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Holden Caulfield And Its Effects On Society

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After a heated argument, rough day, or traumatizing event, many of us say we would rather be left alone. When something negative happens to any of us we tend to isolate ourselves, leaving ourselves to our thoughts for a while before blending back into society. This isolation is good for a while, it allows us to clear our heads and think things through before going back into a normal routine. Prolonged isolation however, has been proven to be potentially dangerous. Holden Caulfield isolates himself from the "phoniness" of the world, thinking highly of himself and somehow believes he is different from everyone else he 's ever met. Holden 's way of putting himself on a pedestal harms his social prowess, and isolates him to the point of loneliness. He longs for social contact and in many situations makes a strong effort in order to get to know somebody. After 5 minutes of conversation however, Holden proves to us his social impairment. Holden Caulfield is an example of a person who does not fit into normal social interactions, yet some of his personality exists in all of us.

"The first thing I did when I got off at Penn Station, I went into this phone booth. I felt like giving somebody a buzz […] but as soon as I was inside, I couldn 't think of anybody to call up. My brother D.B. was in Hollywood. My kid sister Phoebe […] was out. Then I thought of giving Jane Gallagher 's mother a buzz […]. Then I thought of calling this girl […] Sally Hayes. […] I thought of calling […]

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