Catcher In The Rye Research Paper

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.

Throughout the story Holden emphasizes his love for childhood innocence. In a passage he says “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the golden ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything.” (Salinger 211) This immediately points to his affinity for innocence and not having the limits of being and adult. The

Holden’s immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is physically mature, he acts more like a child. “All of a sudden I

Holden’s contempt for adults goes deeper than teen angst or a need to rebel. Rebellion is done out of a need for attention, however in Holden’s case he acts upon a fear and unresolved childhood trauma. Throughout the novel, we see our character Holden bouncing around denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. Holden lost his brother to leukemia; Holden was 13, while Allie was 11. Holden was left devastated. At the beginning of this book we see Holden in isolation watching the football game on his own atop a hill after a long disappointing day in New York. Holden tells us about when he found out about Allie’s death, and in a fit of rage punched the windows out of the garage of their summer home, breaking his hand with the desire to punch the car windows out. Holden was unable to reconcile the loss of Allie. He missed the funeral because of his accident and continues to not visit the grave because of his denial of the situation. Holden used bargaining when he asked Allie to catch him in his fall through depression. Holden perceived the children of the rye as falling, while he was the only one actually falling with no one to catch him. Throughout the entire novel except in short bits, Holden claims to be depressed and hates being around those with less than himself. Finally, at the end of the book, Holden reaches an acceptance that he can’t control everything and life continues. He has to let go and allow others to reach for that carousel's golden ring even if they do fall along the

“I swear to God I’m a madman” (149) Holden Caulfield says, revealing the wicked nature of J.D Salinger’s 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye. The book follows 16 year old Holden Caulfield in his days spent alone on the streets of New York City after getting kicked out of prep school. During this time Holden goes on an alcoholic rampage, fueled by hate and filled with anger towards anything he sees as phony. The book has been the cause of major controversy since its release, with schools across the country banning it from the realms of teaching for decades. Now, it is read in many high school literature classes because of its alleged similarity to the way teenagers think. The Catcher in the Rye should not be taught to young, impressionable teenagers in public schools because of its rampant profanity, glorification of alcohol and tobacco use, and narration by a mentally ill, generally horrible person.

It is known that humans require interaction between each other. As a result we tend to get attached and depend on them. We tend to advocate others from groups and keep to the same people. J. D. Salinger explores this in his book in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye. This book is beloved by many because it is so easy to connect to, even our generation now can connect to Holden and some of the things he goes through. The story is about a boy named Holden, he gets kicked out of school multiple times, and instead of telling his parents he wanders around New York in search of someone that cares and that he can make a connection with. Growing up is hard, and we need human connection to make through the hard times.

In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is portrayed as a young, troubled individual. He tells us his story from the mental institution where he is currently residing. Holden is a 16 year old going through many different adolescent changes. He is expelled from his prep school for flunking too many subjects. He drinks, smokes, sees a prostitute, is punched by her pimp, goes on dates, spends a great deal of time in the park, and really does not do a great deal else. Holden is a very hard person to figure out and analyze. Throughout the whole book, Holden constantly changes his mind about things and has various conflicting thoughts. The experiences that Holden goes through illustrate the divide between adults and

“You'll have to jump.' 'I'll jump.' 'Jump!' Major Danby cried. Yossarian jumped. Nately's whore was hiding just outside the door. The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off” (Heller 350). Yossarian ends his dialogue in a cheery and fun way because he is finally going to be free from the oppression of the US military. This also shows his increased morals, because in the beginning, he would have just killed the girl for trying to kill him. He also uses arrangement to show America at the time like, “ Heller's satirical masterpiece tells us something about the madness of America” (Pilger, John). This shows how the novel portrays the insanity of the war at this time and how these people need help or to get out. The main part of the novel is just the insane adventures Yossarian goes on throughout his horrifying experience.

Nicole Schuller Mr. Riskind Sophomore English, Period 1 March 17, 2015 In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, being a teenager means chronic struggle for Holden Caulfield. He is constantly facing obstacles and does a great job of lengthening his time between childhood and adulthood for as long as he can. With many responsibilities coming his way, Holden is not mentally prepared to becoming an adult. But it’s not like Holden can take a step back into childhood either.

The Catcher in the Rye fixates upon the fragile mental state of jaded sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield. Ever since the death of his brother Allie, Holden has been expelled from every school he’s ever attended and has become increasingly cynical of human nature, condemning everyone he meets for their phoniness. He lacks the ability to identify his own feelings and prefers the word “depressed” to describe every negative emotion, hoping to take away the word’s severity with his overuse of it. At sixteen, Holden is realizing that it is time for him to become an adult, and while he attempts to do adult activities once he is on his own, he ultimately resists the pull of adulthood and equates aging with losing one’s innocence; he wishes to preserve

In boarding school, Holden doesn't get along with many of his peers, his attitude towards learning affects his education “I didn't exactly flunk out or anything. I just quit, sort of//I hated that goddam Elkton Hills.” Holden does the same at Pencey, and he flunks every single class. After getting into a fight with Stradleter, Holden decides to leave Pencey on his own “I’d get the hell out of Pencey//I

Thesis: In Catcher in the Rye, Salinger uses symbols to represent Holden’s life, goals and struggles, then connects them together to reveal major themes of isolation, loneliness, preserving innocence, and change.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and investigate the many different topics that involve baseball mitts, from things such as science, how a glove is broken in and cared for, how gloves are made, an article that goes in depth on the art of glove making, and why a glove can withstand 300, 95 mile an hour pitches a game. To pop culture, and some of the many movies you can find one of the gamers in, like Money ball, A League of Their Own, 42, The Sandlot, The Field of Dreams, and many more. The timeline of the very first glove patent in 1885, to the newest model in 2015, and even a look inside The Catcher in the Rye. This object promises an evocative paper because of all the research I’ve done on Baseball mitts to find the most interesting information

Catcher in the Rye allows people to understand childhood and the innocence with it. But, no matter how much you try, everyone has to grow up. Holden doesn’t accept this reality and refuses to growing up, even comparing it to

A way Holden that separated himself from was by insulting adults and never making friends with teens because he viewed innocence as sacred. Throughout the book, he struggles with the idea of growing up because he views an adult’s world as cruel and fake. Holden fights against time because of his view of the adult world and fear of death. The death of Allie and his classmate showed him that he too will disappear one day and everything will change. In order to reject growing up, Holden surrounds himself with people who embody innocence, such as Phoebe and Jane Gallagher. His goal in life is to protect the innocence of children by being “the catcher in the rye” because his innocence was taken away at a young age and no one protected him due to the death of Allie. Although Holden’s innocence was taken from him, he continually searches for it by epitomizing childish behavior such as obsessing over where the ducks go in the winter. The day after Allie died, Holden broke every window in his garbage and his hand in doing his, this act is representative of his innocence also breaking and not being able to ever be fully fixed. Holden also witnessed the suicide of his classmate which provoke his already damaged emotional state. The viewing of these two deaths made Holden realize that innocent children and he couldn’t figure out why.