Catcher In The Rye Passage Analysis

This passage of the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger takes place when the main character Holden leaves the boarding school after being expelled. Since he does not want to be the one to tell his parents the news, he plans on going to New York.

Despite his longing for acceptance, “His efforts to connect with any stereotypical kid his age result in abject failure“(Privitera 204). Salinger thoroughly emphasizes this through Holden’s relationships with Stradlater and Ackley, with both of whom he has a strenuous and artificial relationship, demonstrated by his internal, flippant commentaries on his peers as he discusses them in the book (Salinger 31-40). Holden’s peers ostracize him due to his more introspective and introverted nature, as seen in Stradlater’s angry response to Holden’s reflective response to this writing assignment, saying that he doesn’t “do one damn thing the way [he’s] supposed to”(Salinger 47). These difficulties stem not from deficiencies of his peers, but rather a problem of Holden’s refusal to accept anything different from what he expects, making excuses about his reasons throughout the book to cover his actions. His rationalization of his internal wants and desires impedes any proper connection he could possibly make with his peers. He, “Subconsciously longs to be accepted yet feels he cannot make the connection”(Privitera 205).

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

Holden as a character displays the alienation of himself through his behaviour. Holden is not the same as many people and believes that everyone is a ‘phony’. Throughout the novel Holden realises more and more that he is different and sees the world differently to others around him. Holden has created an identity for himself and doesn’t want that to be diminished therefore he alienates himself from the rest of society to decrease the chances of that happening. Holden’s old school, Pency Prep, has the motto “since 1888 we have been shaping young boys into splendid, clear-thinking men.” (pg. 2) This increases Holden’s motivation to leave the school as it will be shaping his identity into something he doesn’t want to be; a man. Holden is all about protecting those younger than him from the dangerous world of adult hood and by alienating himself he feels he has a better chance of

From its publication, The Catcher in the Rye gained widespread aversion from schools through its blatant profanity. But despite the time gap since the publication in the 1950s until now, the book explores immortal themes of adolescence and maturing still relevant today. Symbolizing the average teenage life, adolescents throughout the country are able to connect to Holden without question. As Holden agonizes over his purpose and depression, teens relate to this some intangible part of themselves. Holden frustrates over dating, drinking, low grades, switching schools, and life in general. Suddenly, in a second, as the adult world threatens the once serene childhood, as the weight of responsibility of being an adult crashes, Holden crumbles.

Holden’s adventure is well known for its vulgarity. Throughout the novel, Holden uses numerous words and expresses ideas widely considered profane. In addition to the cursing, messages such as “the Army was practically as full of bastards as the Nazis were” (Salinger 155) promote anti-American values. This shows that Holden does not respect the United States’ brave freedom fighters, and that he lacks the capacity to care about anybody but himself. Holden speaks badly about women and degrades them often, even asking for the services of a prostitute and then

In “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger, Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy who has recently expelled from school, had lost his younger brother to Leukemia and witnessed the suicide of one of his peers, struggles in his journey of coming of age. He isn’t fond of the idea of having to mature and be exposed to responsibilities and problems of the real world. As a result, he tries to preserve the innocence of his younger sister, Phoebe. One way in which he aims to accomplish this goal is through a Little Shirley Beans record which he buys in hopes of giving it to Phoebe. Salinger utilizes the symbol of the broken record to develop Holden’s loss of innocence and deteriorating character.

In the words of Louis L’Amour, “When a man is one of a kind, he will be lonely wherever he is.” I ask you this, wasn’t Holden Caulfield notorious for being lonesome? It was because he was such a uniquely complex character, people could never completely understand him. J.D Salinger created a persona that was entirely emblematic and unalike the majority. The novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger touches upon issues that adolescence commonly experience, which allows the novel to remain pertinent. Albeit, the protagonist’s extreme reactions to themes such as identity, dealing with mental health and growing up fail to perfectly capture the teenage voice or mentality. In the 1950’s teenagers had yet to be stereotyped as hormonal,

The journey between adolescence and adulthood is one of great discovery and introspection. As the blissful innocence of childhood is washed away by the passing of time, a long and confusing period of discovering one’s identity takes center stage. Prior to the process, the adult world seems one of great freedom and opportunity and is treated with a sense of keen enthusiasm. But, only as we become members of this cruel and unjust adult society, does the veneer of privilege corrode away, and the simplicity and innocence of childhood truly appreciated. As such is explored in The Catcher in the Rye, where a young teenager in New York City is faced with the daunting task of transitioning and maturing to an eventual adulthood, one that terrifies him. Holden responds to adulthood with resistance, fear andidealism, before slowly but surely succumbing to its certainty.

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).

This demonstrates the common idea throughout the entire novel that Holden believes that life should not be as complicated as it seems. He assumes that everyone is hypocritical in their own ways, and it is what makes the world less than what it should be. He also says in the book, “Even if you did go around saving guys’ lives and all, how would you know if you did it because what you really wanted to do was be a terrific lawyer, with everybody slapping you on the back when the goddamn trial was over, (...) How would you know you weren’t being a phony? The trouble is, you wouldn’t.”

Holden also has several redeeming qualities that keep him from being the rouge that many censors and critics wanted to label him in the fifties. As mentioned previously, Holden feels deeply for others and spends much of his time trying to understand them. For example, he admits to being a virgin and attributes this to the concern he has for the girls he is with; "he feels he would be taking advantage of their weakness if he had relations with them. " (Lettis, 6) "They tell me to stop, so I stop. I always wish I hadn't, after I take them home, but I take them home anyway." (Salinger, 121) He is also brutally honest, a quality children possess and adults seem to lose as they age. Holden dislikes things he

In chapter 17 of Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s sporadic and desperate diction and syntax directly unveil his mental state in which he hopelessly searches for a meaningful connection with the world around him. For example, when speaking with Sally about his distaste for cars, Holden mentions, “‘I’d rather have a goddamn horse. A horse is at least human,’”(Salinger 131). Holden is sick of the materialistic world that surrounds him which causes him to instead of a car, wants a horse which he describes as “human”. This portrays that Holden is searching for something authentic in his lonely and depressing life, a connection with another living being which requires life, emotion, and energy.

Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye has been pronounced a literary classic for its atypical portrayal of adolescence, to effectively convey the protagonist’s alienation and confusion. The introduction of The Catcher in the Rye is underpinned by disorder and confusion through a stream-of-consciousness narration, which digresses from one subject to another. Consequently, Holden’s multitudinous thoughts and feelings appear to lack a cohesive pattern. Additionally, Holden’s prevalent ascription of other students as “phony” (Salinger, p.3) alludes to his alienation and isolation as a form of self-protection; he rejects those he does not understand. Furthermore, the vocabulary encapsulates typical adolescence dialect of the 1940s, and resultantly, alienates contemporary reader. This is typified through Holden’s use of colloquial speech, in particular, his exclamation “that killed me” (Salinger, p.42) to express his amusement. Therefore, the introduction of Holden’s disjointed monologue in The Catcher in the Rye foreshadows Salinger’s unique interpretation of adolescence.

I think that this passage is related to The Catcher in the Rye because it is about a boy who faced troubles right when he was born. The boy in the story was born with a caul, which is "part of the amniotic membrane occasionally found on a child's head at birth, thought to bring good luck." Because he was born with this, people began to judge him, thinking that he was destined to be unlucky in life or that he was privileged to see ghosts and spirits. Eventually, his caul put on sale for people to buy it. It was held in an auction. He said, "I was present myself, and I remember to have felt quite uncomfortable and confused, at a part of myself being disposed of in that way." He felt uncomfortable exposing himself to others like this. This is