Descriptive Writing In Catcher In The Rye

When describing Mr. Spencer, Holden uses words relating to being disgusted by the old mans appearance. He didn’t appreciate Mr. Spencer’s apparel either as his chest was exposed and he could smell Vick Nose Drops in the air (page 7). This image implies that Holden doesn’t approve of aging or the concept of working towards death. A second image is expressed when Holden talks about the food supplied at Pencey Prep. He says that although they are served stakes, it is impossible to cut into them and describes how phony the food is (page 35). This service shows how the school annoys Holden and why he can’t stand being there any longer. A third example is when he is dancing with the three girls in the Hotel lobby, he described the one girl as “dragging the Statue of Liberty around the floor” (page 74). This image portrays that Marty can’t dance very well and he can’t stand being with her; Holden may even be displaying that he is better than her. Perhaps Holden believes we are not equal and are instead based on our level of

7) Page 14: Notice how Holden is disgusted or annoyed by all the aspects of Spencer that demonstrate his old age: “the bumpy chest”, the “house smelling like Vicks”, the man not being able to “flick a book on a bed”, his “stooped figure”. In the beginning of the chapter he wonders what purpose Spencer even has in still being alive.

Teenagers often struggles with school due to the difficulty to get good grades and interact with teachers and other students. Holden is at Mr. Spencer’s house because Mr. Spencer wants to

Teenage years are difficult. Time tells this story of struggle again and again. The Catcher in the Rye is a classic novel showing the struggles a teenager goes through while transitioning into adulthood. The main character, Holden Caulfield, is a judgmental and temperamental boy who struggles to see the positivity in life. Throughout the story, Holden searches to find himself, as he feels forced to grow up. He holds onto aspects of his childhood and isolates himself so much that it is even harder for him to transition. J.D. Salinger uses the red hunting hat, the museum and cigarettes as important symbols in the story to convey the themes of transitioning from childhood to adulthood, loneliness, and isolation.

“The minute I went in, I was sort of sorry I'd come. He was reading The Atlantic Monthly, and there were pills and medicine all over the place, and everything smelled like Vicks Nose Drops. It was pretty depressing. I'm not too crazy about sick people, anyway. What made it even more depressing, old Spencer had on this very sad, ratty old bathrobe that he was probably born in or something. I don't much like to see old guys in their pajamas and bathrobes anyway. “ Although Holden describes Mr. Spencer as old and gross he sort of has this feeling for him that makes him feel bad about the way he is towards

This quote is from Holden’s conversation with Mr. Spencer. Mr. Spencer is his former history teacher, who has asked Holden to meet and discuss about the latter’s situation at Pencey. Mr. Spencer tries to understand Holden and is probably one of the few people who tries to point Holden in the right direction. This conversation is significant because Holden is lectured about the importance of playing by the rules. Likewise, through this talk, Holden shows his isolation and victimization. He identifies himself as the victim on the ‘other’ side of the game where everyone is against him. At this point, Holden shouldn’t have any grudges because he’s from a good family, and he’s a bright guy when he applies himself. His bitterness is also understandable as he’s only trying to protect himself from the perplexing games of the world.

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.

Holden Caulfield is a character who has been through rejection and wishes to protect others innocence. He is a teen boy who is the main character in Catcher in The Rye by J.D.Salinger. He has an older brother named DB, a younger sister named Phoebe, and a younger, deceased, brother named Allie. Holden retells his story on him, trying to be the catcher in the rye. Holden has been kicked out of different colleges. He has been rejected by different girls. Holden goes through his life story. He talks about being kicked out of Pencey, his friend Jane, his “acquaintance” Stradlater, and how, when, and where Allie died. Society is to blame for Holden Caulfield's decline in mental stability. Society does not help Holden. Instead, they ignore his

Holden always speaks about how he hates “phony” people. He respects those who are authentic and speak their mind. While this makes sense, his opinion is very controversial, because this doesn’t work in the real world. He feels like his older brother D.B. is phony for writing scripts for Hollywood, and not following his dream of doing his own work. Ironically, Holden could also be phony.

