Holden Caulfield is the main character & narrator. He's insecure, emotionally stunted, very bitter and has a cynical view about he world around him. He is a mentally ill 16 year old who views the world around him with bitterness with a longing for the world around him to never change. He is extremely judgmental about others. He is in a psychiatric hospital months after the events of the novel take place. Throughout the novel, Holden speaks about particular places and events that only the wealthy would have access too. Such as 4 - 5 private schools, grand hotel & fancy night clubs. In Chapter 15, page 119, he talks about that he comes from a wealthy family and he is a spend thrift. He also comments that his father invests in Broadway …show more content…
His school was strengthening the students academic excellence and developing social responsibility. He already failed three others schools and this one is the fourth one he attended. When Holden was attending Pencey, he failed four out of the five classes. He got a notice stating that he was being expelled. The mission statement fits in with this statement because it's states "It is committed to strengthening religious faith, promoting academic excellence and developing social responsibility" (Pope John) Well, Holden could have achieved a lot more then getting expelled from all four schools he attended. Spencer, his history teacher tried to reprimand him by explaining to him about his poor academic performance. Holden gets aggravated about this. You can achieve more if you work hard at it. When you don't work hard at it, you won't achieve in life. You can achieve academic excellence if work your fullest …show more content…
The football field is where Holden watches Saxon Hall against Pencey Prep from Thompson hill. Here's a quote that was said in the novel. " Anyway, it was the Saturday of the football game.... I remember around three o'clock that afternoon I was standing way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill....You could see the whole field from there, and you could see the two teams bashing each other all over the place. You could hear them all yelling. Holden hints that everyone is off watching the game while he is isolated & withdrawn. Instead of connecting with them, he is in his own little world. The ties in with our mission statement because we have extracurricular activities. Pencey prep had extracurricular activities but Holden couldn't participate in any of them because he got expelled from the school. He also was failing all four classes out of five. He needed to try and put effort in to his academic excellence performance but he didn't. He did the opposite but getting
Holden Caulfield is a tragic hero in his journey to defend all children from becoming adults and saving their youth and innocence, which is simply an impossible task. Arthur Miller describes a tragic hero as one who attempts “to gain his ‘rightful’ position in his society” and in doing so struggles for his dignity. Holden’s downfall happens because his tragic flaw is that he is hypocritical about himself and doesn’t understand himself.
As Diane edited, Holden wears his failure as a “badge of courage” (“The”). This is saying that Holden is proud of failing, it doesn’t bother him one bit. In the book Holden writes a paper and puts this at the end of it, “It is alright if you flunk me though as I am flunking everything else except english anyway.” (Salinger 12). Holden shows here that he does not care if he flunks his classes. Holden also tells the reader, “I wasn’t supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself at all.” (Salinger 4). This shows he does not care whether or not he fails. Right after stating this he says, “They gave me frequent warning to start applying myself... but I didn’t do it.” (Salinger 4). This shows Holden could not care less about school and that he does as he pleases not caring if he fails knowing he will get kicked out. Holden is proud of failing, he wants people to know he does not care about school or whether or not he
Holden as a character displays the alienation of himself through his behaviour. Holden is not the same as many people and believes that everyone is a ‘phony’. Throughout the novel Holden realises more and more that he is different and sees the world differently to others around him. Holden has created an identity for himself and doesn’t want that to be diminished therefore he alienates himself from the rest of society to decrease the chances of that happening. Holden’s old school, Pency Prep, has the motto “since 1888 we have been shaping young boys into splendid, clear-thinking men.” (pg. 2) This increases Holden’s motivation to leave the school as it will be shaping his identity into something he doesn’t want to be; a man. Holden is all about protecting those younger than him from the dangerous world of adult hood and by alienating himself he feels he has a better chance of
The pencey advertisement is also something Holden finds repulsive. “ since 1888 we have been molding boys into splendid, clear-thinking young men,” (page 2). Holden gets suspended from school for his lack of good grades, while his roommate at Pencey Prep, Stradlater, gets by on his good looks and popularity, by having others do his work for him. This is what Holden finds wrong in the world. The prejudice of good looks and the pressure to fit in. Holden, was born into the rich and popular environment. Although, he was born into the rich and popular environment he still has trouble fitting into that world.
At first glance, Holden is trying to find closure about his short time at Pencey. He wants to let go of all his failures on his own term. Of course, the school is expelling him on their terms, but Holden wants to physically leave and say goodbye on his terms. At a deeper glance, however, Holden wants to feel some
Holden’s career at Pencey Prep has been lingering because he doesn’t apply himself, and after he failed all his subjects— except English—he is prohibited from coming to the school after the fall term. The Saturday before Christmas vacation begins, Holden stands on Thomsen Hill watching the football field, where Pencey plays its annual grudge match against Saxon Hall. Holden has no interest in football and didn’t want to watch it. He was the manager of the school’s fencing team and was supposed to be in New York for a meeting , but he lost the team’s
Holden Caufield is a negatively charged character as expressed on the first page of the book before Holden tells his opinion about his childhood. He says, "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was
Holden's poor relationships with his classmates and teachers, or people in general, was evident before he went to Pencey Prep as well as during his stay at Pencey Prep. When Holden thinks back to his previous school,
Likewise, after the third school, Pencey Preparatory school in Pennsylvania expels Holden, the first thing he misses are the friends he made. In the rural area of California, he recollects about his friends at the end of his autobiography, he says, “About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody… Even old Stradlater and Ackley”(214). At Pencey Preparatory School, Holden always criticizes everyone, even his friends, Stradlater and Ackley. He calls them, “dirty”(19) and “morons”(52). Before leaving Pencey preparatory school, he fights Stradlater and disturbs Ackley’s sleep multiple times.
The main characters I chose were Holden Caulfield, Sally Hayes, and Ward Stradlater. Holden is the protagonist, he has many feelings flowing through him throughout the story, he’s depressed, lonely, confused, anxious, horny. lost, and perceptive. He has little to no motivation and has been kicked out of his school, Pencey Prep. Holden has grey hair, wears a red hunting has, smokes too much, and drinks often despite being 16.
”(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.
While this plot my seem simple, it is far from it. As the novel progresses it is very clear that Holden does not grow up in a simple world with equality, justice and genuine people but more like a world with phony people that live phony lives and base their actions off what everyone else thinks which eventually molds him
The Catcher in the Rye relies heavily on the failure of the main character, Holden, in order to keep the story interesting. Holden starts a long train of failure by telling the reader that he was kicked out of Pencey Prep, his high school. He states that “They kicked me out… on account
Holden Caulfield is a typical model who struggles in the self-discovery of a teenager. At first, Holden is a mischievous boy. Holden jokes to the woman, “‘Well. He's a very sensitive boy. He's really never been a terribly good mixer with other boys.
Holden Caulfield was a teenage boy who came from a wealthy, New York family. For all his life, Holden had attended fancy and extravagant private boarding schools, and had everything rather handed to him. Holden had only gone to, and had only ever known private school, therefore he was never exposed to anybody living in