Perks of being a wallflower v. Catcher in the rye

People need to read Catcher in the Rye at least once before they die. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is a book that takes the reader inside the head of Holden Caulfield, a depressed sixteen-year-old, who enters a strange series of adventures in New York City. Holden writes his story from a mental hospital in California, about how he was expelled from a fancy prep school, his experiences after spending a few days in NYC. The book has had critical success since its publication in 1951, selling sixty-five million total copies, after a splendid review from the New York Times. Catcher in the Rye is a great novel because of its subtle symbolism, amazing portrayal of Holden Caulfield and ends on a higher note than most people realize.

Literature has always relied on techniques to catch the reader’s attention and format the story, and “the Catcher in the Rye” is no exception. Salinger brought many different writing styles into his novel to make it a bestseller. With his knowledge, Salinger was able to depict the persona of Holden to the reader without directly stating his characteristics. Salinger proves Holden is a lonesome figure who wanted to fit in but struggles to be accepted. The Catcher in the Rye depicts Holden as one who struggles with his sexuality and adulthood and wants to save children from adulthood because of the difficulties that it has brought himself. Salinger greatly expresses Holden through the use of metaphor, imagery, symbolism,

Phoebe asks Holden to name something he’d like to be, in which Holden responds that he would like to be the catcher in the rye, catching little kids as they start to go over a cliff. Holden wants to preserve a child’s innocence, falling off the cliff representing the loss of that innocence. He wants to stop time and doesn’t want to grow up himself. He avoids the responsibilities of adult life, failing his classes, wandering around New York instead of getting help. While Phoebe rides on the carrousel in the end of the book, Holden realizes he can’t continue dreaming that he could preserve everyone’s innocence. All the kids on the carrousel were grabbing for this gold ring, symbolizing growth. Holden says: “the thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them” (page 211). He acknowledges that he can’t stop a child’s mind from developing. They need to go through life on their own, with all the ups and downs a person faces in a lifetime. With the sudden downpour of rain, Holden feels the impact of all his problems and feels that he can finally resolve them. He says: “I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around” (page 213). Holden’s ambition to be the catcher in the rye is destroyed

Holden announces that “I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around” (Salinger 213). He starts crying on the bench when he understands that Phoebe is growing up and he cannot be her Catcher in the Rye to protect her innocence because that would most likely cause more harm than good. That realization makes him ecstatic because he no longer feels as if he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders as he is able to see that all children will eventually fall out of innocence into adulthood. On the other hand, Holden feels his own loss of innocence as he shares an innocent moment with Phoebe who remains clueless to the harsh reality of life but he is now able to accept that loss and the change to come. Ultimately, Holden does not feel as if he has to continue alienating himself from society because he feels the obligation to be part of it as well. During this moment, the rain mirrors his tears of joy which are helping to wash away the mistakes of the past and bringing growth for renewal and this acceptance to moving forward allows him to seek the necessary help. A third way that Holden grows and obtains maturity in The Catcher in the Rye is when he no longer denies

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J.D. Salinger. It is narrated by Holden Caulfield, a cynical teenager who recently got expelled from his fourth school. Though Holden is the narrator and main character of the story, the focus of Salinger’s tale is not on Caulfield, but of the world in which we live. The Catcher in the Rye is an insatiable account of the realities we face daily seen through the eyes of a bright young man whose visions of the world are painfully truthful, if not a bit jaded. Salinger’s book is a must-read because its relatable symbolism draws on the reader’s emotions and can easily keep the attention of anyone.

The relationship between Holden and Phoebe forms a major theme that the novel aims to deliver. The fact that he is having this conversation with Phoebe, a child who is anything but simple and innocent, reveals the oversimplification of his worldview. Holden himself realizes this to a degree when he acknowledges that his idea is “crazy”, yet he cannot come up with anything more pragmatic; he has trouble seeing the world in any other way. His “catcher in the rye” fantasy reflects his innocence, his belief in pure, uncorrupted youth, and his desire to protect that spirit. On the other hand, it represents his extreme disconnection from reality and his naïve view of the world. Phoebe exposes to Holden a living embodiment of childhood. And it is a scene with her where she exposes to Holden the illogical nature of his supervisory actions, indicating that his desire to preserve her innocence will only halt her own inevitable development. Phoebe is the Greek word for “protector of children” (Bloom 2009, p185). Within the novel she is Holden’s protector. She comforts him, provides him with financial security, and protects him from getting in trouble with their mother. Reiff describes this reversal of roles between Holden and Phoebe as “Now, instead of saving the world by protecting the children, Holden wants to reject the world and shut himself off from evil by becoming a ‘deaf-mute’ in the West. It is Phoebe who rescues him from this total withdrawal” (Reiff 2008, p71). Phoebe forces Holden to view her as a human—living and progressing— rather than as a forever preserved child, and it is this humanization that causes Holden to accept her eventual progression into

