Self Destructive Behavior : Protection And Compassion

The novel "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger is very interesting novel in which the main character, Holden, intrigues the reader with his unpredictable actions and upfront judgments of his surroundings. Holden alienates himself to try and help protect him from the outside world and conserve his innocence. He constantly proves this to reader many in times in the novel by, telling characters he feels different, wearing clothing that makes him stand out even though it may make him look stupid, and failing to come through in relationships with characters in the story.

Holden is unable to accept realities of life because of his negative personality. He claims that many people are phony and that they try to do things to make them look better than they are. Holden also thinks of many things as depressing. “It was really nice sightseeing, if you know what I mean. In a way, it was sort of depressing, too, because you kept wondering what the hell would happen to all of them” (p. 123). Holden always finds a down side to a situation. He fails to recognize the good sides of life, and this prevents him from seeing advantages in adulthood that are not present in his life.

J.D. Salinger 's "The Catcher in the Rye" portrays a troubled teen in New York City. Over the few days the novel depicts, the boy displays his critical and unhealthy mindset. Eventually he has a mental breakdown. Through psychoanalysis of Holden Caulfield, one may suggest that Allie 's death, social development, and an identity crisis are large contributing factors in Holden 's mental breakdown.

In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger tells a story of a young boy, Holden, who never quite understood his stance on life. Throughout the novel, Holden struggles to adapt to the inevitable transition into adulthood, often worrying more about others than himself. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger uses connotative diction, repetition, and specific diction to convey Holden’s struggle of accepting life changes that led him to becoming mentally unstable.            To start off, Salinger illustrates Holden’s nature by using connotative diction.

Have you ever had this feeling of being so stressed out that you would escape to hopeless dreams, causing you to withdraw yourself from others? Among many themes that J.D. Salinger expresses in his novel, The Catcher in the Rye, there is one that fits that type of feeling perfectly. That theme is: isolation is a product of the individual's reaction to the environment and often leads to downfalls and other negative consequences. This is clearly demonstrated through the influence of the allusions and symbols that Salinger uses to subtly apply the theme mentioned above.

Salinger in his story, “The Catcher in the Rye”, uses motifs to write about how one's ideology can cause alienation. The motif that was used in this story is sexuality, throughout this story, Holden is seen looking for new relationships and constantly talking about sex. Talking to the prostitute in the hotel room, he thinks to himself, "I know you're supposed to feel pretty sexy when somebody gets up and pulls their dress over their head, but I didn't. Sexy was about the last thing I was feeling. I felt much more depressed than sexy." (Salinger, 123) The elevator boy, Maurice, at the hotel that Holden was staying at was also a pimp and he offers Sunny's services to him. Holden was about to have his virginity taken by Sunny, but he changes his mind. This proves that one's ideology can cause alienation because Holden of how, who is scared of changes, rejects Sunny’s company and this causes him to be alone for the night. Another story that demonstrates alienation is “Death of a

In J. D Salinger 's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden, goes through many hardships in his journey to self-knowledge. In the beginning, Holden has to deal with being kicked out of school and not having any place to call home. He is also struggling with the unfortunate tragedy of the death of his beloved younger brother Allie. At the same time, Holden is trying to deal with growing up and accepting the adult world. Throughout the novel Salinger addresses the conflicts faced by a young man struggling with the trials and tribulations of growing up while also confronting personal loss and loneliness along the way.

The tone or attitude in which Holden speaks is based on sarcasm and rudeness which shapes him as a character. He uses sarcasm throughout the book such as on page 71. He says, “I told her, ‘you’re really lucky. You know that?’ She was a real moron. But what a dancer” (71). Here, Holden is being very sarcastic and rude with this girl which forms Holden into his character. His tone towards the world and to the people in it is just careless because he doesn’t care about being nice to anyone. He continues to act this way, even to people that matter, such as on page 13, he says, “You mean about my flunking out of Pencey and all? ‘ I said. I sort of wished he’d cover up his bumpy chest. It wasn’t such a beautiful view” (13). Mr. Spencer is one of Holden’s teachers at Pencey and he doesn’t appreciate that at all. When Mr. Spencer is being sincere towards him, all Holden can think about is the fact that Mr. Spencer’s chest is “bumpy”. This truly defines Holden as a character and what kind of person he is; a sarcastic and cynical individual, all shown through his tone of voice.

