Holden appeared to be really directionless. He didn't even have ‘the faintest damn idea’ where he could go. Holden didn't want to go home because he was flunked by the school. Besides, he was contemptuous of the part of ‘phony’ society his family belonged to. At the same time, he couldn’t fit in the lower class society because of his background and unfamiliarity with their cultural norms. He was an
The carousel and gold ring finally allow Holden to accept change as a natural part of life and that it is necessary for one to grow as a person. Holden buys a ticket for Phoebe, his kid sister, to ride the carousel but refuses her offer to go on as well. Instead, he sits and watches: “ I went over and sat down on this bench and she went and got on the carousel” (211). By doing this, Holden chooses to no longer be a child. He starts to accept that he needs to start maturing and watches Pheobe, like the other adults are watching their children. This is a step in the right direction for Holden as up until this point in the novel, he has refused to change because of his fear. While Holden watches Phoebe ride the carousel, he watches her reach for the gold ring. As she reaches, Holden thinks to
The Catcher in the Rye was about Holden, who admires in children attributes that he struggles to find in adults to talk to him and he is undergoing treatment in a mental hospital. Holden Caulfield,who is 16 year old teenager went to three schools, but fails four of his five subjects only passed English he also struggles with the fact that everyone has to grow up. In the novel, Holden tells the reader through a few days of his life, in which he flaunts his hostile environments. Throughout the book,
He hides under a visage of a cool ‘bad boy’ trope, seeing the world through a heavy filter- to him, anyone who's anyone is a phony, a liar, or just plain bad, despite him judging many things he later goes on to do himself. Over the course of the book we come to see Holden has built an opinion of the world that shields him from the pains and complexities of life. The author displays Holden’s traits quite prominently, especially through his use of language; he writes as Holden speaks- vulgar, rambling, and easily derailed, jumping from idea to idea infinitely
In the beginning of Catcher in the Rye, Holden was extremely selfish and didn’t ever consider other people’s opinions and how they might feel. As the story has gone he has continued to move along he has failed to realize that not all people are phony and mean. He goes on the date and as they are going in to a cab he thinks, “I sort of hated old Sally by the time we got into the cab, after listening to phony Andover bastard for about ten hours” (140). Holden is trying to be friends with Sally, but realizes that it’s not going over well. Holden is beginning to realize that the people he is trying to be friends with are not working out for him because he does not allow himself to blend with people. He is getting himself deeper into isolation and
Holden Caulfield, a 17 year old boy who is reminiscing a about his 16 year old self’s journey from childhood to adulthood. This in such journeys one tends to make big decisions and loses their innocence, but Holden refuses to. In J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye one may only see Holden Caulfield as a rich boy with first world problems that are way too trivial to feel lost about. Throughout the duration of the novel Holden spent it in New York City, where he moped around for a few days. While there he found himself in different situations asking the same questions about change. Holden has immense issues with change, specifically growing up. Like any person growing up requires one to understand the benefits of change and to embraces them,
The Catcher in the Rye is a novel about a sixteen year old boy, Holden Caulfield, who tells the story of his experience of exploring New York after being expelled from his high school, Pencey Prep. Throughout his travels, Holden seeks to find truth and a sense of belonging in the “phony” realm of adulthood: the stage of life that he is entering but is not yet willing to accept. Over the course of the novel, Holden often ridicules the adult world, idolizing the idea of childhood instead, as well as the purity and innocence it contains. His strong feelings of alienation constantly incite feelings of wanting to run away from, or escape the situations that he is put in. Furthermore, Holden feels as if he needs to protect children from transitioning
In the book, Holden tells Phoebe that his dream job is to become a catcher in the rye. This means that he wants to catch children and their innocence when they are about to fall into adulthood. This shows that Holden does not want innocent children to experience the hardships that he went through, in the adult world. However, throughout the book Holden plans to run away multiple times and sometimes even wants to die. If he runs away or kills himself, his dream job to help children will not happen. Even though he can not totally hold on to the children’s innocence, he can at least try and make the adult world a better place to live in. So, instead of taking action, Holden gives up like an immature man and does not fight humbly for his dream
Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is depicted as a person who has an apathetic voice. However, Salinger uses certain symbols, such as the red hair, the ducks, and Allie’s baseball mitt, to give Holden has a sensitive voice in The Catcher in the Rye.
Teenagers: Hopeless Ambition It is easy to have a desire or a dream to achieve a certain goal. It is even easier to have a despaired desired dream to achieve an even harder goal. All people who make it through the teenage years made it through stress and relaxation, sadness and happiness, and depression and pleasure.
The novel Catcher in the Rye is set in the 1950s, which makes the actions and choices of the characters fairly outdated. That being said, Holden Caulfield possesses many similar characteristics to those of a modern 2015 teenagers. For one, he struggles to stay motivated in school, which modern teenagers go through as well, even if it is not as extreme as Holden. Modern teenagers with their new, modern technology, often times have trouble in social situations, similar to how Holden has trouble communicating himself and his thoughts clearly to others. Another similar characteristic Holden shares with modern teenagers is being depressed and hating how life is going at any particular moment. Though Holden lived in a time without
Throughout the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Calfied gives us his opinion on many topics. However, he also tells us lies, and he is obviously not thinking entirely clearly at many points. But I do believe that Holden is right about children are innocent and pure in three ways; Holden’s ideas, my own experience, and the information I gathered. In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, the main character Holden had a brother called Allie.
The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger is based in the 1950s and was narrated by Holden Caulfield. Holden is the protagonist of the story ,but the antagonist is himself.Holden is self-destructive and highly criticizes himself and other people.Holden tells the story from a mental institution, but he isn’t specific about his location. Holden is an unreliable source telling his story because it's based all from a first person viewpoint. In The Catcher in the Rye, Allie and Phoebe effect Holden’s self-image and worldview.
Just as J.D Salinger, Holden’s socioeconomic background was at least middle-upper class (even though many of Holden’s actions and what he says demonstrates he belonged to the high-class) Holden struggled with family and class expectations. His family and culture expect for him to be reasonably successful at the prestigious High school to which he belonged, and then, after he was done with it move on to an Ivy League school. Holden’s problem is that he is incapable of seeing himself in that role, so he
Holden’s immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is physically mature, he acts more like a child. “All of a sudden I
Support Ev 2:In freud's psychoanalytical theory Holden is using the mechanism known as Reaction Formations , which is when one behaves in a way that is the opposite of one's true wishes or desires in order to keep these repressed.When Holden drops out of prestigious schools such as pencey he is using this as a way to remove himself from society as he tries to hide the ways he actually wants to feel. He wants to feel like he is someone in life and as a result he is unsuccessful according to Freud's Reaction Formations.