Holden Caulfield Tone

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

Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye and save the children from falling off the cliff. This cliff, however, is the real world, and Holden himself is afraid of it so he wants to protect children from it. This is also demonstrated when Holden visits his sister 's school and sees swears written on the wall. This makes Holden very mad, "It drove me damn near crazy. I thought of how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they 'd wonder what the hell it meant…But I rubbed it out anyway, finally"(201). Holden was able to protect the children for a short while but a few moments later he sees the same thing written on the wall again. Only this time it is scratched in with a knife or something and Holden is unable to rub it away like before and realizes "It 's hopeless, anyway…it 's impossible" (202) he indicates here that growing up and facing certain reality is inevitable. Holden finally realizes that he can 't protect the kids from the real world when he watches Phoebe ride a carrousel at the zoo. "All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring…this thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let

Holden misinterpretation of the poem shows that he is trying to protect his younger sister from growing up. He explains that he thought the poem was about children falling off a cliff, and that he had to catch the children falling off. Children going over the cliff would be symbolic of a child entering adulthood, which Holden is trying to prevent Phoebe from doing. While Holden is telling Phoebe this, his hat is on backwards like a catcher in baseball:”I had my red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it.”

Yet another issue Holden endures throughout this novel is loneliness . There are many reasons that he is very lonely all throughout the novel. The biggest reason he doesn't talk to anybody is because he is afraid he is going to get hurt emotionally. For example he is scared to call Jane and is scared to let her in his heart because he doesn't want to loose another person he loves, like his deceased brother Allie. Another example of his loneliness is when he meets the prostitute in the hotel. Holden knows that he can have the comfort of another human for a little while, but he doesn't want to do anything with her because he knows she will just leave after they are done having sex. In a way he is looking for something that will last longer, like a relationship, but he is too scared of being hurt . Although, “loneliness is difficult to fess up

Nicole Schuller Mr. Riskind Sophomore English, Period 1 March 17, 2015 In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, being a teenager means chronic struggle for Holden Caulfield. He is constantly facing obstacles and does a great job of lengthening his time between childhood and adulthood for as long as he can. With many responsibilities coming his way, Holden is not mentally prepared to becoming an adult. But it’s not like Holden can take a step back into childhood either.

Holden says “I felt so lonely, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead.” (J.D Salinger) Holden is so desperate for connection but the adults in his life seem unable to provide and understand him, and he does not receive the support he desperately needs. His resistance to conformity is a rejection of the phoniness and hypocrisy that he associates with the real world.

“Catcher In The Rye”, is Holden’s dream. He stands in a field of rye, while catching children who are playing too close to a cliff. This represents his love of children’s innocence. When he sees kids who are innocent and how real it is, it makes him very happy. Little things upset him, such as bad words on a wall, because of how powerful pure innocence is to him.

This could be the reason why J.D. Salinger brings in the Ducks in Central Park Lagoon as a symbol. At the beginning of the book, Holden curious about the ducks and “where did the ducks go” when the lake is frozen in wintertime. In fact, this is the first time that he thought of them since he found out that he got kick out of his school, Pencey Prep, for flunking all of his classes, except for English. It is important to realize why Holden shows interest in the ducks. This indicates that he is worry about his future.

The main character in Catcher in the rye Holden is at a position where he is trying to understand the world around. Where he is concerned with the people of being materialistic. And the fact that young men like many of his class mate are molded by school institutions like Pencey Prep , which was the last school Holden had failed out in the novel, turning young men into homogenized group of people concerned with less morals of society and more worldly gains. Which makes a fray of personality within Holden’s context, where at one point Holden is trying to exist in the American society and on the other hand he is moving away from the society. In that concept understanding why Holden is impendent to the idea where he thinks of himself as

Holden continuously isolates himself from people, hence he refrains from forming social bonds. For instance, Holden is constantly conflicted on whether he should go visit Jane Gallagher, a childhood friend. This is evident as Holden states “I oughta go down and say hello to her [Jane]…[but] I’m not in the mood right now.” (Salinger 32-33). This quote evidently reveals that Holden is unable to form social bonds with individuals. Holden’s inability to form social relationships has transpired from his relationship with Allie. Moreover, Allie’s passing has changed Holden’s approach on forming social bonds with others, as he is not in the mood to talk to anyone, as he states “You have to be in the mood for those things” (Salinger 42). Holden’s inability ultimately leads him to fear from forming social relationships. Another key thing to remember is Holden is not receiving emotional support from his parents, as they are continually sending him away to several different boarding schools. Attending different schools, and not being close to his parents has led to his inability to form social bonds evolve into a fear. Therefore, Holden fears have led him to become incapable of trusting those whom he loves. For instance, Holden has lost trust in Mr. Antolini, his teacher at Elkton Hills. This is evident as he stated “But what did worry me was the part about how I’d woke up and found him patting me…the more I

Arguably, the novel’s most obvious symbol can be found in the title. Holden discusses and explains with Phoebe that he wants to be the “catcher in the rye”. He imagines himself wearing a giant baseball glove, ready to catch the kids as they ponder and fall off the cliff while playing in the rye. The children in the poem symbolize childhood. Furthermore, the field in the poem represents innocence, the action of falling from the cliff is the fall from innocence. Moreover, Holden symbolizes the protector of children, he protects them from losing their innocence and childhood. Furthermore, it also represents his desire to avoid the harsh reality of the adult life. Ironically, Holden mistakes the meaning and words of the song, much in the same way he mistakes the cause of his torment, it comes from himself, not from others. For example, "I thought it was 'If a body catch a body,'" I said. "Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they're running and they don't look where

Throughout J.D. Salinger’s novel; The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger uses the perspective of Holden to show a recurring theme of loneliness. Holden does not seem to fit in anywhere he goes, which alienates him from society. As an outcast, Holden learns the true meaning of what it is like to be lonely. He doesn’t have any real friends and instead progresses from one meaningless relationship to another within a few days, not wanting to commit time with anyone because in Holden’s opinion, people are all too phony. When Holden arrives in New York, he enters a phone booth, prepared to call some of his friends but instead,“I ended up not calling anybody.

Holden Caulfield plays a timeless character in the sense that his way of life is common for the American teenager, in his time as well as now. Today parents dread the terrible and confusing adolescent years of their child's life. In J.D. Salinger's book, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is in this terrible and confusing point of his life. At this point in his life, as well as in modern teenager's lives, a transition occurs, from child to adult. Holden takes this change particularly rough and develops a typical mentality that prevents him from allowing himself to see or understand his purpose in life.

At the time, he didn't have a proper support system nor did he know the correct way to mourn his brother's death as he recounts, “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddamn windows with my fist” (50). He doesn't want an experience similar to his to deprive any other children of their adolescence, especially his sister, Phoebe. When asked how he would like to spend his life, Holden answers, "I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff… I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them…

It seems that Holden is finally coming to the conclusion that every child will have to fall at some point and he is accepting of that. This part of the novel is significant because it is one of the first moments that a reader can clearly note that Holden seems to change his original mindset from the beginning.