Literary Analysis Essay On The Catcher In The Rye

When describing Mr. Spencer, Holden uses words relating to being disgusted by the old mans appearance. He didn’t appreciate Mr. Spencer’s apparel either as his chest was exposed and he could smell Vick Nose Drops in the air (page 7). This image implies that Holden doesn’t approve of aging or the concept of working towards death. A second image is expressed when Holden talks about the food supplied at Pencey Prep. He says that although they are served stakes, it is impossible to cut into them and describes how phony the food is (page 35). This service shows how the school annoys Holden and why he can’t stand being there any longer. A third example is when he is dancing with the three girls in the Hotel lobby, he described the one girl as “dragging the Statue of Liberty around the floor” (page 74). This image portrays that Marty can’t dance very well and he can’t stand being with her; Holden may even be displaying that he is better than her. Perhaps Holden believes we are not equal and are instead based on our level of

Teenage years are difficult. Time tells this story of struggle again and again. The Catcher in the Rye is a classic novel showing the struggles a teenager goes through while transitioning into adulthood. The main character, Holden Caulfield, is a judgmental and temperamental boy who struggles to see the positivity in life. Throughout the story, Holden searches to find himself, as he feels forced to grow up. He holds onto aspects of his childhood and isolates himself so much that it is even harder for him to transition. J.D. Salinger uses the red hunting hat, the museum and cigarettes as important symbols in the story to convey the themes of transitioning from childhood to adulthood, loneliness, and isolation.

This character is going to tell it like it is, and he does. The most powerful emotional standpoint in the story is when Holden goes to his sister’s elementary school to deliver her a note. While he is there, he discovers two words scribbled on the wall. “Fuck you.” Most people would look at that and think nothing of it. Some would bow their heads in shame at the person who thought it was funny. Others might laugh. Not Holden. He did not think about the normal persons response to the note. He thought about the child’s response. About how a little kid is going to see that seemingly meaningless phrase and wonder what it means; about how some dirty kid would explain what it meant; and about the person who wrote it and how they are destroying the childhood of everyone who reads the ‘harmless’ graffiti. This section takes the reader to the door of Holden’s mind. It is at this point that one truly understands his emotions.

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

Holden Caufield emphasizes on the loss of innocence in children. He feels that once they lose their innocence, they will soon turn into phonies like everyone else. The loss of innocence is very common in the development in human existence. It is caused by many factors. Past a certain age, children are either forced or led unintentionally into a pathway of corruption. A child is also known to lose their innocence by desires, fantasies, and attention. But once they lose their innocence, they tend to desire to go back and pretend to be young again. In the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden discusses the importance of innocence in children's lives. He feels that once a child loses his/her innocence, he/she will soon be leaded to a

During the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, author J.D. Salinger brings Holden’s pessimistic, antisocial personality to life through what he says, how he says it, and through the characters he meets. Salinger bases Holden’s expressions off of the culture of the 1950’s, his own personal dialect, and the everyday occurrences of Holden’s life in mind. J.D. Salinger manipulates the diction, uses syntax to criticize others, and controls the character interaction and dialogue in order to create the protagonist, Holden Caulfield.

His childish side is first seen while in one of the bathrooms at Pencey Prep, where Holden finds himself “sort of in the mood for horsing around” and feels “like jumping off the washbowl and giving old Stratlater,” one of his older friends, “a half nelson” (Salinger 34). Although he is sixteen years old, certain characteristics of a young boy are still preserved, for Holden has yet to grow out of them. Holden energetically plays with Stradlater in order to get his attention, rather than communicating to his acquaintance in a sophisticated manner due to a lack of maturity and known alternatives. This creates a notable tension between his hyper, boy-like liveliness and his insightful, dark seriousness, which continues to plague him throughout the rest of the novel and signals towards how such tension can be present in one’s own life. Despite Holden’s occasional youthful outbursts, he also possesses certain aspects of maturity at Pencey Prep. When summarizing one of his other friends named Ackley, he describes how one “had to feel sorry” for the boy because of his

