Holden Caulfield Character Analysis

I read the book and watched the John Lennon assassination video and the million dollar question is Mark David Chapman Holden Caulfield? I have to say no he isn’t. I will explain why I came to this conclusion. On the day of the killing, he carried two things with him when he shot and killed John Lennon at the Dakota apartments in Manhattan. He had a handgun and a copy of The Catcher in the Rye book.

In J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caufield, describes in detail the parts of his life and his environment that bother him the most. He faces these problems with a kind of naivety that prevents him from fully understanding why it is that he is so depressed. His life revolves around his problems, and he seems helpless in evading them. Among others, Holden finds himself facing the issues of acceptance of death, growing up, and his own self-destructiveness.

As Eugene McNamara stated in his essay “Holden Caulfield as Novelist”, Holden, of J.D. Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye, had met with long strand of betrayals since he left Pencey Prep. These disappointments led him through the adult world with increasing feelings of depression and self-doubt, leading, finally to his mental breakdown.

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, portrays Holden Caulfield as a manic-depressive. Holden uses three techniques throughout the novel to cope with his depression. He smokes, drinks, and talks to Allie. Although they may not be positive, Holden finds comfort in these three things.

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.

Holden just found out about how Stradlater was going out with Jane Gallagher. He really likes Jane and he has not seen her in a while. Holden says " I oughta go down and say hello to her at least " ( 37). Holden keeps on saying this but he knows that he will not do it. He calls other people phonies but he is the real phony in the book. Later on in the story, Holden was walking back to the hotel and it was a very cold night. He put his hunting hat on but he didn't have gloves because they were stolen at Pencey. Holden said " If I'd found out at Pencey who'd stolen my gloves, I probably would've gone down to the crooks room and said how about handing over those clothes " (99). Holden is being a hypocrite here because he knows he would not actually do this. He says he will do something but he never actually does it. Holden never follows through on what he is going to say he is going to do and he always makes up excuses for why he does not do

Everybody feels depressed at some time or another in their lives.  However, it becomes a problem when depression is so much a part of a person's life that he or she can no longer experience happiness.  This happens to the young boy, Holden Caulfield in J.D Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye.  Mr. Antolini accurately views the cause of Holden's depression as his lack of personal motivation, his inability to self-reflect and his stubbornness to overlook the obvious which collectively results in him giving up on life before he ever really has a chance to get it started.

J.D. Salinger, the author of the Catcher in the Rye, was a skilled writer. Salinger wrote about a wide variety of characters throughout this novel, many of these characters had a complex personality. Holden Caulfield is the main character in the Catcher in the rye. Holden is a unique character and he shares very little traits with the other people he encounters throughout the novel besides his younger sister, Phoebe. Holden and Phoebe Caulfield have two very different personalities but they share some distinct similarities. Holden is a gloomy, pessimistic, and unstable teenager. Phoebe, on the other hand, is a lively, optimistic, and innocent child. Throughout the novel Holden spends his time trying to act mature while Phoebe is living out the childhood he never had. Phoebe and Holden have very different personalities and outlooks on life. While the two have such opposing traits, they have a similar background and upbringing.

Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he

In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist Holden Caulfield has peculiar behavioral tendencies. The author’s cynical narration presents the story of an emotionally damaged teenager whose cynicism and personal oddities prevent him from conforming to a post-World War II society full of phonies to whom he cannot relate. It becomes increasingly evident that Holden, far from being pragmatic, has clouded judgement as he rides an emotional rollercoaster of mood fluctuations. Thus, it is clear that his wide array of personal flaws including his cynical, depressive, and unreasonable attitudes and thoughts are rooted in underlying emotional problems. Holden Caulfield has extensive psychological problems that are revealed through his depressive

My Patient, Holden Caulfield has a family of six including his parents and himself. He has a ten year old sister Phoebe, older brother D.B. a screenwriter at Hollywood, and a younger brother known as Allie who had died of leukemia around eleven years old. Holden had attended at four schools including Pencey prep and was later expelled for failing most of his classes except for english. “This is about the fourth school I've gone to. " I shook my head..."Boy!"(Salinger 9).

Depression is a real clinical illness but it can also be a matter of opinion or perspective. It affects a wide range in age in both men and women. In J.D. Salinger’s Bildungsroman novel, The Catcher in the Rye, we read about the experiences and thoughts of a young boy living in the late 1940’s. The protagonist of this novel, Holden Caulfield, has a very bitter and cynical tone throughout the novel. From the way he describes how he views society, one can deduce the fact Holden Caulfield is suffering from depression.

‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is a classic novel set in the 1950’s. Holden Caulfield is a young 16 year old boy walking through life, hardships, and criticism towards life. Throughout Holden’s story, his odd behavior is displayed in a manner which opens the readers’ eyes to an entirely new persona. One that sees the worst in everything, one that doesn’t see the reality of things, a mind unable to decipher the beauty which the world holds within. Through his behavior and thoughts, the reader is led to believe that, from the start, there’s an abnormality to Holden’s thought process. His hopelessness and lack of motivation are signs of Major Depressive Disorder. Major depressive order is a mental health disorder characterized by mood swings,

As the novel progresses, it becomes difficult to relate to Holden Caulfield as he shows irrational thinking, terrible ways of coping with stress, and a negative attitude. Holden was absolutely irritated with Sally Hayes as she does not agree with his plan to run away and begin a new life. Rather than Holden expressing his feelings with Sally in a considerate way, Holden irrationally lets out his emotions which made her cry. With this in mind, Holden says “I know I shouldn’t’ve said it, and I probably wouldn’t’ve ordinarily, but she was depressing the hell out of me” (Salinger 149). Holden acknowledges the fact that this was certainly not the proper approach to his situation. In contrast to

Change is an essential component in the continued success of the human race and thus important in the development of society. As such, society expects people to constantly change and adapt. Readers typically expect to see the development of characters throughout novels, or other pieces of literature. In the novel, “The Catcher in the Rye”, J. D. Salinger deviates from the normal progression followed by most novels by characterizing the protagonist as an individual undergoing temperamental changes and uncertainty throughout the novel. This novel is known to have attracted criticism from numerous reviewers from all time periods, who tend to make the argument that the novel 's main protagonist, Holden Caulfield, does not develop at all throughout the course of the book. However, this is not the case as Holden grows and develops through the book, recognizing specific ideals from the environment that is around him and responding to them. These reactions towards change are seen through Holden 's discovery of himself, relationships with other characters and the actions that he decides to take in given circumstances throughout the book.