Theme Of Loneliness In Catcher In The Rye

Lack of communication is present throughout the entire book, along with the repercussions that ensue. Holden’s recluse social skills and personality result in his loneliness. Examples from the novel displaying Holden’s lack of friends includes when Holden stated, “Anyway, it was the Saturday

It is obvious that Holden is alienated from the beginning of the novel however, it isn’t that others alienate him, he isolates himself. Holden detaches himself from others to protect him from the potential harm of getting close to someone. However, his separation proves to be harmful to himself as any human needs companionship. Ultimately, his coping mechanism is what led to his depression and loneliness as it put him on “the other side of life.” While he subconsciously longs for companionship, he instinctively cuts himself off from the world.

Yet another issue Holden endures throughout this novel is loneliness . There are many reasons that he is very lonely all throughout the novel. The biggest reason he doesn't talk to anybody is because he is afraid he is going to get hurt emotionally. For example he is scared to call Jane and is scared to let her in his heart because he doesn't want to loose another person he loves, like his deceased brother Allie. Another example of his loneliness is when he meets the prostitute in the hotel. Holden knows that he can have the comfort of another human for a little while, but he doesn't want to do anything with her because he knows she will just leave after they are done having sex. In a way he is looking for something that will last longer, like a relationship, but he is too scared of being hurt . Although, “loneliness is difficult to fess up

Maybe Holden’s alienation is the cause of most of his pains. Just like the character in the movie,” The Good Girl”, wherein Tom Worther is a loner like Holden.

Although he doesn’t have any friends in this place, he stills wants to have a feeling of leaving and saying goodbye. This is shown when he says “What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of goodbye. I mean I’ve left schools and places before and places I didn’t even know I was leaving them. When I leave a place, I like to know I’m leaving it. If you don’t, you feel even worse” (7). Holden doesn’t have any connections to people in this place, and this makes him sad. Constantly feeling abandoned and alone contributes to his feelings of depression. Immediately after leaving his school in the middle of the night without waiting for his brother to pick him up at a later date, Holden asks the cab driver to take him to a bar in New York city. Although he

Holden has all of these traits. In the novel, nearly every time Holden gets depressed, he turns to alcohol. At Ernie’s night club he got served alcohol even though he was a minor. He even got drunk at the Wicker Bar. He used alcohol to escape the sadness in his life, which many killers were known to do as well. Holden also grew up lonely. He lost motivation to do well in school, which got him kicked out of Quincy High, losing his friends. His brother is also dead which may contribute to his feeling of loneliness. Holden always fantasizes about saving all the children from growing up, being their ‘Catcher in the Rye’. If somebody were to get in the way of his fantasy, he might have killed them. Holden is also socially awkward, loving children but hating adults, calling them ‘phonies’. He only has a few friends throughout the novel. He gets very angry with his friends, like when Stradlater goes out with Holden’s ex-girlfriend, Jane, whom he still has feelings for. This made him leave Quincy three days early while he travelled to Manhattan. “I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by.” said Holden (Page 4). Finally, Holden has some sexually stressful moments in the novel, like when he hired a hooker to come upstairs into his room. He wanted to do it, but when she got into the room, he

Holden’s symptoms are greatly evident throughout the entire novel, an example being Holden’s sense of loneliness, shown when he describes his feelings towards Pencey Prep before leaving as “[making] me too sad and lonesome”, even though

J.D. Salinger uses the motif of loneliness to show how Holden’s struggles affected him negatively and demonstrate what made Holden lonely in this book. For example, the motif of loneliness describes Holden because after his brother Allie died he kept having flashbacks about him he couldn’t believe his brother is dead, for example he says, “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist” (pg.39). This shows how when Holden feels lonely or sad or upset he gets really triggered which causes him to have a negative reaction to the world. Another example of Holden demonstrating the motif of loneliness in the book is when he was thinking about Jane Gallagher, he says “Jane Gallagher. Jesus ... I couldn't get her off my mind. I really couldn't” (pg.32). This shows us that just like Holden’s case with Allie he feels like he misses most of the people he hasn’t seen for a long time and that once he gets flashbacks of the important people in his life it is hard for him to move on. He does not feel safe alone. For instance, at the end of the book, Holden says “Don't ever tell anybody

