Persuasive Essay On The Catcher In The Rye

"Catcher in the Rye" written by J.D. Salinger, is a novel in which the author creates much irony in the way he presents the loss of innocence or the fall from innocence in his main character, Holden Caulfield. While Holden clearly believes in protecting the innocence of children in society, he himself cannot seem to hang onto his own innocence. Throughout the novel Holden shows his love and protection for childhood innocence, the irony that he in fact himself may be losing his own childhood innocence mainly due to the responsibilities which he has taken on, and also shows that he may be more innocent than the reader first thinks as his simplified view of a complex world is much like an innocent child would see.

Firstly, Holden’s PTSD derives from an event that happened in Holden’s past regarding his brother. He tells me that he had a brother named Allie who he was very close to, but sadly Allie passed do to Leukemia. Holden didn’t know how to deal with the death of

He is not intensely preoccupied with academic achievement like many more modern teenagers, having failed out of several prestigious preparatory schools, but he is clearly intelligent and tends to dwell on“heavy” topics like death and loss of innocence. His cynicism and sensitivity, in addition to the trauma he experiences from losing his brother Allie, suggest that he has depression or another untreated mental illness, an interpretation which is common among readers and supported by Holden’s visit with a psychotherapist at the end of the novel. Despite the risks he faces through having an untreated mental illness, shown when he is warned that he is “riding for some kind of a terrible, terrible fall” through self-destructive behavior, the conformist culture and social niceties of the 1950s prevented him from being able to discuss his thoughts for a large portion of the novel. (186) This culture, specifically the “phony” prep schools, is clearly toxic for Holden and likely contributed heavily towards his negative mental state, and therefore the negative image he often has of

Holden experiences extreme difficulty accepting his current realities and one of the main factors causing this is the lasting negative impact his brother Allies death had on his life. Firstly, when Holden decides to leave his school, he tells readers , “I don’t care if it’s a sad goodbye or a bad goodbye, but when I leave a place, I like to know I’m leaving it. If you don’t, you feel even worse” (Salinger, 4). Holden’s need for closure is evident in this quote. When Allie died, it was very unexpected and he was not prepared to let him go, resulting in his denial that his brother is actually

Holden Caulfield is a very, very troubled young boy in a grown up filled world. In J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher In The Rye, 16 year old Holden Caulfield is stuck in a rut. He has been expelled from numerous schools, including his current one, Pencey Prep. Holden has been a troubled kid since the death of his older brother, Allie. Allie has played a big role in Holden’s life, and was completely traumatized by his death. Along with those family struggles relating to Allie’s death, Holden has a hard time accepting his adulthood. He wrestles with mental illness and growing up with all of those “phonies”. Even more so, he struggles with the idea of the person he is going to grow into. The environment of The

The Ducks, Where Do They Go? Throughout the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield frequently asks the question, “You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over?” (Salinger 60).

I am not the first 10th grade student who has analyzed and thought through The Catcher in the Rye; I’m not the last either. For decades the book has been discussed, debated, read over and over again. Isn’t it said that assigned books have a tendency to be a tad boring at the least? I wouldn’t want to be the first to question a reputation, but Catcher struck such a chord with me that I’m actually reading it again as we speak. I can’t quite place what about it resonated so well with me, but I almost seem to relate to Holden in a way I’m not sure I know how to explain. Holden struggles the entire book with the responsibility of moving on from his brothers death, and more importantly, with the weight of growing up. It might be said that that weight

The Controversy Over The Catcher in the Rye There are many reasons as to why one of the most well known novels, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger is challenged in schools across the United States. Published in 1951, the majority of the story takes place in New York City, following the protagonist, a boy named Holden Caulfield. Over the course of three days, Holden goes through a series of both mental and physical conflicts. Many readers of this novel find The Catcher in the Rye to be crude and inappropriate; therefore, the novel is banned in many United States schools. The novel should be banned due to its constant immoral involvement of profanity, under-age use of substances like smoking and alcohol, and the exposure of mental instability

Holden’s life experiences may seem normal to the average human being, but in his mind those events are far from normal. During his childhood years Holden’s parents failed at teaching him life values and morals, which played an effective role in him losing his vision of the perfect world that has no flaws. Allie’s death was the worst of the bunch, forcing his mind to bottle up in sadness and despair, causing Holden to be hospitalized. As stated previously, Holden losing his brother Allie caused him a great deal of stress and confusion; it portrays the death of Allie as the biggest downfall in his emotional status. It is obvious that the stability of Holden’s mind is far gone with little hope of return, the only possible way that he can regain his sanity is to repair the emotional damages left by his unfortunate experiences.

“What is an "instant" death anyway? How long is an instant? Is it one second? Ten? The pain of those seconds must have been awful as her heart burst and her lungs collapsed and there was no air and no blood to her brain and only raw panic. What the hell is instant? Nothing is instant. Instant rice takes five minutes, instant pudding an hour. I doubt that an instant of blinding pain feels particularly instantaneous.” ― John Green, Looking for Alaska. In many books or even many people's lives you encounter tragedy or pain. Some more than others. Everyone deals with grief in different ways.

The Catcher in the Rye, a classic book written by JD Salinger, depicts the life of a troubled teenage boy named Holden Caulfield who recalls the events in his life that led up to where he is now. The Catcher in the Rye is considered to be one of the most controversial books in classic literature for dealing with such topics as profanity, teen sex, underage drinking, and immoral activity. I’m here to tell you today that these disputed topics are more beneficial for the development of teens than harmful.

Holden has a drastic change in his mental state immediately after his brother dies. “They were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage... It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie.” (Salinger, 39) This illustrates how directly after the death of his brother he started doing things he didn’t normally do, for no reason.

Holden’s mental decline most likely started before the novel takes place, when his younger brother, Allie, died from leukemia. This fact is suggested from how happily Holden remembers any memories

Holden Caulfield, a boy who struggles with his mental health, starts his story by saying, “I’m not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything. I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas” (Salinger 3). Published in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger depicts a three-day journey of Holden as he tries to find out more about himself. Through his struggle, Holden experiences many obstacles and events, such as depression and profanity, that take place in most teenager’s lives, making the book a primary target for banning due to offensive language, suicidal tendencies, sexual content, violence, and outright negativity (Information). Though The Catcher in the Rye contains controversial topics, such as depression, vulgar language, and sexual discrimination, the novel is still relevant and relatable to teens today; therefore, the story should remain an option for students to read.

My opinion on this book is that I would and wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. It's good but it doesn't wow you, but it has good suspense. It keeps you interested on what's going to happen next. The romance in the book is quite confusing. Cassia can't figure out what guy she wants. She is just confused on who's better for her.