Is Holden Caulfield Reliable Or Unreliable In Catcher In The Rye

An unreliable narrator is one thats account is biased or distorted. Holden Caulfield is a teenager who lies way to often about everything. Most of what he says is exaggerated, but none the less making him an unreliable narrator. Lies, exaggeration, and distortion are evidence that him as a narrator is unreliable.

In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character, seventeen-year-old Holden Caulfield, tells his own story to the reader. He admits near the beginning of the story that he is a compulsive liar: “I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. If I’m on my way to the store to

Holden shows his personal accountability by talking to his favorite teacher Mr. Spencer. Mr. Spencer was Holden’s favorite teacher at Pencey and told Holden to come by and say good-bye to him since

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!”. This line from a poem by Walter Scott, born in the late eighteenth-century, highlights that dishonesty is a gift that keeps on giving. Several decades later, J.D. Salinger published his book Catcher in the Rye, which stars sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield as he wanders around New York City after leaving school early. Holden is a self-confessed liar, and throughout the story he tells little fibs that he usually ends up regretting. J.D. Salinger chose the rhetorical choices of first-person narration and repetition to imprint upon the reader that dishonesty, though necessary to survival, negatively affects

In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is the narrator; throughout the story he shows to be an unreliable and reliable narrator. Caulfield is a teenage boy, who is psychologically depressed and confused. To be an unreliable narrator, the narrator must be biased, a liar, and unable to associate with other characters in the novel. These are all characteristics that prove the Holden is an unreliable narrator throughout the development of the novel.

The main character in Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, is a teenage boy who has difficulties with personal relationships. Holden continually points out other people’s flaws and imperfections. However, Holden is not fully happy with himself either, because he is aware of his own flaws and imperfections. There are moments when he is hypocritical, but for the most part he is honest with himself. Holden’s mindset has led him to depression.

In J.D Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, protagonist and narrator Holden Caulfield is the quintessential anti-hero who at times displays elements of traditional heroic qualities. Caulfield, a troubled teenager, has been expelled from multiple prep schools and faces difficulties with fitting anywhere in society. He is notorious for being impulsive, cynical, skeptical, and quite aloof at times. Because of his cynicism and judgmental nature, Holden finds it difficult to make friends. This feeling of alienation leads Holden to blame the people around him and describe them as “phony” and artificial. For the most part, Holden does not possess the traits of a typical modern day hero because he lacks physical and mental strength, is unable to adhere to the

Caulfield makes an impactful decision to go to New York and “the first thing [he] did” was go into a “phone booth”. Holden tries to reach out to someone but “couldn’t think of anybody to call up” (59). Despite having the ability to call his brother D.B, Phoebe, Jane and Sally Hayes, he chose to be in isolation instead. His loneliness and depression caused him to push people whom he respected away from him. At one point, Holden goes on a date with Sally Hayes, a girl who he dated in the past. As they headed to the bar, Holden begins to ask her about school and how she likes it just as he begins to express how much he hates it. Caulfield feels like everyone is a phony and tells Sally he is in bad shape (131). Holden feels lonesome at Pencey because the people around him are phonies that want to talk about sex and alcohol. Regardless of his innocence, he thinks there is no value in talking about pointless things just to be in a clique. Holden’s individuality differentiates him from his peers causing him to be an outsider and make him feel lonely. Near the end of the story, Holden was feeling “depressed and lonesome” and tried to go on a date with a woman “old enough to be [his] mother

Holden Caulfield is a contradiction. In the things that he says and he does, he is always contradicting himself. He hates phonies more than anything, but he lies all the time and pretends to be someone else when he meets new people. For example, early in the book he says, “I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot” (p. 24). The biggest contradiction in Holden's life is the fact that more than anything

• Holden Caulfield, narrator and protagonist, is a 16-year old high school dropout. His last school is Pencey Prep (his sixth school), and can be a bright student if he applies himself. However, Holden seems to have given up as he finds the world around him unfair and unbearable. He tries to hide his alienation from the painful world through his cynicism. Thus, he is nonchalant about most things.

Holden Caulfield is like many modern teenagers. Holden is a teenage boy from the 1950’s, which is obviously a lot more different than teenager from today's age. He does not like to admit it, but even though he acts very smart and sophisticated on the inside, he is really just a sixteen year old boy who gets confused about a lot of different teenage things.

The Catcher in the Rye Matt Johnson Every author has a unique writing style. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger illustrates the story through Holden Caulfield’s eyes. This writing style might be the reason for this books overwhelming success over the years.

Throughout the entirety of Salinger’s The Catcher in The Rye, I was extremely captivated by Holden Caulfield’s unique personality and behavior. He has his own sense of individuality and does not care what others think about him

At the beginning of the story, Holden is introduced as an apathetic person. He has failed four out of five of his classes and has received a notice that he is being expelled at Pencey Prep school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Holden was scheduled to return home on a Wednesday, so he decided to go and visit Mr. Spencer, his history teacher, to say his goodbye. Mr. Spencer advises Holden to find direction in his life, which got Holden annoyed and dismissed everything Mr.Spencer has said.

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