Holden's constantly telling that he is different from everyone else, who he defines as "phonies", wearing his hunting cap to make him standout in society, and inability to make a social contact with a Jane Gallagher, who he constantly brings up, are just a few lucid examples of his self-alienation of society. Holden feels and uses this alienation to protect himself from the harshness of society is this constant defense mechanism eventually leads to his

Holden doesn't have many friends nor does he connect with a lot of people throughout the whole book he tries to talk to

Throughout the novel Holden is rejected and exploited by the society around him. As he is conflicted with himself to find a purpose in life he constantly tries to connect with a superficial society. The ongoing failure and fake personas he meets adds to his depression and cynicism. But instead of facing the problems by growing up and to move on Holden uses this negativity and isolation to protect him. Holden tries show that he is better than everybody else as this is the little stability he has left. When in reality Holden is just scared of the interaction of people because they just submerge him with complications he doesn 't know not yet how to deal with. Holden not being be able to cope with the idea of growing up adds to his loneliness which is the core of his pain. When his encounters first interaction in the novel, Holden Caulfield is an uncaring outcast who sees no motivation in life. As he says to Mr. Spencer, he feels trapped on “the other side of life” (Salinger). Holden constant attempt to fit into society is hidden because of his detachment to people. His only stability right now is to search for his own individuality and to face adulthood himself. That is why

Considered one of the best novels of the 20th century, The Catcher in the Rye has affected readers around the globe since its publication in 1951. Its contemporary critics, however, gave the novel mixed reviews. Compared to the ideals of 1950s America, Holden Caulfield, the emotionally immature, extremely judgmental, teen-aged main character of “Catcher,” embodies the antithesis. Holden was an affront to the new social order, which demanded conformity and propagated the “father knows best” mentality. Americans, however, despite the postwar economic boom, remained suspicious of authority. In idyllic suburban neighborhoods across the country, while families huddled around their new television screens, people discussed their neighbors’ movements, made distrustful even of their closest friends by the “Red Scare”. The American Dream seemed like a golden ring just out of reach, leaving people feeling like they were going around in circles without a clear destination or purpose. With his sense of nostalgia for better times, his bleak perspective of the future, and his contradictory nature, Holden speaks directly to this sense of confusion at the world that Americans felt during the 1950s.

Because he believes himself to be good looking, his appearance is not an issue. However, he tends to push others away (probably unintentionally). Therefore, his peers avoid or ignore him. Peer rejection instigates low self-esteem in Holden, resulting in feelings of loneliness and depression in addition to social difficulties. Throughout the story, Holden frequently mentions feeling depressed and lonely. He also has problems getting along with people. Few outside his family desire him around. An example of this is occurs when Holden meets with Luce, an old prep school acquaintance, in a bar and is blatantly cast off.

Throughout the novel, Holden attempts to find the true from of himself as he struggles with the social interactions around him. Due to the struggle and confusion that arouses from it,

After Holden arrives in New York and takes a cab to his hotel, he "damn near gave my kid sister Phoebe a buzz, though. I certainly felt like talking to her on the phone. Somebody with sense and all," (66). Holden wants to talk to Phoebe as he has been isolated from her and feels because she is someone who he has a strong connection with, that she will make him less depressed shown by him saying that she had sense. Also while Holden is in his hotel room in New York, after his prostitute leaves, he "felt depressed," then he began "talking, sort of out loud, to Allie," (98). Allie's death made Holden isolated form someone who was close to him. Him attempting to talk to Allie shows how his loneliness and depression was caused by his isolation because he wants to try to reconnect with Allie to end his loneliness. While on his way to a bar from the hotel, Holden describes New York as making him feel "lonesome and depressed" and how he wished "[he] could go home and shoot the bull with old Phoebe," (81). Holden feels lonely and depressed in New York because of his isolation from Phoebe, someone he loves. This is proved by how he describes that he wishes he could go home and talk with her for a while. After getting to New York, Holden's feelings still follow him as he feels lonely and depressed thinking about Phoebe and wanting to see