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Examples Of Anti Hero In Catcher In The Rye

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An anti-hero is a protagonist or other notable figure who lacks heroic qualities. The flaws in the character of the anti-hero is what helps him or her achieve victory and even redemption. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D.Salinger is coming of age novel which follows the story of Holden Caulfield after he gets expelled from a prestigious prep school. Although Holden is the protagonist of the novel, he is seen to be an anti-hero.

From the very beginning of the novel, Holden is seen to be moody, cynical and not the typical protagonist of a coming of age novel. He believes that the adult world is full of phonies and has a certain misconception which results in him alienating himself from society as he struggles through the rocky passage from childhood to adulthood. His angry and disenchanted view of the world does not stop us from sympathising and even relating with him through the story.

There is not one good or outstanding thing that can be said about him. He is rude to adults, he isn’t interested in school and really doesn’t care about anyone’s opinion. He is the poster-boy for teenage angst. Yet, as a reader, we still end up rooting for him. There are definitely negatives that revolve around his character but the moments in which he describes his little sister or when he mourns the death of his younger brother, a basic …show more content…

The very title itself ‘Catcher in the Rye’ is symbolic of what Holden represents. He reveals to his sister that he wants to be a catcher in the rye who stands with a baseball mitt and catches children who may fall off the cliff and into the rye. The children represent childhood, the field of rye represents innocence and the cliff symbolises the fall from innocence. Holden wants to ‘catch’ the children in an attempt to save them from adulthood. On a more personal level, it’s his own attempt save himself from the harshness and the ‘phony’ nature of the adult

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