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Literary Analysis Essay On The Catcher In The Rye

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Everyone has to grow up at some point in life, but one must face different challenges and obstacles to get there, Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger shows this idea. The novel takes place around the 1950s and is written in the perspective of Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy who struggles with moving into the adult world after the death of his younger brother Allie. He faces difficulties trying get there when he is kicked out of his fourth boarding school after failing four out of five classes, but he is not scheduled to come home to Manhattan until 3 days later. Holden soon decides that he has had enough of Pencey Prep and will go to Manhattan early, without the knowledge of his parents, leaving him to face New York on his own. The Curious …show more content…

Holden wishes to be free from the phoniness of Pencey Prep and also the adult word. The negative effect of leaving the school without his parents’ knowledge can be seen after Holden leaves Ernie’s and returns back to the hotel, “The whole lobby was empty. It smelled like fifty million dead cigars. It really did. I wasn't sleepy or anything, but I was feeling sort of lousy. Depressed and all. I almost wished I was dead.” (Salinger 90). Holden finally got what he had wanted, to be alone. As explained in chapter 25 when he reveals his wishes of moving away and becoming a deaf-mute. Instead of being happy in his isolation, finally free from the phonies in the world around him, Holden becomes deeply depressed, even expressing thoughts of suicide. This is also evident after Holden leaves the Wicker Bar drunk and is wandering around Central Park in the cold, “…it was getting very cold out again, and my teeth started chattering like hell. I couldn't make them stop…I started walking over to the park. I figured I'd go by that little lake and see what the hell the ducks were doing… I didn't have anyplace else special to go to--I didn't even know where I was going to sleep yet--so I went. I wasn't tired or anything. I just felt blue as hell.” (Salinger 153). Holden is in clear need of help and instead of calling home and telling his parents the truth, he pushes away further and decides to go to the duck pond, once again surrounded by his depressing thoughts. In Holden’s fight to become independent he only further launched himself into his depression. During adolescence a person needs things like love and encouragement in order to succeed, but by alienating himself from the people who love him most, he is taking that away from himself. Similar to Holden, Christopher also tries to become

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