Holden Caulfield is constantly judging the people around him and calling them phonies. Perhaps he is so quick to judge everyone around him because he is insecure about his own authenticity. Holden spends a majority of the novel pretending to be someone else. He pretends to be more mature but simultaneously criticizes all the adults he encounters. Any person that says or does something Holden perceives as insincere is considered a phony. In chapter 12, Holden goes to Ernie's bar. While he is in the bar he listens to Ernie play the piano and observes to the crowd. “He was putting all these dumb, show-offy ripples in the high notes, and a lot of other very tricky stuff that gives me a pain in the ass. You should've heard the crowd, though, when he was finished. You would’ve puked. They went mad. They were exactly the same morons that laugh like hyenas in the movies at stuff that isn't funny.” (Salinger 84) While Holden does not directly call these people phonies he implies that they are all insincere in their enthusiasm for Ernie, the piano

The Catcher in the Rye is the story of a teenage boy named Holden and his struggle to grow up. He gets kicked out of yet another school and so he takes a trip to New York City. Holden takes a symbolic journey, along with his physical one through New York, as he crosses into maturity. The author uses the symbols of ducks, his red hunting hat, and the carousel to show the how he changes throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Holden goes to his teacher, Mr. Spencer, to say goodbye.

J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is based on Holden Caufield, a 16-year-old boy, who gets kicked out of Pencey Prep due to flunking four out of five courses. Before Holden decides to tell his parents about Pencey, he decides to go to New York. Holden has three siblings, Phoebe, D.B and Allie. The three important symbols that represent the theme of the book are the Red Hunting Hat, Swear words on the walls and the Ducks on Central Lagoon Park. Holden wants to be the Catcher in the Rye and prevent innocent kids from failing into the phony adult world.

The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger launches a number of themes and mental images in his novel The Catcher in the Rye, and he also places full responsibility of narrating to his main character Holden Caulfield. Throughout the vivid and informal narration, it becomes clear Holden is too unreliable and unstable a soul to hold any real credibility as a storyteller. Despite his lack of credibility, Holden still is able to demonstrate enough sanity to inform the audience the danger of protecting one’s true self through isolation while transitioning in life with red hunting hat. Holden’s biggest fear becoming a phony or someone who has an adult-like approach to life as he too is heading into adult life. On a mission to maintain his childhood, Holden puts up walls with people he brands as phonies.

The author has put in plenty of themes, messages, ideas, issues, and motifs. The character, Holden Caulfield is alienated from society, is experiencing the painfulness of growing up, thinks that the adult world is full of phoniness, and is sick of hearing about the American Dream from his teachers. JD Salinger has created a book that has raised plenty of questions and controversy towards the readers. The Catcher in the Rye shows how a teenage mind works. JD Salinger has used a stream of consciousness writing style where the character (Holden Caulfield) talks in first person as he presents his thoughts and feelings to the readers. The setting has taken place in the early fifties and the book uses a lot of profane words. The New York

“I swear to God I’m crazy. I admit it.” It is very easy to automatically assume that Holden Caulfield is crazy. It’s even a logical assumption since Caulfield himself admits to being crazy twice throughout the course of the book. However, calling Holden Caulfield crazy is almost the same as calling the majority of the human race crazy also. Holden Caulfield is just an adolescent trying to prevent himself from turning into what he despises the most, a phony. Most of Caulfield’s actions and thoughts are the same as of many people, the difference being that Holden acts upon those thoughts and has them down in writing.

Try to think of the slang as salt in a cookie recipe. If there is too much salt, you cannot taste the sweet taste of the cookie. Although Holden seems to come of age at the end of the novel, it is not a slow change, it happens as he is watching Phoebe on the carousel. He realizes as he is watching the carousel that childhood is like a carousel: “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything.

The Catcher in the Rye is often regarded as a book about coming of age and what it truly means to be an adult. Although coming of age is repeatedly advertised as a positive event in one’s life, the steps before fully maturing often come with obstacles. The author of the novel, J.D. Salinger, follows the story of Holden Caulfield, a boy who is seemingly afraid of his upcoming transition to adulthood. Throughout the novel, there are instances of Holden holding on to innocence. He uses the past as a way to prevent himself from ever truly transitioning to an adult. All of the aforementioned instances are demonstrated through symbols, whether they are in the form of objects or actions. Overall, Salinger’s use of symbolism depicts that Holden holds on to innocence to compensate for his fear of his shift to adulthood.