Holden Caulfield Archetype

He hides under a visage of a cool ‘bad boy’ trope, seeing the world through a heavy filter- to him, anyone who's anyone is a phony, a liar, or just plain bad, despite him judging many things he later goes on to do himself. Over the course of the book we come to see Holden has built an opinion of the world that shields him from the pains and complexities of life. The author displays Holden’s traits quite prominently, especially through his use of language; he writes as Holden speaks- vulgar, rambling, and easily derailed, jumping from idea to idea infinitely

Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye has been into continuous dispute and controversy since its publication in 1951. Some critics think that Salinger 's narrative of the human plight is engrossing and enlightening, yet incredibly depressing. The leading character, Holden Caulfield, serves as the basis for critical discussion due to his psychological conflict. Salinger 's portrayal of Holden, which encloses incidents of dejection, nervous breakdown, impulsive spending, sexual exploration, and other wandering behavior, have all assist to the controversial nature of the novel. Yet the novel is praised by its piercing advocates, who argue that it is a critical look at the problems facing American youth during the 1950 's.

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.

Adolescence, this is a time where you figure out who you truly are. This soul searching leads to self realization. Holden Caulfield from The Catcher In The Rye by J. D. Salinger, has trouble accepting himself. Throughout his days he would put on a cap just to be someone else. It is his get away place, a place of isolation. A way for him to seclude from the world and become someone he isn’t. This is relatable to numerous teens. Though Holden could be described using numerous adjectives, Holden's character can be perfectly described as ignorant, a liar, and a slacker. He is ignorant because he does not learn from his mistakes. He is a compulsive liar. Finally, he is a slacker because he avoids work. Holden is just like countless people out there who do not apply themselves. You see, Holden could be smart. He could be successful. He just doesn’t have the motivation or ambition to do so.

The book, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, discusses many different aspects of the life of a young adult. The main character, Holden Caulfield, appears to be a typical self-absorbent teenager. Yet the majority of the time Holden makes valid points on what goes on in today’s society. Even though the book was set back in time, the issues discussed in the novel are still relevant today. Holden is often seen as an arrogant individual when in reality he wants a better world to live in.

The novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger is one of the most frequently challenged pieces of literature of the twenty-first century. Salinger’s novel contained vulgar language, violence, and sexual implication resulting in a ban from public schools’ reading lists. However, teens still read Salinger’s story of a relatable, alienated, American teenager. The events Salinger describes in The Catcher in the Rye occur in the 1950’s. The author narrates the story through an unconventional New York teen named Holden Caulfield. Over the course of the novel, Caulfield describes various impulsive and self-destructive decisions he has made while experiencing symptoms of unexplained depression and emotional distress. J.D. Salinger uses multiple symbols throughout the text prompting the reader to see beyond the text when evaluating Caulfield’s experiences. In chapter twenty-five Salinger uses the golden ring and the carousel as a symbol of Holden’s most intimidating internal conflict: transitioning from childhood to adulthood.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger tells the painful tale of a hormonal teenage boy, who has been kicked out of multiple schools, and is searching for himself in a world of phonies. June Edwards’ article, “Censorship in the Schools: What’s Moral about The Catcher in the Rye?” deals with the novel’s values and argues over Salinger’s written intentions. She describes Holden as an insecure young man, who makes some poor decisions, but turns his life around and becomes a good influence, contrary to what censors would claim.

