Homosexuality In Catcher In The Rye

One major metaphor that he used was the location of part of the novel. When Holden travelled to New York City he found a city constantly gaining experiences and was forever changing. This city was in big comparison to Holden himself. Every event Holden traveled to became an addition to his view of adulthood and what he did or did not appreciate about those occurrences. His struggles with his sexuality really lies in this metaphor as Holden experiences great troubles with it just as New York struggles with its differences. Another metaphor also plays through his red hunting hat. Holden knows that the hat is sort of quirky and is different than most hats (page 17), but he chooses to wear it and not change based on others opinions. Salinger therefore shows Holden’s inability to fit into the crowd as he is different and quirky similar to his

Holden’s attitude toward sex is contradictory, sometimes he says that he is horny while sometimes he feels the opposite. Holden states, “Sex is something I really don’t understand so hot. You never know where the hell you are.” (Salinger 82). This quote shows that Holden has very ambivalent feelings toward sex. He says that he does not understand it because sometimes he really wants to do it, even if it is with a

Despite his longing for acceptance, “His efforts to connect with any stereotypical kid his age result in abject failure“(Privitera 204). Salinger thoroughly emphasizes this through Holden’s relationships with Stradlater and Ackley, with both of whom he has a strenuous and artificial relationship, demonstrated by his internal, flippant commentaries on his peers as he discusses them in the book (Salinger 31-40). Holden’s peers ostracize him due to his more introspective and introverted nature, as seen in Stradlater’s angry response to Holden’s reflective response to this writing assignment, saying that he doesn’t “do one damn thing the way [he’s] supposed to”(Salinger 47). These difficulties stem not from deficiencies of his peers, but rather a problem of Holden’s refusal to accept anything different from what he expects, making excuses about his reasons throughout the book to cover his actions. His rationalization of his internal wants and desires impedes any proper connection he could possibly make with his peers. He, “Subconsciously longs to be accepted yet feels he cannot make the connection”(Privitera 205).

Holden says, “It was against my principles and all, but I was feeling so depressed I didn’t even think”(96). Holden’s depression blurred his personal moral compass and beliefs, and turns him into someone he is not by requesting the prostitute. He becomes a critic of a societal fault, to an embodiment of the

Holden tries to hold onto his innocence therefore separating himself from the rest of society. Although, sex is quite a taboo topic, it is also a very common interest in society. It is especially a common interest for teenage boys like Holden. Unlike his roommate Stradtler and many others in society Holden feels like sex should not be meaningless. He feels that it is important to have a real connection with the other person. This view on sex and the nature of the relationship separates him from many people his age, including his roommate. When Holden visits Phoebe's school and is upset by the vulgar writing on the wall he says, “I thought how Phoebe and all the other kids would see it, and how they'd wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them" (Salinger 260). There he expresses his desire for people's innocence to be preserved. This idea to keep children young and pure is far different from societies desire for people to grow up

When Holden meets with Sally, a girl he barely enjoys and even knows, they end up in a bar where Holden gets the idea that he and Sally should run away together. He excitedly offers the idea to Sally, but he is met with her rejection. He continues to ask her to come, to which she responds with, “Stop screaming at me, please” (132). Her response hints that his behavior is escalating in dissatisfaction. Then, after Sally still doesn’t agree to Holden’s proposal, he blatantly calls her a “royal pain in the ass” (133). Holden’s effort to get close to Sally is radical and ridiculous, and encapsulates that he cannot connect to her because he wants to run from adulthood and she does not. Then when she rejects him, his pain is evident when he insults her. His advance was unsuccessful, leaving him alone and bitter. Later in the story, Holden gets together with Carl Luce, an older boy from Holden’s former school who has had sexual experience. When meeting with Carl, the encounter quickly deteriorates with Holden’s tireless questions about sex. Carl becomes agitated with his pestering and responds, “Let’s drop it. Do you mind?” (147). Holden’s questioning was his sincere attempt at connecting with Carl and growing his understanding for sex, but it comes out

In the book, Holden tries to associate himself with a more sophisticated, adult lifestyle, but as we can see, Holden becomes more disturbed by adults and their lifestyle so he shys away from it more. The vulnerability that Holden illustrates throughout the book shows oblivious he is. In another instance, Holden discloses to the reader that he wants to lose his virginity, but when the time comes, he can never do it: “If you want to know the truth, I’m a virgin. I really am. I’ve had quite a few opportunities to lose my virginity and all, but I’ve never got around to it yet”(Salinger 103).

