The past is a quintessential ingredient in the formation of one’s character. The memories in which one makes will be either treasured or treated as baggage. Holden Caulfield is entrenched within the past, so it consumes him and becomes a destructive force in his life, while Asher Lev is able to channel his past into construction through his art. Undoubtedly, skeletons within Caulfield’s past continually haunt his life and decisions. The major catalyst of Caulfield’s current state is the death of his little brother Allie who died from leukemia. After the death of Allie, Caulfield becomes disconnected from the world and cares for little except his younger sister Phoebe and older brother D.B. This apathy manifests itself through his indifferent …show more content…
Consequently, he was expelled from Pencey due to his inattention, inaction, and indifference. Caulfield is emotionally unstable because he is incapable of coping and dealing with his feelings after his brother’s death. For example, when Caulfield hears of his brother’s death, he is unable to process it, instead destroying the garage windows by punching them out, but “didn’t even know [he] was doing it” (Salinger 44). He is prone to violence whenever he becomes emotionally charged demonstrated through his fight with Stradlater over a girl he had not seen in years. Furthermore, Caulfield uses alcohol and money to hide from his problems. His immaturity to deal with the loss of his brother combined with the pains of adolescence creates a dangerous cocktail as he seeks solace in alcohol believing he “can’t sit… cold sober” (Salinger 78). He runs out of money in the first few days on …show more content…
Lev was born with the gift of artistry, his earliest memory at the age of four when he was “holding [his] pencil…and transferring the world around [him]” (Potok 5). This gift was the main catalyst for the turmoil within his youth, as well as his adult life. His gift made him acutely aware of the emotions and feelings of the world in which he lived and is anything but indifferent to the agony as well as joy of earth. He paints the world true to how he sees it, like how he painted Stalin when he was scared of going to Vienna. He is aware of the pain he put his parents through when he refused to go to Vienna, but he puts his gift above all. Lev’s ability to use his gift as a form of expression and escape adds to the world and helps with Lev’s own mental anguish over his trials with his father and religion. Lev pursues a mental peace and balance in his passion for art and love of his religion as an orthodox Jew. The two most important aspects of his life often battle each other, but he searches for harmony between the two. Painting and drawing is Lev’s medium to express him because it is where he can be truest to whom he is. His father, a huge figure in his life, “set himself as an adversary” (Potok 184) because his views Lev’s drawings as foolishness. As such, this past of constant conflict creates a strained relationship with his father. The two were never able to communicate without the help of Lev’s mother.
Holden Caulfield the protagonist of the story. He writes story away from home where he was sent for a therapy. He didn’t talk about his childhood, he mentioned brother D. B. who is a Hollywood writer. He dislike him because D. B. has sold out to Hollywood, chose a career in literature to make wealth in the film industry. He begins to tell about his breakdown, it started when he departed from Pencey Prep, a famous school he attended in Agerstown, Pennsylvania.
Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist of the book is a young, emotional, and a damaged person. He faces difficulty with the death of his brother, his family being disappointed about his work in school, and not only his innocence, but the innocence of his sister, Pheobe. Holden doesn’t like to acknowledge, but we know many people in his life care about his well being and his success and happiness. The issue Holden is dealing with is prevalent throughout the entire book leading up until the end, and that is his innocence. He can’t accept growing up and is scared of reality. This is crucial for the book, not just to captivate the reader with relatable narration and emotions, but for the forward movement of the story and plot.
Holden Caulfield, a boy who became iconized as the token of the teenage struggle. A whiner to the first degree who had crept his way into the hearts of many during the 1960s and continues to do so today. George Will wrote a detailed essay analyzing whether or not the sympathy Holden received was deserved. He picked apart every quality Holden possessed that could be sympathized with and displayed him as the arrogant teenager that he truly was. The book begins with Holden’s lousy introduction to his life and his story.
Holden Caulfield experiences the loss of his younger brother Allie, which is why he refuses the call of his adventure, and this is seen through the literary device of
One of the greatest American Literature writers, J.D. Salinger, was familiar with a rough childhood by experience. He was able to parallel his experiences to the experiences of Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in The Catcher in Rye. In this novel, Holden experiences conflicts that most youth are not familiar with. The conflicts in Holden Caulfield’s life are caused by various forces and circumstances.
Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right—I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing” (Salinger 8). Through this quote, the author shows the reader how Caulfield just accepts life as it is, despite being unhappy with it, and doesn’t make an effort to change his situation. In sum, Holden Caulfield is too accepting of reality and does not attempt to take control over his own life, which is uncharacteristic of a true code hero.
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
In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield, our protagonist, makes a mental journey in relation to dealing and coping with the grief accompanied with the death of his brother, and we are able to see how his mental status changes and how he needs guidance from loved ones. In this journey, he learns about how to make connections and that staying close to the people he loves can improve his outlook on life and overall mood. During the book, he isolated himself from others and always found the negative in everything, which did put him in a very grim place. In fact, he even becomes clinically depressed, as we can clearly see from our point of view. He soon learns that being with his younger sister Phoebe almost brought
He initially tries to combat her claim but comes up short, realizing the only things he likes are Phoebe and his late brother Allie, forcing him to accept the truth. Caulfield finds that his being so absorbed in disliking almost everything brings upon a phoniness of his own, because although he is privileged (rich, male, white, access to education, etc.) he can find few to no pleasures in his life. Holden must embrace the fact that he is, in some way, like the people he so tirelessly hates.
Holden Caulfield is described a boy who does not care what happens or where he goes in life. These feelings are related to a heavy sadness that causes him to feel stressed
When Art is retelling his father’s story, he tries to repress all his emotions so the true meaning of this father’s narrative is revealed, but sometimes his feelings overtake him. However, Art does not leave the deaths of all the innocent Jews on the page; he carries them with him, and they weigh him down in depression. And even though he
Art and Vladek’s atypical relationship showcase the division created by the holocaust various different ways. Art immediately paints a picture of a; weak, frail, old man, who had
A final conflict in the life of Holden Caufield is his own self-destructiveness. That he is
Holden Caulfield is a tragic hero in his journey to defend all children from becoming adults and saving their youth and innocence, which is simply an impossible task. Arthur Miller describes a tragic hero as one who attempts “to gain his ‘rightful’ position in his society” and in doing so struggles for his dignity. Holden’s downfall happens because his tragic flaw is that he is hypocritical about himself and doesn’t understand himself.
Holden deals with his younger brother Allie’s death with both negative and positive memories. For instance, when Holden is writing Stradlater’s report for him, he chooses the main topic on Allie’s baseball mitt and even goes on about what a good person Allie was.