Character Analysis Of Holden Caulfield

One of the hardships Holden must cope with is his inability to come to terms with death, in particular that of his younger brother, Allie. Holden seems to have experienced a

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

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

Holden Caulfield encounters himself facing issues of acceptance of death, growing up, and parental neglecting that prevents him from completely understanding why it is that he is severely depressed. One of the hardships Holden must cope with is his inability to come to terms with death, of his younger brother, Allie. We often discover

J.D. Salinger, the author of the Catcher in the Rye, was a skilled writer. Salinger wrote about a wide variety of characters throughout this novel, many of these characters had a complex personality. Holden Caulfield is the main character in the Catcher in the rye. Holden is a unique character and he shares very little traits with the other people he encounters throughout the novel besides his younger sister, Phoebe. Holden and Phoebe Caulfield have two very different personalities but they share some distinct similarities. Holden is a gloomy, pessimistic, and unstable teenager. Phoebe, on the other hand, is a lively, optimistic, and innocent child. Throughout the novel Holden spends his time trying to act mature while Phoebe is living out the childhood he never had. Phoebe and Holden have very different personalities and outlooks on life. While the two have such opposing traits, they have a similar background and upbringing.

Holden experiences extreme difficulty accepting his current realities and one of the main factors causing this is the lasting negative impact his brother Allies death had on his life. Firstly, when Holden decides to leave his school, he tells readers , “I don’t care if it’s a sad goodbye or a bad goodbye, but when I leave a place, I like to know I’m leaving it. If you don’t, you feel even worse” (Salinger, 4). Holden’s need for closure is evident in this quote. When Allie died, it was very unexpected and he was not prepared to let him go, resulting in his denial that his brother is actually

This shows how Holden had a breakdown after Allie’s death and never got proper help after this. This bad experience may recur for him when he is around things that remind him of Allie (like other children) and may help contribute to his

In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a high school student that has gone to many boarding schools and been kicked out of every single one do to bad grades. He has a little sister and had a little brother, but doesn’t have a very good home life or connection with his parents every since his little brother, Allie, died of leukemia. His parent’s grieve and get over his death quicker than him and Holden doesn’t see how they do it. He never got closure and this affects how he acts towards everyone in his daily life and ultimately how he feels they treat him. Holden struggles emotionally with the phoniness of his relationships because he thinks people are unreliable, immature, and always tend to leave him.

Holden never going to Allie’s funeral gives us insight into why Holden is still holding onto Allie. After Allie’s death, Holden still went through experiences that caused his BPD, neglect and separation. During the time following Allie’s death, Holden’s family was in great grieving, making Holden feel isolated and not getting the attention he needed to fully grow mentally as a child (“National Allegiance on Mental Health”). Holden also expresses twice, that his mother is still grieving over Allie’s death by stating his mother, “still isn’t over my brother Allie yet” (Salinger 155). Holden is also never close to anyone. He meets with his family a limited amount of time throughout the year, and is kicked out of schools, giving him no permanent guidance in his life. Holden constantly describes his expulsion as, getting “the ax” (107). He shows a continuous changing in guardians, because of his attachment to both Mr. Spencer and Mr. Antolini, both old school teachers from schools he flunked out of. He also dealt with the separation from D.B. his other brother, who moved to Hollywood, Holden seems to be very inspired by him throughout the novel, but is mad that he left (1).

Death is a concept to which Holden is no stranger. He speaks lovingly of his brother, Allie, who died of leukemia. "He was terrifically intelligent....But it wasn't just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody....He used to laugh so hard at something he thought of at the dinner table that he just about fell off his chair" (38).

Holden is trying to reconcile his emotions since Allie's death. While dealing with their own grief, Holden's parents have neglected his needs and have therefore not addressed this with him. Holden goes searching for answers and companionship since his parents are emotionally unavailable. This story takes up

We all hold something close to our hearts that really means something to us. In Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a 16 year old young man that has gone through some rough times. With a little brother, Allie, that died of cancer at the age of 11, A big brother, D.B., who became big writing children's books so he left for hollywood soon after Allie’s death. Holden has been dropped out of three schools, and is currently attending Pency. Holden doesn't have much to be happy about in his life, not really much to live for. But those few things that he does love, that he does care for, really do mean something special. For instance, Holden’s little sister, Phoebe. Phoebe switches a switch in holden's mind that

“But it wasn’t just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest… God, he was a nice kid, though.” (Salinger 38) Throughout the whole novel, Holden keeps mentioning Allie and how excellent he was. Allie was one of the few people that Holden loved and cherished and could not just let him go. "I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage... I slept in the garage that night he died, and broke all the goddamn windows with my fist, just for the hell of it… It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly even knew I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie.” (Salinger 39) His thoughts trace back to Allie’s life that Holden wishes he had not left. Holden expresses his anger and denial by breaking all of the glass windows once he found out that he lost his brother, a person who truly understands him, and he expresses his anger physically by thrashing around and denied by not admitting why he did

Holden’s connection with his little brother Allie was very special to him. This is evident in the way he talks about Allie. He holds Allie up to these great expectations, saying “You’d have liked him” (Salinger, 1945-6, p.33) and convincing you how great he was and how intelligent and special he was. You are now able to connect and sympathise for Holden, because he has told you all about the things that mean most to him, and you can’t help but feel a little sorry for him.

“My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and