The Theory Of Self Orientation

Holden thinks children are authentic and in order to stay authentic in a world full of phonies he seeks to preserve his childlike nature. In chapter 13, Holden talks about the concept of his virginity, he says “If you want to know the truth, I’m a virgin. I really am. I’ve had quite a few opportunities to lose my virginity and all, but I never got around to it yet. Something always happens.”(92). Holden admits he’s still a virgin and to many people losing your virginity is a step to adulthood. This is Holden’s way of trying to protect what little he has of his childhood to prevent himself from becoming an adult. That “something always happens”(92) is his own subconscious telling him to stop and to save this moment for someone who he really likes not a prostitute whom he bought. Holden even says earlier ,in the novel, “I don’t like the idea...I think if you don’t really like a girl, you shouldn’t horse around with her at all”(62). The author is trying to show how kids can avoid being an adult in the real world. Although he tries to protect his youth, Holden also likes to pretend his is an adult. He does things like being an avid smoker, constantly wanting to drink, and wanting to hookup with girls. Doing acts like these: ”After a while I sat down in a chair and smoked a couple of cigarettes.”(63), “‘Would any of you girls care to dance?’ I didn’t ask them crudely or anything. Very suave, in fact.”(70), “Boy, I sat at that goddamn bar

Sex is something he gains new understandings about and he learns that it is something natural, but complex and not all it appears to be. For example, Sunny is a prostitute who Holden calls up to his room out of desperation. He’s so lonely that he’s just looking for conversation, but he’s searching in the wrong place. Holden admits earlier on in the novel, “sex is something I really don’t understand too hot” (Salinger 82). Sunny is young and sees her as a person who needs protection, however he expected someone who is a prostitute to be older. From this situation Holden learns that he needs the moment to be right and an emotional connection to have sex, that for him it is not something that can be casual although for others it might be.

His loneliness makes him feel depressed and willing to die. At his hotel, Holden decides to hire a prostitute: “She didn’t care what the hell my name was, naturally” (105). Normally one would go to a prostitute for sex, but Holden is solely focused on finding company. He is looking for any kind of connection or relationship between him and this stranger, but she is only willing to talk business. He is feeling so deserted that his best prospect for company is a prostitute who does not even care about him. He knows prostitutes are considered among the worst of people, and they are also illegal. However, Holden loses perspective in terms of the way he sees himself in comparison to others. Now thinking that he is now on the same level as prostitutes in society. Holden grasps onto relationships with people like prostitutes (and later taxi drivers) because no one is there for him like Allie was. It is almost as if Holden is trying to recreate his relationship with Allie. Although he can not find anyone nearly as special or satisfying, so therefore he reverts towards ending his life. He describes the lobby of the hotel that he is staying at as empty and full of dead cigars, leaving him feeling lonely and frustrated as he says: “I was feeling sort of lousy. Depressed and all. I almost wished I was dead” (101). When his emotions start to

Holden thinks about the idea of sex and pays to have Sunny the prostitute to come to his room. However, he was feeling depressed and instead of having sex with the her he wanted to just talk. He started getting depressed because he felt that she was a kid just like him. The way she talked and jiggled her leg up and down he thought she was just a kid. While he was hanging up her coat he thought "of her going in a store and buying it, and nobody in the store knowing she was a prostitute and all.

Holden says, “It was against my principles and all, but I was feeling so depressed I didn’t even think”(96). Holden’s depression blurred his personal moral compass and beliefs, and turns him into someone he is not by requesting the prostitute. He becomes a critic of a societal fault, to an embodiment of the

With the level that Holden is attracted and interested with females, his ability to know how to act and express his feelings correctly is greatly lacking. He never knows what he should say or not say, act or not act, and overall, maintain a good relationship. He continues his desperate feelings to be with her, however, than displays how he truly feels when Holden states “[c]’mon lets get outa her. . . You give a real pain in my ass, if you want to know the truth” (133). Holden repeatedly says everything that he shouldn’t with girls, or sometimes, does not say what he should.

