Catcher In The Rye Communication

In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is a rather unique character. He has several complications with other characters that he runs into, and does not seem that he is able to relate to anyone. However, Holden has a younger sister named Phoebe, and he seems to connect with her in a way that he does not with anyone else. She is only ten years old, so she and Holden both have a childlike mind. On the other hand, Phoebe seems to have a positive outlook on life while Holden sees most things in a negative light. Another contrast between them is that Phoebe puts in effort at school, and Holden is clearly not concerned his performance at school.

Holden allows the reader to hypothesize that he is attracted to a girl named Jane Gallagher, by constantly telling of his fond memories of her, but when push comes to shove his tendency to alienation himself from society, to "protect himself from losing his innocence", takes him over. On page 116 of the novel, Holden tells the reader that after he got his sister a record he went to a phone booth and called Jane's house. But when her mother picked up the phone he hung up. Holden tells the reader that he "didn't feel like getting into a long conversation with her mother" so he hung up but in reality Holden's personal preference of alienating himself frightened him and prevented him of making any contact with Jane.

Holden's younger sister Phoebe, is also in need of Holden's protection. He must protect her because he failed to protect his brother Allie from death. Holden feels that it is his responsibility to protect Phoebe from whatever may put her in danger, even himself: "I was glad. All of a sudden I wanted her to cry till her eyes practically dropped out. I almost hated her. I think I hated her most because she wouldn't be in that play any more if she went away with me." (207) He does not want Phoebe to turn out like himself. He wants

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J.D. Salinger. It is narrated by Holden Caulfield, a cynical teenager who recently got expelled from his fourth school. Though Holden is the narrator and main character of the story, the focus of Salinger’s tale is not on Caulfield, but of the world in which we live. The Catcher in the Rye is an insatiable account of the realities we face daily seen through the eyes of a bright young man whose visions of the world are painfully truthful, if not a bit jaded. Salinger’s book is a must-read because its relatable symbolism draws on the reader’s emotions and can easily keep the attention of anyone.

In a complete contrast to Jane appears Sally Hayes, an attractive but obnoxious girl that Holden goes out with quite a lot. From Holden’s perspective, Sally Hayes is everything he despises in the world; phony, conceited, and stupid. But the truth is that Sally is probably just a typical, beautiful, seventeen

The author of Catcher in the Rye is seeking to express, that a lack of communication skills amongst one’s self and others, is a key burden, if not taught and developed as a youth. If not taught at a young age to a kid, damning effects will ensue upon his or her’s life. The lack of communication skills will result in depression, trouble and loneliness. All of these traits were indeed exposed by Holden Caulfield, because of his lack for communication skills.

Love also becomes an important aspect, each thrive for passion and affection from others and have someone they confide in. Holden places deep care into his younger sister Phoebe because they connect on many levels, both as childlike mind and in interest. He also longs for closure towards his deceased brother Allie. Holden worries about his parents thoughts, he respects them. He is concerned about his mother’s reaction to getting kicked out of yet another school. The only two people he feels he has truly connected with are his sister and Allie, often in times of need they are the first he contacts. Throughout his cycle of depression he talks aloud to Allie. (Quote: Holden: “I felt so depressed, you can't even imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed.”) He shows he cares about Phoebe by constantly wanting to call and chat with her; he often talks about her. On the contrary he contradicts himself by finding an excuse to not call, or to not visit. By isolating himself he also goes against himself because he

When he met up with Sally, Holden was so excited. He got to the meeting place early and eagerly awaited her arrival. Instead of going to see a movie, as previously planned, they went ice skating. Sally and Holden have a wonderful time ice skating. After skating, and during dinner, Holden has this peculiar idea about moving away with Sally to Massachusetts or Vermont. She firmly rejects the idea. “Why not, why the hell not?” says Holden (132). Holden has a strong negative reaction to Sally, asking her why she won’t go with him. Holden acted in an irrational manner. After they argue Sally leaves him abruptly. Holden’s unrealistic request and overreaction to Sally’s response was induced by his depression.

