preview

Examples Of Stream Of Consciousness In Catcher In The Rye

Decent Essays

Stream of consciousness is a type of narrative that traces the thoughts and feelings of a character. It is a collection of myriad impressions that influence the flow of thoughts. It is a representation of the continuous movement in the mind of an individual. It approximates the flow of thoughts and sensory impressions that pass the mind each instant. This kind of narrative is often fragmented. There may be a lack of proper organization of ideas as thoughts do not necessarily flow in a particular order. The interior mental and emotional state is emphasized on, rather than the outside world. A stream of consciousness novel may use a technique called ‘interior monologue.’ The character’s thoughts are presented directly and may be restricted to …show more content…

The novel begins at Pencey Preparatory, a private school where Holden studied and has just been expelled from. Holden skips an ongoing football game and instead, goes to the house of Mr. Spencer, his history teacher. Like in every subject other than English, Holden had failed in history. Mr. Spencer, though well-meaning, was not happy about this and read aloud Holden’s answers, which thoroughly annoyed him.
Holden then goes to his dormitory, where he is packing is disturbed by Ackley who stays in the neighboring dorm. He then gets into a fight with his roommate Stradlater who doesn’t appreciate a composition that Holden wrote for him, in addition to probably mistreating Jane, Holden’s old friend, while on a date. After a failed attempt at getting some sleep, Holden decides to spend the night at a hotel. His parents are not yet aware about his expulsion so he does not wish to go home before Wednesday, which is when the Christmas holidays …show more content…

Next, he has a prostitute, Sunny, come to his room but is uncomfortable once she enters. Maurice, the bell boy, punches him and gets an extra 5 dollars from him. Post a quick sleep, he calls Sally, an old acquaintance, for a date. Before meeting her, he checks in his luggage at Grand Central Station, meets two nuns and buys a record for his little sister, Pheobe. He then watches a play with Sally after which they go skating. He impulsively makes a rude comment which makes her leave immediately. He then watches a show by himself and gets fully drunk. While trying to find ducks at a frozen pond at the Central Park, he trips and breaks the record he’d bought for Pheobe. Completely exhausted, Holden decides to head home and secretly meet Pheobe.
Fortunately, Holden’s parents aren’t at home and he manages to meet Phoebe. He describes to her his fantasy of being a guardian of children playing in a rye field, catching them in case they fall off. This justifies the title, The Catcher in the Rye. When he parents arrive, he sneaks out and goes to the home of Mr. Antolini, his English teacher, to spend the night. After receiving advice on life, Holden falls into a short sleep. He wakes up to find Mr. Antolini patting his head, which causes him great discomfort and he

Get Access