“The Catcher in the Rye” is about a sixteen year old teenager talking about the story of his mental break down. It is really impressive because J.D. Salinger’s writing style is very direct as if Holden is talking exclusively to me and telling me about his struggles between childhood and adulthood. “The Catcher in the Rye” illustrates Holden’s hope to protect childhood innocence from adult phoniness.

In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the main character and narrator Holden Caulfeild walks many different paths of life. He jumps around different aspects of his life throughout the book, showing the reader many different sides to himself. This theme is presented through the author’s technique in crafting the characterization and symbolism. J.D. Salinger develops a puzzle of a personality for Holden throughout the book, to show the complexity and multitude of sides to Holden’s character.

In the article “The Five levels of Maslow 's hierarchy of needs” by Abraham Maslow explains the basic needs that a person wants to achieve during his or her lifetime. Cherry states that there are 5 basic needs a person wants to achieve, which are physiological, security, social, esteem, and self actualization being the highest of these needs. The needs go up as a pyramid and the higher you go the longer and harder the needs are to full fill. Then higher needs become more important than the needs below it. Maslow also explains in the article how the needs will not necessarily appear in the same order depending on the type of person. In the book “Catcher in

There are several issues in our world that come with controversy; whether it’s about our president, or something as small as whether pineapple goes on pizza, arguments will be started over it, and The Catcher in the Rye is no exception to controversy. For over an astounding 50 year period, there has been controversy about The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. The novel follows the three day misadventures of a teenager full of angst, Holden Caulfield. Due to its mature content, such as the profanity, violence, sexual situations, and use of underage drinking, the novel has been deemed inappropriate by many critics for a high school assignment. Despite its content, I believe that Catcher in the Rye is definitely a worthwhile novel to be taught to high school students. The novel establishes two things that high school teachers should look for; a strong theme about accepting reality, and the use of symbolism to institute a relatable sense within teens.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a story about growing up. It explores the obstacles we all face during our transition from child to adulthood. The tragedies and triumphs, the breakthroughs and setbacks, the happiness and heartache. As you follow the book's protagonist, Holden, through his journey into adulthood, you learn about his life, but more importantly, you learn about your own. You grow to sympathize with the young rebel, and you begin to see traces of yourself in him.

The Catcher in the Rye and The Things They Carried compare how the two main characters are Isolated and in Exile. Each book the two charters are Isolated and Exiled in different way but in some way also similar. Two young men trying to find a way to be accepted in the adult world is still a mystery to them. The loss friends, family along the way and they can’t seem to find trust in relationships. When you’re young you do not know what is out there in the world. Who would think that growing up would be so hard. My comparisons are about the main characters Holden in “Catcher in the Rye”, and O’Brien in The Things they Carried.

: The catcher in the Rhy, written by JD Salinger explores multiple themes, that define the main character Holden Coalfields feelings and emotions of thought. Because Holden is an unreliable narrator, to understand and respond to his character it is necessary to look beyond his words and at his behaviour and Mir towards his interactions with others.Holden discovers at a young age that he is not ready and never will be ready to face that daunting fears of growing up, and entering adulthood.Throughout the course of many long meaningful chapters, holders demonstrates many key themes such as depression and suicide,childhood and growing up, and

The Catcher and the Rye and the Perks of being a Wallflower are two separate stories both involving a teenage boy going through their first taste of freedom. They both have similar challenges and issues ahead of themselves but their personality differ greatly but both remain awkward in character. Holden considers himself a loner who doesn’t avidly try in school. While Charlie is the opposite of Holden, he has a small group of friends and he viewed upon as the teacher’s pet. Although both the Catcher and the Rye and the Perks of being a Wallflower take place during different time periods they both go through the untimely struggles of growing

Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of being a Wallflower is an explicit coming of age novel that gives teenagers a sense of relation with the 16 year old protagonist, Charlie. This book was a bestseller in the year 1999. This book definitely has a more mature content and is very straight to the point, it includes drug usage from parties, sex, and violence. Although this book has explicit content, definitely do not let that distract you from the story.