Holden Caulfield Character Analysis

In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger depicts a narration of Holden Caulfield’s encounters. Holden is portrayed as a high school student that is judgmental towards adults while kinder to the youth. Holden does not want to grow up and he thinks that if one is approaching adulthood, one will turn into a phony. Holden’s leniency towards younger people, such as his sister, is because of his dilemma of growing up or not, his distaste for adult phonies, and his own childhood.

There is no character that stands out against the society’s ideals and best represent for teenagers like Holden Caulfield. Like some teens, Holden does not do well in school and eventually gets kick out from one of the most prestigious schools in Agerstown, Pennsylvania: Pencey Prep. He gets so feed up with the school that he decides to leave earlier and travels to New York to have some lone times. During this period, the interactions that he has with the people he meets change his behavior and mind set, especially with Phoebe. In “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, Holden indeed is still a relatable character through his actions, feelings, and concerns to his family members, especially Phoebe.

JD. Salinger’s 1951 book, The Catcher in the Rye, shows us how society treated their confused and changing teenagers during their transition into adulthood. The book’s main character Holden Caulfield is being pressured into growing up even though he doesn’t feel ready, to lead an adult life. He is still struggling socially and mourning for his deceased brother whose death turned Holden upside down and into a negative, hopeless person from a young age, which causes him to be distracted, indifferent and to flunk every school he goes to.

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.

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.

In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the character of Holden Caulfield does not convincingly embody a compassionate and caring character. Holden, after having a difficult year at school, finds comfort in his memories of his brother Allie. Another instance of Holden finding comfort, is when he spends time with Phoebe. In the same way, Phoebe is supportive when spending time with Holden. However, this takes a turn for the worse, as Holden reveals to Phoebe that he is leaving. Holden finds comfort and love through his memories of Allie, his experiences with Phoebe and the support from he receives from her.

In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a high school student that has gone to many boarding schools and been kicked out of every single one do to bad grades. He has a little sister and had a little brother, but doesn’t have a very good home life or connection with his parents every since his little brother, Allie, died of leukemia. His parent’s grieve and get over his death quicker than him and Holden doesn’t see how they do it. He never got closure and this affects how he acts towards everyone in his daily life and ultimately how he feels they treat him. Holden struggles emotionally with the phoniness of his relationships because he thinks people are unreliable, immature, and always tend to leave him.

Throughout The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden a 16 year old male flunks out of School and returns to his home (New York City) but decides to hide in the city from his parents and have a little fun in town. Holden’s attitude on the atmosphere and surroundings around him (in school and the City) contributed to his outcomes in life.

Every story has a protagonist. When you have a protagonist it is only essential to include secondary, supporting, and minor characters. Supporting characters are fundamental parts of every story, unmasking aspects of personality, expanding unforeseen mystery, and showing the true colors of our protagonists when they are troubled or lost. Inevitably, they contribute to the development and growth of our major and main characters. In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger protagonist, Holden Caulfield finds himself surrounded by merciless teachers, nauseating girls, unaccepting relatives, and a whole lot of phonies. Throughout his unpredictable journey, one person in his life manages to get through to him more than anyone else, his little sister

Holden Caulfield’s life is defined by his dislike of pretty much everyone and everything because his parents never taught him to do otherwise. His parents neglected him by sending him to multiple schools and never taught him how to deal with his emotional issues. Holden was never taught by an adult how to deal with his grief after his brother, Allie’s death. Since almost every adult Holden meets end up letting him down, he grows up to be emotionally stunted and thus is rejected by the world around him.

”(Salinger 9.14-15) Although Holden saw the couples spitting at each other, he seemed Interested but also ashamed of himself for being so. I can tell that Holden's’ main goal for going to New York was to socialize with people, to cope with him being alone. Holden tries to socialize through drinking and getting prostitutes, but in the end it only gave him doubts and depression. What Holden doesn't realize about himself, is that he could have made some friends if he opened up to people around him.

Holden flunked out of Pencey and now he decides to leave in the middle of the night after a fight with his roommate. He does not know what to do when he leaves, as he knows his parents will never forgive him once they learn of his expulsion, so he decides to take the train to New York City. Throughout this he feels very lost and lonely in his mind, as he has no one to turn to. It is clear how he feels when he gets dropped of from the train station and wants to call someone, while doing this, he says, “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. I left my bags right outside the booth so that I could watch them, but as soon as I was inside, I couldn't think of anybody to call up……..So I ended up not calling anybody. I came out of the booth, after about twenty minutes or so, and got my bags and walked over to that tunnel where the cabs are and got a cab” (Salinger 66-67). This quote, coming from the time Holden finally got off of the train, explains perfectly how he is lost and lonely, leading him to not be able to adjust to the change of leaving school with nowhere to go. With no one to help him it was much more difficult to find himself. Another time when the readers

Friendships are like goals; they are easy to make but difficult to keep. J.D Salinger’s character Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye is a lonesome sixteen-year-old. Salinger’s novel follows the story of Holden as he tries to rescue children’s innocence from being lost to the crippling world of adulthood. Although he perceives his friends as fake, Holden tries to flatter his roommate Stradlater and old friend Sally Hayes into becoming a person like Jane Gallagher: someone that will listen to him.

Later on Holden recalls when he was attending Pencey College how his gloves were stolen by some crook. He continues describing the situation of confrontation hypothetically, at first with assertion and authority. Eventually he admits to himself, “Only, I wouldn’t have the guts to do it. I’d just stand there, trying to look tough” (Salinger P. 99). Holden goes on to describe to the reader his unaware fear of confrontation and violence, hinting at a dread of vulnerability and a closed off persona, another clear sign of Major Depressive Disorder. When Holden was a younger boy he knew a girl named Jane Gallagher whom he was childhood friends with, they often even held hands and had an emotional bond. Ever since he heard about Stradlator (his old roommate) taking her out on a date he’d been thinking of calling her up. Finally on page 130 he calls her up and her mother picks up. Startled, she hangs up and admits he should’ve asked for Jane, “But I didn’t feel like it. You really have to be in the mood for that stuff” (Salinger P. 130). His inability to feel motivated to make an effort for somebody he once loved shows his social-isolation.

In J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, a young man named Holden Caulfield is on the edge of adulthood. He is a bright kid but struggles with many mental diseases mainly because of the passing of his brother Allie. This has caused him to not focus on school and has got him kicked out of many schools. He did not have many friends and he did not like many people. He thought of everyone as phony. Holden does not want to confront adulthood in fear of losing his childhood because of the fear of change, conformity to the phony world and the passing of his younger brother Allie.