in the Rye and The Absolutely True Diary of a part-time Indian pertain to, but do not exclude, the acceptance of the complexities and “grayness” of the world, confrontation with the adult world, and the individual needs and desires vs. external pressures/expectations/norms. In both novels, young boys are faced with tough choices that will later help them in the overall transition from

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.

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel written by J.D. Salinger that occurs around the 1950s. The story’s protagonist and narrator is Holden Caulfield, a seventeen year old white male, who journeys to various places as he mourns over the death of his little brother, Allie. As a white male in a capitalist society, he has tremendous amounts of privileges that allow him to get. However, as the novel progresses, Holden describes his society as a place where honored human qualities are suppressed and capitalist ideals are embraced. Throughout the novel, we see that capitalism, “the social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned”, destroys the overall society for Holden and his generation (Rand).

He wants to live in the memories of his brother forever thats why he uses the displays in glass at the Museum of Natural History, in which the same people are shown doing the same things year after year. Holden’s fears and what he wants are understandable, but his solution (avoiding reality) is impossible. Life is change. His feelings are typically young, everyone

As a young 16-year old boy, Holden has experienced a significant amount of trauma. Holden lost his beloved younger brother Allie, to leukemia three years ago. He spoke highly of his brother

Before being a teenager was recognized as a part of human growth there was an awkward bridge between childhood and adulthood. In “The Catcher in The Rye” Holden Caulfield finds teenagehood to be an awkward bridge with depression and loneliness. J.D. Salinger, the author of the novel, uses Holden’s depression to make him flawed and unreliable. Holden’s flaws and unreliability makes him the perfect depiction of a teenager going through depression. The death of Allie was the main catalyst of Holden’s depression.

The Catcher in the Rye, a 1951 novel by J.D. Salinger, follows a 16 year old boy named Holden Caulfield, who spends 48 sleep deprived hours traipsing through New York. This novel questions the societal system in which we live, and often speaks on the complex transition from childhood into the adult world. Many of the people and objects symbolize Holden’s perception of innocence and the fragility of happiness. J.D. Salinger uses powerful symbolism to express the thematic idea that the loss of innocence is an inevitable rite of passage for all of humanity.

In particular when Holden had been abandoned alone in the spooky hall way of the mummies of the Natural Museum, he realized that “it was so nice and peaceful then all of a sudden, I saw another “fuck you”...You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any” (204). Through the harsh views of Holden’s eyes, Holden wishes nothing would change so that he would not induce any more pain from society filled with a bunch of depressing phony people. Therefore, since he had no feelings about connecting to society’s standards he isolates himself upon the world while being motivated in order to not induce a more fear from the thought of his brother’s death. He is depressed and caught in a cycle of grief that he can't break out of, that dominates his thinking and leads to poor decision