Holden also has several redeeming qualities that keep him from being the rouge that many censors and critics wanted to label him in the fifties. As mentioned previously, Holden feels deeply for others and spends much of his time trying to understand them. For example, he admits to being a virgin and attributes this to the concern he has for the girls he is with; "he feels he would be taking advantage of their weakness if he had relations with them. " (Lettis, 6) "They tell me to stop, so I stop. I always wish I hadn't, after I take them home, but I take them home anyway." (Salinger, 121) He is also brutally honest, a quality children possess and adults seem to lose as they age. Holden dislikes things he

This passage proves that Holden is dissatisfied with the boys at his school, he believes they are fake and he does not social well with them. Although Holden doesn’t want to interact much, when he does end up interacting with people, he usually gets the short end of the stick. For instance he invites Ackley, a boy he meets at Pency Prep, along to the movies, but Ackley won't return the favor by letting Holden sleep in his roommate's bed. ‘“I’m not worried about it. Only, I’d hate like hell if Ely came in all of a sudden and found some guy-”’ (Salinger 49). Another instance is when Holden pays Sunny even though they don’t have sex, and ends up getting scammed. At a young age, Holden lost his younger brother, Allie. This had a huge traumatizing effect on him; Holden felt useless because he was unable to help his brother. Holden turns his emotions into anger; stating that he punched out all the windows in the garage. Another time Holden felt unable to help was when his peer, James Castle, was harassed and bullied, leading to James’s suicide. Holden says, “... and there was old James Castle laying right on the stone steps and all. He was dead, and his teeth, and blood, were all over the place, and nobody would even go near him. He had on this turtleneck sweater I'd lent him”’ (Salinger 170). Holden feels that society had

Coming of age stories are an essential aspect of American Culture. Understanding and accepting one’s blossoming sexuality is considered an important aspect of growing up. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a novel that narrates the struggles of a troubled young man with coming of age given his situation and emotional instability. In the text, Holden, our narrator, has a tendency to portray most of the women he meets as shallow and superficial. This certain portrayal of women is one of the ways in which Holden’s fear of growing up is depicted in the novel. He is afraid of growing up and ultimately of his emerging sexuality and that is why he had grown to dismiss most women as beings without depth.

While I share his distaste for those who are less than authentic, I happen to believe that most people are sincere. While he describes himself as having wisdom beyond his years, he constantly misreads sexual signals which place him in uncomfortable situations frequently. While being mature in some ways, Holden is unable to identify with a world in which it is possible to engage in significant levels of intimacy without truly being in love. I think this innocence is part of Holden’s charm and what endears him to a large portion of readers who look to establish healthy relationships just like

“All of a sudden, this girl came up to me and said, “Holden Caulfield!” Her name was Lillian Simmons. My brother D.B. used to go around with her for a while. She had very big knockers”(salinger 96). In “The Catcher in the Rye” Holden is portrayed as a whiny teenager that slacks off on his homework and performs illegal acts such as drinking and purchasing prostitutes. On top of that, another inappropriate characteristic Holden has is being sexist. The book itself is also sexist because of the way the main character thinks about women, the way the main character treats women, and the roles women play in the novel.

Lacking sureness in his own sexuality, Holden’s redundant use of the word “pervert” displays his anxiety over how well he can handle intimacy. Staying in the Edmont Hotel for a night, Holden spots a crossdressing man and “…a man and a

However, he admits that while the couple’s actions are “crumby” (Salinger 81) and crude, he is still aroused and “wouldn’t mind” (Salinger 81) doing it, especially to a girl he is attracted to. While Holden wants to preserve his innocence by not thinking about sex at all, he agrees that he is a “sex maniac” (Salinger 81), and is a fiend about losing his virginity. Holden even goes as far as to make rules for himself. On page 82, he recounts, “I made a rule that I was going to quit horsing around with girls that, deep down, gave me a pain in the ass. I broke it, though, the same week I made it-the same night, as a matter of fact” (Salinger). He is slowly losing his innocence, and while he hates to admit it, Holden’s constant thoughts about sexuality is a sign of adulthood. To him, one should only have sex with someone they truly love. Holden is almost proud of himself for having such a morally correct view of sex. This is why he is so riled when he discovers that Stradlater had sex with Jane Gallagher. Holden realized that Jane barely knew Stradlater and felt that he, if anyone, should be dating Jane. His increasing thoughts on sexuality and loss of a conventional or shielded view of sex show that his loss of innocence is apparent.

     J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye has captured the spirit of adolescence, dramatizing Holden Caulfield's vulgar language and melodramatic reactions. Written as the autobiographical account of a fictional teenage prep school student named Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye deals with material that is socially scandalous for the time (Gwynn, 1958). As an emotional, intelligent, and sensitive young man, Holden puts his inner world to the test through the sexual mores of his peers and elders, the teachings of his education, and his own emerging sense of self. Throughout the years, the language of the story has startled readers. Salinger's control of Holden's easy,