Catcher In The Rye Quote Analysis

What does Holden hate the most? Holden hated a lot of things in his story but the thing that he hated the most was phonies. He hates how they act and how they make him feel. He hates how they are so fake to him. When thinking of Holden’s hate for Phonies you can see why he hates them, how much he hates them, and what he does to deal with them.

• “Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.” (ch.2 p.5)

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.

In this nostalgic and cynical novel we read about the painful transformation from youth to adulthood in a young boy called Holden. This troubled state of mind young boy, in his adolescent years, gives us an in-depth insight into the climax moment of his life which stretches over a period of three days. A very troubled and confused, depressed and insecure young man shows us that he is desperate for acceptance, regardless from where. He is constantly looking for some form of connection and for someone to acknowledge him. The approaching adulthood seems so phoney to him and he displays the mourning loss of the nurturing feeling of childhood, which seems light years away. Sadly his status of being of an affluent and wealthy teenager from a good

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

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

The quote, “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” This quote relates to Holden’s seeing himself of becoming the catcher in the rye. Told to him by Mr. Antolini, the quote represents Holden being immature, and that he should not dwell on one cause and live his life. Mr. Antolini believes Holden is still immature and needs to realize his reality.

The passage begins on an unusual high note, with Holden’s three upbeat words, “The best thing.” But, by the end of the first sentence, Salinger hints that Holden’s reasoning might be more characteristically dark. To Holden, the best thing about the Museum is that “everything always stayed right where it was.” The reader isn’t sure what Holden means. “Nobody’d move,” he explains as a clarification, as if the reader would now understand. It isn’t until the third try that that Holden’s reasoning is clear. He likes that the displays of Eskimos, deer, and birds are frozen in action and never change. “Nobody’d be different” he repeats, completing the idea using Salinger's signature technique of repetition to drive the point home. To Holden, “the best thing” about the museum is that it never changes, unlike the real people in his

At first glance, Holden is trying to find closure about his short time at Pencey. He wants to let go of all his failures on his own term. Of course, the school is expelling him on their terms, but Holden wants to physically leave and say goodbye on his terms. At a deeper glance, however, Holden wants to feel some

Spencer directed towards Holden and is said when Holden goes to Mr. Spencer's office to say goodbye because he's getting kicked out of Pencey. This quote is said because it tells us a lot about Holden since he disagrees with it in his narration directly after. It shows that Holden doesn't want to play by the rules and wants to get out of that lifestyle and move away from it. The style writing is that of a metaphor. The metaphor being that in order to succeed in life, you need to play the game otherwise you'd fail. If you follow the rules, you'd surely be able to keep on climbing. The significance of the quote is that it revealed things about Holden right away when he was introduced. It revealed that Holden didn't want to live a "normal" life and wanted to live his life away from the norm. It helps us characterize Holden as someone who thinks people are fake and morons and that he tries to stay away from this life but in reality, he becomes the same thing he dislikes so much. This shows that Holden himself is a fake and a phony

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).

A symbol from The Catcher in the Rye is the red hunting hat. I chose the hat as symbol because it shows that Holden can be himself whenever he wants. When I say this, I am talking about when he lies to Mrs. Morrow about how he got hit with a snowball in chapter 8. The red hunting hat is important to the story because in chapter 13, Holden says that he doesn't care about how he looks. Whenever Holden goes somewhere, he does not change his clothes unless he is going somewhere really important or special. In chapter 10, Holden says, ” C’mon, I’ll dance with you one at a time. All right? How ’bout it ? C’mon!” I really felt like dancing. This shows that he does not care about what the other people think of him dancing with one of the older ladies.

Lugging that big fat suitcase down the sidewalk, I pushed the red hunting hat out of my face, so it was not blocking my view. Seeing Holden come down the stairs of that ol’ museum, a smile reaches my face. I quickly stopped myself and put on a straight face, because I wanted to seem more like a grownup instead of a kid with a stupid grin for absolutely no reason. Setting down the suitcase and breathing heavily I say, “Hi” (226). “I thought maybe you weren’t coming” (226).

Jane:(Holds glove as if were made of glass) wow....(runs fingers over seam) so this is Allie´s glove?..

Have you ever felt like you’re maturing too fast or wanted to hold on to your innocence? In Catcher of the Rye, a reoccurring theme is the inability to cope with situations. The inability to cope with situations is not a trait of being mature. Motifs that are present in the novel are; alcohol, cigarettes, and money. Holden wants to hold on to his innocence but he abuses money and cigarettes and does not respect women.