Catcher In The Rye Critical Lens Essay

The novel "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger is very interesting novel in which the main character, Holden, intrigues the reader with his unpredictable actions and upfront judgments of his surroundings. Holden alienates himself to try and help protect him from the outside world and conserve his innocence. He constantly proves this to reader many in times in the novel by, telling characters he feels different, wearing clothing that makes him stand out even though it may make him look stupid, and failing to come through in relationships with characters in the story.

In the controversial novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger expresses his opinion on social problems. The protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is a troubled teen; he seeks help throughout the novel. Holden has been in and out of schools and can not seem to fit in. Holden has depression and turns to alcohol for all his problems due to the lack of love in his life. No one understood what he was going through which caused him to almost kill himself. J.D. Salinger uses Holden to protest society’s problems.

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.

Everyone has to grow up at some point in life, but one must face different challenges and obstacles to get there, Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger shows this idea. The novel takes place around the 1950s and is written in the perspective of Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy who struggles with moving into the adult world after the death of his younger brother Allie. He faces difficulties trying get there when he is kicked out of his fourth boarding school after failing four out of five classes, but he is not scheduled to come home to Manhattan until 3 days later. Holden soon decides that he has had enough of Pencey Prep and will go to Manhattan early, without the knowledge of his parents, leaving him to face New York on his own. The Curious

Holden Caufield emphasizes on the loss of innocence in children. He feels that once they lose their innocence, they will soon turn into phonies like everyone else. The loss of innocence is very common in the development in human existence. It is caused by many factors. Past a certain age, children are either forced or led unintentionally into a pathway of corruption. A child is also known to lose their innocence by desires, fantasies, and attention. But once they lose their innocence, they tend to desire to go back and pretend to be young again. In the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden discusses the importance of innocence in children's lives. He feels that once a child loses his/her innocence, he/she will soon be leaded to a

During the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, author J.D. Salinger brings Holden’s pessimistic, antisocial personality to life through what he says, how he says it, and through the characters he meets. Salinger bases Holden’s expressions off of the culture of the 1950’s, his own personal dialect, and the everyday occurrences of Holden’s life in mind. J.D. Salinger manipulates the diction, uses syntax to criticize others, and controls the character interaction and dialogue in order to create the protagonist, Holden Caulfield.

The critical lens presented in the Catcher in the Rye is very evident in the main character Holden. Using the psychoanalytic lens to read The Catcher in the Rye shows the struggle Holden has trying to deal with the "Phonies" in his everyday life that he just can't relate to. This inability to connect with the people around him reveals his emotional instability and personal flaws. The majority of his issues lye within his subconscious and he doesn’t realize the way he treats people.

Holden is in a cab on his way to Ernie’s and after he asks the driver with Holden. When Holden asks why he is “sore” about it, the cab driver denies being upset. Holden seems to constantly anger people throughout the story due to his blunt way of addressing topics and his inability to see the positive side of things. The cab driver on the other hand, is clearly upset, but is instead choosing to be passive aggressive by denying his anger. I do not like when people are passive aggressive. I would much rather someone talk to me directly and maturely if they are upset.

In the bildungsroman Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger employs the struggle of individuality, inevitable maturation, and the childhood corruption of adulthood to reveal Holden’s alienation from society.

The Controversy Over The Catcher in the Rye There are many reasons as to why one of the most well known novels, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger is challenged in schools across the United States. Published in 1951, the majority of the story takes place in New York City, following the protagonist, a boy named Holden Caulfield. Over the course of three days, Holden goes through a series of both mental and physical conflicts. Many readers of this novel find The Catcher in the Rye to be crude and inappropriate; therefore, the novel is banned in many United States schools. The novel should be banned due to its constant immoral involvement of profanity, under-age use of substances like smoking and alcohol, and the exposure of mental instability

Like the concept of childhood, children's literature is very much a cultural construct that continues to evolve over time. (Reference). The complexity and Rowling’s willingness to take on difficult and contemporary issues such as racism, genocide, classism, and difference – makes Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone uniquely valuable in developing a narrative. While both books can be regarded as controversial due to the moral fibre of them, The Catcher in the Rye, captures an adolescent protagonist wavering between childhood and adulthood.

In the morning, it felt like a regular day. Lyla woke up to complete silence. She rolled out of bed, sliding her feet into her slippers and picked up the clothes that she’d picked out yesterday to wear today at school. She opened her bedroom door and walked down the narrow hallway to the bathroom, stopping at her sister’s room.

He was sitting on a worn grey chair, a steady beep filled the room, her cold hand laid in his. Her skin was pale, her eyes fluttered open - just for a second- then they closed again. The beeping starting get louder, it started filling the room, it was pounding in his ears as he yelled and he yelled for someone. Anybody. But nobody came, and then it was too late. She was gone.

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel written by J. D. Salinger in 1951. The protagonist Holden Caulfield tells us of an episode in his life where he finds himself utterly troubled and lost. The odd thing about Holden is that he seemingly has a “good life” nevertheless he is severely negative about almost all of his surroundings, mostly of the people he surrounds himself with, in addition to those he meets along his way. This essay will discuss why Holden Caulfield can be seen as a ‘rebel without a cause’. OK

“If a body meet a body, coming through the rye.” This is a quote by Robert Burns and it talks about how being an adult and having casual sex is okay. The Catcher in the Rye by J.d Salinger is a novel about the life of a troubled boy by the name of Holden Caulfield. There is one trait that brings every person together and that is growing up. [JT1] Some people do not grow up and become lost in their own thoughts and innocence. Holden’s innocence gets the best of him when he misheard the lyrics to a song about sex. Holden substitutes the word meet to carry, because he takes it as a different meaning in his own mind. Holden wants to spend his life catching the kids that are about to fall off the cliff in the rye, because when they fall off the cliff they fall out of their innocence. This innocence is their knowledge on sex and growing up. The road to growing up from a child to an adult is scary, anxious, and challenging.