Holden seems to have the most scorn for people who think or try to act as if they are something they're not. His bitterness, which stems from his need for a perfect and simple world, is directed towards people who hide their true personalities behind masks thus shattering his dream of a "black and white" society. Holden's need for a society devoid of complications and surprises is made evident when he visits the Museum of Natural History. Holden loves going to the Museum of Natural History because it symbolizes the ideal world he wants to live in; a world that never changes, where everything is plain and simple, and easily understandable. When external forces force Holden to see reality, that the world is a very complicated and ever changing entity, Holden rejects it as a form of phoniness. However, in his constant search for the infinite imperfections of his world, Holden fails to realize that he too is a phony. Holden admits to being a compulsive liar and also has a habit of being needlessly cruel. When Holden meets Mrs. Morrow, a classmates mother, on the train, he purposefully feeds her misleading information about her son Ernest. Holden tells her that, "[Ernest] is one of the most popular boys at Pencey," when he actually believes that "her son was ... the

Although he is reasonably cynical towards people who are conspicuously phony, such as Marty who overtly lies about catching a glimpse of a movie star, his negativity and scathing criticism of others often extends beyond the realm of reason. When discussing fighting, he says, “I can’t stand looking at the other guy’s face, is my trouble. It wouldn’t be so bad if you could be blindfolded or something” (117). Holden’s negativity is so extensive that it even drives him to irrationally resent the face of another man who is challenging him. This testifies to Holden’s struggle with an unusually cynical outlook. Moreover, he resists the formation of intimate relationships with others, finding flaws too great to ignore in every acquaintance. His history teacher at Pencey, Mr. Spencer, wants to understand Holden’s refusal to do schoolwork. He is sorry that he has to fail Holden and reaches out to him, trying to connect with him on a personal level and influence him for the better. However, Holden dismisses him as senile, phony and pathetic and refuses to engage Mr. Spencer. When he wakes up to Mr. Antolini creepily patting him on the forehead, Holden reveals that similar “perverty” stuff happened to him as a child several times. Thus, he clearly struggles with a natural trust deficit with everyone he meets, which explains his insecurity and the brash cynicism he utilizes to justify his alienation from others. Another example of this is Holden’s relationship with D.B. Although he suggests that they were once close, he now considers D.B. a phony because of his work in the film industry. Thus, he sabotages a potential genial relationship and justifies doing so with his prejudices against his brother’s field of work. Holden’s cynicism and alienation from others reveals emotional damage and psychological problems relating to

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

On one of Holden's papers he had to write about the Egyptians. However, Holden writes one paragraph about the Egyptians, and he leaves a note to Mr. Spencer which says "It is all right if you flunk me though as I am flunking everything else except English anyways. (pg 12). " This quote shows that Holden was empathetic towards Mr. Spencer because he cared about his feelings when he would fail Holden. However, when Holden goes to talk with Mr. Spencer, Mr. Spencer just wants to know what Holden thinks of flunking out of Pencey and what he's going to do in the future, instead of asking how he felt about the situation.

Holden's poor relationships with his classmates and teachers, or people in general, was evident before he went to Pencey Prep as well as during his stay at Pencey Prep. When Holden thinks back to his previous school,

So far while reading the Novel I have met the main character Holden Caulfield who narrates this whole story. The character is very interesting being only 16 and already be kicked out of schools being out of shape because of smoking. The way that Holden views everything and everyone as "phony" Another character that we have met is Holden’s older brother D. B. Caulfield. D. B. wrote a volume of short stories that Holden admires very much, and is writing for Hollywood movies. I am intrigued by this character because of how different Holden and his brother are that Holden seems to be having troubles with academics because kicked out of several schools but yet his older brother is very successful. Another character that we have met is Mr. Spencer. Mr. Spencer is a history teacher at Pencey Prep. I find this character interesting because throughout the book with other characters Holden as something "bad" to