Holden’s date with Sally Hayes exhibited his difficulty at cooperating with others. At first he gives us a dire impression of Sally, “I wasn’t too crazy about her, but I’d known her for years.” (p. 105) Later, he wants to marry Sally and says he is in love with her. The biggest mystery of all when it comes to women is with Jane Gallagher. Constantly mentioning Jane, Holden recalls playing checkers with her before he got sent to boarding school. When his roommate, Stradlater, has a date with Jane, Holden asks him a peculiar question, “Did you ask her if she still keeps all her kings in the back row?” (p. 42) Holden, jealous of Stradlater’s date with Jane, longs to see Jane but never has the courage to call her. Interactions with other people especially women perplex and overwhelm Holden. He therefore resorts to isolation, illustrating a characteristic of his mental state.

As the novel progresses, we realize that ironically Holden's alienation becomes the source of most of his pain throughout the book. Although he never realizes the fact that his pain is being derived from his isolation and lack of human interaction, Salinger places clues in the book that tell us that it is so. With the introduction of Sally Hayes, Salinger is able to craft a relationship that effectively depicts the conflict in Holden. It is loneliness that initially propels Holden into a date with Sally. However, during the date Holden's need for isolation returns, he "didn't even know why" he "started all that stuff with her. The truth is" he "probably wouldn't have taken her even if she wanted to go." Because Sally is unable to recognize the feelings on the "phoniness" of school that he projects, he becomes frustrated and uses a rampaging monologue to upset her and drive her away. The only time in the

Holden hates those magazines that the steward sells on the train. Holden cites, "I can usually even read one of those dumb stories in a magazine without puking. You know. One of those stories with a lot of phony, lean-jawed guys named David in it, and a lot of phony girls named Linda or Marcia that are always lighting all the goddam Davids' pipes for them" (53). Holden cannot stand that all the stupid same old stories. The ones where there is always a hero and saves someone that is in trouble. After that Holden felt a little down so he decided to pass the time. Holden knows this girl named Sally Hayes. They used to send a lot of time together when they were younger. Holden is bored and decides to give her a call. He calls her and her father answers and then gives the phone to Sally. Sally Hayes picked up the phone and asks, "yes--who is this?" Holden goes on to state, "she was quite a little phony. I'd already told her father who it was" (106). Holden cannot believe that she knows who is calling but asks for no reason. Sally is just trying to play a stupid game that Holden would rather not want to play at any time.

Holden and Phoebe share a lot of the same experiences because they are family. They both experienced the loss of their brother Allie, who died of leukemia. Holden describes Allie as the “most intelligent member of the family... also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody.” (Salinger, 38) However, Holden takes Allie’s death much harder than Phoebe does. Holden grieves and even cries over Allie, even though Allie had died a whole three years ago in the story. It is also what made Holden begin to go mad, but seems to have little effect on Phoebe all these years later. Holden even says that “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

“I swear to God I’m crazy. I admit it.” It is very easy to automatically assume that Holden Caulfield is crazy. It’s even a logical assumption since Caulfield himself admits to being crazy twice throughout the course of the book. However, calling Holden Caulfield crazy is almost the same as calling the majority of the human race crazy also. Holden Caulfield is just an adolescent trying to prevent himself from turning into what he despises the most, a phony. Most of Caulfield’s actions and thoughts are the same as of many people, the difference being that Holden acts upon those thoughts and has them down in writing.

Phoebe Caulfield is the younger sister of our main character Holden. She is only ten years old but is such an amusing character. She is doubtless Holden’s favorite member in the whole Caulfield family. One reason for this is after Allie’s death ,Holden’s brother that passed away by cancer, Holden hasn’t really connected with his parents very well, separating him from them. This created a closer bond between Phoebe and Holden. (Salinger

In the Catcher in the Rye, Holden has many conversations with pretty women, and it reveals how he is usually polite and nice to women to a certain point. During a conversation Holden has with a pretty women named Bernice and her friends in the Lavender room, Holden is polite to their faces, but in reality he is only being polite to get something from the three women. As he is talking to Bernice, a women Holden considers pretty, Holden uses foul language, and in return Bernice gets really angry at Holde. Immediately after Bernice begins to get angry, Holden says he “...apologized like a madman, because the band was starting a fast one” (Page 81). Once Holden knew Bernice was getting irritated with his use of foul language, he starts to do anything