Gaby Yonarta Mrs. Johns English 3-4 (H), Period 5 17 August 2015 Part I: Interpretive Analysis The Catcher in the Rye 1. Although Holden so passionately despise “phonies”, he himself can be categorized as a “phony”. By definition, a phony individual is someone who is fraudulent and hypocritical and while there are a lot of “phonies” in the world, what Holden does not realize is that he himself is an even bigger “phony” than the people he accuse of being “phonies”. In his mind, he imagines a utopia where people aren’t corrupt from greed, lies, alcohol, and lust. But the world he lives in is full of all of the above, and Holden’s hatred towards society is the foundation of his hatred towards “phonies”. He hates the phoniness that exists in the world, and that society is run by adults. He does not trust adults because does not understand them; adults are responsible for every part of their lives and his immature mind cannot grasp the concept of responsibility. Holden is a phony for being disgusted when he encounters a curse word written in a school bathroom, yet he himself curses often. When he visited his little sister Phoebe in the middle of the night and he was describing what Pencey was like, Phoebe interrupted him to tell him to “Don’t swear so much,” (Salinger, 168). But when he was at Phoebe’s school, he says, “...While I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody’d written “Fuck you” on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy,” (201). It drove him
The coming of age phase in a young person’s life is a transitional phase which prompts the idea of individualism, decision making, acceptance, moral challenges, disappointment, and individual needs. These years are essential for the overall learning and growing-up part of someone’s life. Coming of age characteristics transpired in the novel The Catcher in the Rye and The Absolutely True Diary of a part-time Indian pertain to, but do not exclude, the acceptance of the complexities and “grayness” of the world, confrontation with the adult world, and the individual needs and desires vs. external pressures/expectations/norms. In both novels, young boys are faced with tough choices that will later help them in the overall transition from
The lost of innocence can totally change the way people view the world. A person who illustrates this can be found in J.D. Salinger’s novel, the Catcher in the Rye. The story happened during the 1950s, in a small town in Pennsylvania called Agerstown. A teenage boy named Holden, who witnesses the death of his older brother Allie when he was only 13 years old. Then consequently, he blames himself all his life for the death of Allie. As time went by he starts to search for a sense of innocence that was lost in the beginning of the novel. Throughout the course of the novel, the author conveys that Holden is continually stuck in between childhood and adulthood. The author uses Holden’s struggle to convey that in reality often times people who
“I swear to God I’m a madman” (149) Holden Caulfield says, revealing the wicked nature of J.D Salinger’s 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye. The book follows 16 year old Holden Caulfield in his days spent alone on the streets of New York City after getting kicked out of prep school. During this time Holden goes on an alcoholic rampage, fueled by hate and filled with anger towards anything he sees as phony. The book has been the cause of major controversy since its release, with schools across the country banning it from the realms of teaching for decades. Now, it is read in many high school literature classes because of its alleged similarity to the way teenagers think. The Catcher in the Rye should not be taught to young, impressionable teenagers in public schools because of its rampant profanity, glorification of alcohol and tobacco use, and narration by a mentally ill, generally horrible person.
In “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger, Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy who has recently expelled from school, had lost his younger brother to Leukemia and witnessed the suicide of one of his peers, struggles in his journey of coming of age. He isn’t fond of the idea of having to mature and be exposed to responsibilities and problems of the real world. As a result, he tries to preserve the innocence of his younger sister, Phoebe. One way in which he aims to accomplish this goal is through a Little Shirley Beans record which he buys in hopes of giving it to Phoebe. Salinger utilizes the symbol of the broken record to develop Holden’s loss of innocence and deteriorating character.
“You'll have to jump.' 'I'll jump.' 'Jump!' Major Danby cried. Yossarian jumped. Nately's whore was hiding just outside the door. The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off” (Heller 350). Yossarian ends his dialogue in a cheery and fun way because he is finally going to be free from the oppression of the US military. This also shows his increased morals, because in the beginning, he would have just killed the girl for trying to kill him. He also uses arrangement to show America at the time like, “ Heller's satirical masterpiece tells us something about the madness of America” (Pilger, John). This shows how the novel portrays the insanity of the war at this time and how these people need help or to get out. The main part of the novel is just the insane adventures Yossarian goes on throughout his horrifying experience.
Struggling with The Phonies In “The Catcher in The Rye”, Holden continuously talks about how people around him act “phony” and don’t act how they really feel or want to. His cynicism and sarcasm shows what he thinks of others and how he desires authenticity. Salinger made Holden this way to express the desire of every person to find genuine and kind people, but ultimately end up tainted by superficial and hypocritical society. Salinger shows this with how he makes Holden critical of all the shallowness and pretension around him, but doesn’t look at how he acts in the same way. Salinger explains this through Holden’s use of the word “phony”.