Sexuality is one of the major causes for Holden to lose his innocence. Holden is a virgin, but he is very interested in sex. He describes what he thinks about sex: "I think if you don't really like a girl, you shouldn't horse around with her at all, and if you do like her, then you're supposed to like her face…” (chapter 9). Holden explains how he thinks sex should only happen when both partners share affection, and does not believe that you should engage in sex for casual reasons.

Holden also has several redeeming qualities that keep him from being the rouge that many censors and critics wanted to label him in the fifties. As mentioned previously, Holden feels deeply for others and spends much of his time trying to understand them. For example, he admits to being a virgin and attributes this to the concern he has for the girls he is with; "he feels he would be taking advantage of their weakness if he had relations with them. " (Lettis, 6) "They tell me to stop, so I stop. I always wish I hadn't, after I take them home, but I take them home anyway." (Salinger, 121) He is also brutally honest, a quality children possess and adults seem to lose as they age. Holden dislikes things he

However, he admits that while the couple’s actions are “crumby” (Salinger 81) and crude, he is still aroused and “wouldn’t mind” (Salinger 81) doing it, especially to a girl he is attracted to. While Holden wants to preserve his innocence by not thinking about sex at all, he agrees that he is a “sex maniac” (Salinger 81), and is a fiend about losing his virginity. Holden even goes as far as to make rules for himself. On page 82, he recounts, “I made a rule that I was going to quit horsing around with girls that, deep down, gave me a pain in the ass. I broke it, though, the same week I made it-the same night, as a matter of fact” (Salinger). He is slowly losing his innocence, and while he hates to admit it, Holden’s constant thoughts about sexuality is a sign of adulthood. To him, one should only have sex with someone they truly love. Holden is almost proud of himself for having such a morally correct view of sex. This is why he is so riled when he discovers that Stradlater had sex with Jane Gallagher. Holden realized that Jane barely knew Stradlater and felt that he, if anyone, should be dating Jane. His increasing thoughts on sexuality and loss of a conventional or shielded view of sex show that his loss of innocence is apparent.

Existentialism is a philosophy for the twentieth century that revolves around being alive and the rationale of why humans find themselves to

During the novel Holden has an encounter with a prostitute. Though he did not make the step into his version of ‘adulthood’ with the prostitute, this encounter is still important than

Just like any normal fifteen year old, Holden has had sexual thoughts about women as is apparent by the comments he makes about them. But unlike any normal teenager, Holden reluctantly resists the urge to have any sexual relationship with a woman. As a matter of fact the idea of sex terrifies him. Holden believes that by having sex he will become an adult, therefore he will become a“phony”

At this particular moment, Holden is getting dressed, and is waiting for the prostitute to arrive.Throughout the novel, Holden spends majority of the novel talking about how he is a sex maniac, and how he is a virgin. While in the room, Holden complains about his sex life and that hiring a prostitute meant, “some practice on her, in case I ever get married or anything.” As time passes his eagerness slowly declines. In the beginning of the wait, his sex cravings was at its high point, but the longer he waited he became unenthusiastic about it and said, “I didn’t care too much, though. I sort of just wanted to get it over with” (Salinger 104).

Existentialism is a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will. In other words existentialism is saying your  a free individual  and your actions define what you are. Many people see the the philosopher Jean Paul Sartre as "the father"of existentialism , but existentialism was founded in the 1800s by Friedrich Nietzsche, soren kierkegaard. The ideas accredited to Sartre are in many ways the ideas of Nietzsche and kierkegaard presented in a different way. Those that parctice existentialism to its strictest interpretation being you should live your how ever you want, live a life without much regrad to others

Existentialism is a literary movement concerned with the existence and purpose of oneself in the world. Existentialists have questioned our existence in this world and purpose of finding the meaning of life. They believe that there is no predestination, and that man is free to be the master of his own fate. They also believe that man's existence depends on suffering, because it not only can provide a person with a profound source for meaning, but it also provides the necessary comparison by which success and happiness are measured. Existentialism is quite common in our world. People going through an existential crisis ask questions about their existence and purpose in their world. They question the meaning of their life and what the purpose of finding meaning in life if we are all going to die one day.