As humans we sometimes seek isolation rather than human interaction for fear of being overwhelmed emotionally. For some people, comfort comes with the knowledge that alone, they are the masters of their own emotions, free from the pain of the world's occasional bitterness and sting. In the coming-of-age tale "Catcher in the Rye," J.D. Salinger explores this phenomenon through the voice of the narrator, Holden Caulfield. Although Holden possesses a voice of intelligence, sensitivity and insight he is also bitter with the hypocrisy and ugliness that he perceives in the world around him. The vividness with which he expresses his discontent is seen manifested in the criticisms that Holden aims at various characters throughout the story. As the

Holden’s loneliness was a more concrete manifestation of his alienation. It is both a source of great pain and a source if his security.

A disparate situation is presented to readers in The Catcher in the Rye. Early in the novel, Holden expresses the reason for his difficulties in school as his being: “always surrounded by phonies.”(Salinger 13) Holden is correct; he is completely incapable of relating to his peers. However he takes no time to consider potential solutions to his problem. During his conversation with Mr. Spencer, Holden communicates that he deals with his troubles by simply quitting; putting minimal effort into academics and socialization. Since Holden never addresses his emotions directly, he fails to realize

In the book “Catcher in the Rye” three major themes stood out for me as a reader. Holden’s pessimistic language, alienates him from the world. The speaker demonstrates separation and incongruence; “athletic [bastards] stick together,” Holden portrays a sense of animosity towards groups of people sticking together due to how he is not able to do the same this also demonstrates alienation. At the end of chapter six Holden provokes his best friend Stadler by saying “You moron,” using this absurd language demonstrated hatred and insult which was the cause estrangement. Finally Holden exhibits how he was ostracized “don’t do one damn thing…way you’re supposed to” even though he didn’t show rude language, the meaning was blunt and impolite. Holden’s alienation was thought to occur due to his brother death and the absence of his family however it portrayed that he was different and did not want to make contact with others.

Mr. Spencer a seventy-year-old man, who is Holden’s history teacher. You may still wonder why he even teaches at his age if you really think about it. Old and gross two words that come out of readers mind’s when reading the story. “The minute I went in, I was sorry I’d come he was reading the Atlantic Monthly , and there were pills and medicine all over the place and everything smelled like Vicks Nose Drops it was pretty depressing, I’m not too crazy about sick people anyway ,what made it more depressing , old spencer had on this very sad , ratty old bathrobe that he was probably born in it or something, I don’t much like to see old guys in their pajamas and bathrobes anyway” (11) this introduces us to the way adults view Holden and the way he views them in return this a big lack of understanding Mr . Spencer dosen’t know what’s wrong with Holden but he wants to help by lecturing Him.

In the bildungsroman Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger employs the struggle of individuality, inevitable maturation, and the childhood corruption of adulthood to reveal Holden’s alienation from society.

At least once in someone’s lifetime, a rocky phase filled with tasks and barriers that are challenging to overcome will occur. In fact, if one has to fulfill these said duties in such ways that it ends up becoming a regular routine, one might start to question the meaning of life. Isolation, feeling lonely, or believing that regulations set by higher authorities are controlling one’s individuality connect with a concept known as existentialism. In J.D Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, it is evident that Holden is against societal norms and he cannot form relationships with his peers due to his peculiar attitude. As Holden is frequently mean spirited, this prevents him from fitting in. Hence, examining the way Holden interacts with others reveals that Salinger purposely wrote this novel with the intention of clarifying the concept of alienation by making Holden express his anti-social behavior to the readers through a first-person narrative. Salinger expresses Holden’s alienation since his thoughts that he shares are melancholic, how he constantly tries forming relationships within age groups that are vastly different from his, and the fact that others are infuriated/uninterested with his conversations.