In the Tribes of Palos Verdes and The Catcher In the Rye, both Jim and Holden struggle to find mental stability in their lives. J.D. Salinger expresses one of Holden's weaknesses in the statement,"I'm just going through a phase right now. Everybody goes through phases and all, don't they?"(15). When someone has a issue they often can’t say they have that problem and blame another reason for it. For Holden in The Catcher In the Rye, he blames his struggles on the phase he is going through.
“I was surrounded by phonies. . . They were coming in the goddam window. “ “The Catcher In The Rye”s , novel by J.D Salinger is about a struggled teenager named Holden Caulfield struggling with the fact that everyone has to grow up , having a concern with the loss of innocence. J.D Salinger’s purpose in writing The Catcher In The Rye was an act of liberation reflecting on Holden’s faith . He wrote this to get closure and to put words in his feelings in a way that others can relate to.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a novel about a boy named Holden Caulfield who struggles with many problems in his life that we learn about all in a short span of time. The stories starts with Holden leaving Pencey, another school he has been kicked out of, and his small journey before he needs to return home. There are four major symbols that are shown in the book to help the reader fully understand the theme of the story. The four themes are Holden’s loss of innocence, his preoccupation with death, his struggles with depression, and finally his inability to transition. These four themes have numerous symbols that reflect why they are important into explaining Holden’s story.
Now that we know that Holden is still trying to hold on to his innocence, we can now fully understand his fantasy world of phonies. According to Holden, most of the adults in the world is to some degree a phony during a football game at Pencey.. “I was surrounded by phonies.”(Salinger 17) This quote shows Holden’s contempt of the adult world. Holden’s old headmaster, for example, is a phony. “Mr.Hass… was the phoniest bastard I’ve ever met in my
The Catcher in the Rye is a coming-of-age novel by J.D. Salinger published in 1945. The novel shows this by the use of teen culture which started at approximately that time. The purpose of this novel is to entertain and inform the intended audience of teenagers. This is achieved through the use of irony, motifs, metaphors, and symbolism. This results in a relatable theme of protection of innocence, a realistic protagonist and messages that are beneficial for the audience.
“Letter to Me” is a well known song in country music, by Brad Paisley in 2007. It is part of one of Paisley’s most popular albums, “5th Gear.” “Letter to me” is inspired by Brad Paisley’s wife and his own life growing up. His wife was asked to write a book as a letter to her younger self, and Paisley was inspired to write a song as a letter to his younger self.
Learning from experience continues to be an important source of lessons in our lives. Experience permits one to become independent, look onward from failure, and learn to make decisions. This is specifically shown in the novel “The Catcher In The Rye” by J.D Salinger. Holden Caulfield, being someone who is unique, strong in his beliefs and ideals, shows sufficient proof to illustrate how development is represented on account of experience. After further examination of Holden’s fight with Stradlater, James Castle’s suicide, and Holden’s incident with Maurice, it will clearly be proven that Holden Caulfield developed as a character through various incidents that involve violence.
Holden Caulfield, the protagonists in J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, is one of many rebels in the history of literature. Holden is a 16-year-old boy that failed yet another school. He travels to New York just before Christmas to have one last adventure before coming to terms with his reality. He criticizes the phoniness of the adult world and attempts to escape the corruption that comes with it. Since the beginning of the novel, Holden’s brother Allie represents untouched innocence, which Holden idealizes. Holden wants his innocence and the innocence of others to also remain untouched. Holden’s fantasy of “the catcher in the rye” also shows his disconnect from the reality of adulthood, as he fears the corruption of young minds. Holden also has multiple fantasies of running away which show his attempt to escape the real world and his oversimplified perception of life. Holden’s reaction to the “fuck you” signs shows his effort to shield children, and himself, from the realities of adulthood. In the Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield’s main problem is his refusal to accept reality, caused by the fact that he is afraid of growing up.
The entry into adulthood is something that millions of teenagers struggle with. They are forced to go through both physical and psychological changes during this time, and many resent it, and start to defy adults themselves. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger shows the protagonist, Holden Caulfield’s, resentment of adulthood. In the novel Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld directly approaches the topic of adulthood through Lee Fiora, the protagonist. Lee is telling the story as an adult, and the way she matured into adulthood is shown throughout the story. If Holden were to be acquainted with Lee, he would not enjoy the way that she looks at adulthood.