Although it is obvious he doesn't enjoy many people’s company , Phoebe is the one of the few people that Holden has nothing but positive things to say about. When Holden goes to visit his little sister , Phoebe shows many of her character traits such as her mature attitude and

He knows to not try and stop them if they look like they are going to fall, but allow them freedom to experience life even with a few risks. Holden has such a deep affection for Phoebe that through watching her closely he is able to realize more about himself as a person and life in general. Phoebe’s in depth comprehension and understanding of Holden allows him to be himself. During those moment the two of them both learn his true feelings and intentions. Due to being wise beyond her years, Phoebe’s necessary advice seem to really resonate with Holden despite not living or experiencing as much as

Holden’s relationship to his sister Phoebe and his outlived relationship with his brother Allie both exercise as means of preserving his own adolescence and innocence. Holden analyzes the traits of his younger siblings and longs to keep those aspects of their individuality alive within himself. Sustaining ties to his childhood is one of Holden’s compulsions; which is balanced with his second compulsions which is to ward off ones advancement into adulthood. We can see these qualities of Holden through his lack of motivation to excel in school. Another example of this tendency is when he is reluctant to have sex with Sunny the prostitute, although a part of him was eager to take a step towards adulthood, he was too timid and scared of losing his own innocence. Phoebe immediately realizes Holden’s obsession with preserving the innocence within people; especially her, and she calls him out "You don't like anything that's happening. . .

     Although Holden is extremely cynical and struggles with relationships, he is not all bad. Inside he is moral and generous. He was very charitable when he gave a considerable donation of twenty dollars to the nuns. Holden has a strange way of loving people.

This self-destructive behavior is a result of not only his pride in viewing others as phonies, but his overall hypocrisy. One example can be seen in his actions in Chapter 10. While Holden had previously talked about the importance of youth and innocence, and is a character that is proud of that aspect, Holden disregards his own philosophy in Chapter 10 as he tries to appear older in order to order a drink at the bar. As he describes his gray hair and aspects that make him look mature, Holden’s hypocrisy can be seen strongly, as he would be acting in a “phony” way. Another prime example of this can be seen in Chapters 11 and 12. While Holden condemns the people in the bar as “perverts”, he himself later seeks out a woman to have sex with, and eventually has to settle for a prostitute. This, once again, shows that Holden does not adhere to his own philosophy of “phoniness”, which causes self-destructive hypocrisy in his actions. Holden’s lust for love creates another example of just this in Chapter 15. While he had previously criticized characters like Stradlater for being a phony who cares too much about dating, he himself goes to great heights to have Sally go on a date with him. This last act of hypocrisy shows that Holden himself is a phony, and that his worldview is flawed. Holden Caulfield does not adhere to his own philosophy of what “phoniness” is, as he makes exceptions for himself. This

Holden at the beginning of the book attends a wealthy all boys’ school. Every part of the school to him is phony; the school is flooding with 2 faced wealthy bastards. He so badly wants for everyone to be genuine, I personally think that is the reason he rebels so much from authority and responsivities. “Grand that’s a word I really hate. It’s a phony.” (pg. 9) Nothing no one, just a word, a word gives him the wrong vide and it automatically becomes phony. The Webster definition of phony is “Not genuine.” Holden uses the word phony due to his lack of genuinely that he has received from people. He is looking for something genuine. He wants people to understand the importance of being genuine for once. This could be a major factor of him wanting to be the Catcher in the rye. He wants to change the trend; he wants the fakeness of society to understand the importance of being genuine

Censorship -the prohibition of books, movies and other forms of media- is a prevalent issue that has detrimentally affects our society by suppressing knowledge to the people. High schools all over the nation have banned novels such as the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Grapes of Wrath, and To Kill a Mockingbird; classics that have shaped literature. For decades now, Catcher in the Rye has been subjected to criticism and controversy due to the contentious topics it contains. The novel portrays the life of a 16 year old boy named Holden Caulfield whose journey through his teenage years contain many practical pressures and dilemmas. Through the profanity and atrocious events in novel, author J.D. Salinger’s skillful writing deals with ubiquitous

Many of the minor cast personalities allow a sort of pick and plug offset that could be applied to Holden as a whole. Simply put, the side characters are actual fractal forms of Holden himself and the only way to reach these forms are to acquire a sense of Zen-like mentality. For example, Stratler could be pegged down as a representation of the “king-of-the-hill” personality in which Holden sometimes lacks in his own right. Oddly enough, there are many ties between these two that seemingly connect each other in tow.