In Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield deals with society in an unusual way. When his brother Allie died, four years before his story, he decided to break windows with anger. Doctors observed this action physically and mentally. I think that the doctors help him cope with his feelings for Allie because they try to fix any problems he might have. Also, when he was expelled from Pency Prep, he rented a hotel for the night. He should have stayed at the school until they picked him up in a few days, but he didn’t. While at the hotel, this 17-year-old boy orders a prostitute, since he was depressed, but decides he is not in the mood for sex when she arrives. In addition, Holden also smokes a lot and is a heavy drinker, and this doesn’t help him with his depression. For example, “ I ordered a scotch and a soda, and told him not to mix it,” proves that he drinks under age. I think that when Holden is in NYC he cannot manage and cope with his feelings of his brother Allie because he is so depressed and keeps thinking of his deceased brother. Another method Holden uses to cope with society is to be sarcastic. An example of this is shown when he tells the mother of a kid he finds obnoxious, that he was kind shy, and adaptable in his school, just for his pleasure. A quote from the book that explains this is, “Well, a bunch of us wanted old Ernie to be president of the class.” This way of joking makes him feel better but is a wrong thing to do. A last example of Holden’s actions to deal with society is that he plans to become a deaf mute and live out west .He thought that if he did this it would solve his problems and keep him away from the “crumby” people in society. All of his actions and plans show signs of immaturity in him and that his choice making to deal with things is not very successful.…
When someone is young, they tend to have innocence about them. As children grow up, they no longer possess this natural innocence. Exposure to all of the hatred in the world causes this loss. Holden Caulfield realizes this simple fact, as he himself grows up, and has a difficult time with the change. He experiences problems with communication as well as his school work. A common theme used throughout The Catcher in the Rye has to do with contradictions Holden makes. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, first person point of view is used to highlight contradictions Holden makes throughout the novel.…
In the book Catcher in the Rye the main character Holden Caulfield is being compared to another character in The Great Gatsby Daisy Buchanan. They both live similar lifes, but they live them in different ways. Holden seems to be an anti-social person and doesnt have that many good friends where as Daisy is very social and has alot of friends.…
Every child is warned of the “adult world” where all the magic and fairytales of their previous years disappear, where enjoyment is succeeded by exhaustion and monotony, and where they have to pay taxes! During their youth, a considerable portion is dedicated to fortifying their emotions for their upcoming toils. However, what happens when life shatters this fantasy too early? Holden Caulfield from Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Franny Glass from his short stories, Franny and Zooey are two incidents of when the adolescent illusion cracks prematurely. Both of these characters suffer from the death of their beloved sibling. Holden is an abnormal, introverted teenager who isolates himself from the rest of the “phony” people in the world. After running away from his “phony” schoolmates, he begins his adventure in maturing which was previously inhibited due to the death of his brother. Franny Glass is quite different from Holden, however, they both share a common cause of their issues. Franny is a college student who became diminishingly less social as she pursued her deceased brother’s religious…
Growing up is generally not considered easy or desirable. In J.D Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a sixteen year old boy on the precipice of adulthood. He is resisting growing up despite the allure of sex and alcohol, but he despises the thought of entering a phony world. For Holden, his life is stuck in a never ending cycle of misery, alcohol, and a desire to hold on to his childhood innocence. His own life up to this point has been very rough - his beloved younger brother Allie died of pneumonia, a classmate jumped out of a window, and he has gotten kicked out of yet another school. He yearns to be a protector of childhood innocence. It is only after beginning to accepting change, relinquish his protective instincts,…
There are a number of women in Holden’s life in “The Catcher in the Rye”. Women often appear in…
In The Catcher and the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist Holden Caulfield experiences myriad personal difficulties originating from the tragic event of his brother's death from cancer. Subsequently, his perspective towards the whole world has deteriorated into a pessimistic attitude, derived from his own personal sense of inferiority. As a result, Holden feels isolated and alone. In his desire to feel connected to someone, he travels home to visit his sister, Phoebe, hoping to receive emotional support. Instead, Phoebe criticizes his pessimistic attitude towards life, much to his own surprise. However, the criticism that Holden receives from his sister motivates him to improve his perspective towards life, by having become more optimistic, and leading to rapid and significant maturity within his personal development.…
In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher is the Rye, the protagonist Holden Caufield emerges from a trying and emotional series of events and does not grow emotionally but remains as immature as he was at the beginning of the novel. The story is about the difficulties of growing up. Most people come out of their teenager years as more responsible and mature people. Holden goes through many stressful events during the weekend, but instead of coming out more mature and grown up, he still has the same childish views on life; he is violent minded, depressed, confused, and irresponsible. Throughout the whole novel, Holden fantasizes about killing people, he is baffled by sex, and he does not think out his actions.…
Presented in the book entitled Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield rebels against what life has to offer. Symbolized throughout the book, Holden shows his many dislikes towards the normal actions of a human being. The normal things that take place in society seem to irate Holden. Stated in chapter two, Holden says “People always think something’s all true.” Holden is explaining his frustration of the lack of education towards things people say and do. Holden tends to see the bigger picture, and the smaller details. Also stated in chapter two of Catcher in the Rye, Holden states “People never notice anything.” This also shows Holden’s great attention to detail. Holden notices the little things; he notices the little girl, later on in the book, that is having…
At the book’s beginning, Holden Caulfield is characterized as jaded from his awful childhood experiences and cynical, with a disdain for all adults and their “phoniness”. With a propensity for exasperating nearly everyone he comes into contact with, Holden is alienated from society. Yet, as the novel progresses, Holden is spiraling downward. He is depressed and all attempts at making a solid connection are repudiated. Contemplating suicide and searching for a way to protect children from reaching adulthood, Holden is quite disconnected from reality. When he takes his sister Phoebe to a carousel, Holden realizes that he cannot save children from maturing. He understands that falling and getting hurt is part of growing up. Sexuality, cursing and other darker aspects of adulthood will be seen by children, as they are part of developing. Poor childhood experiences and alienation hardened Holden’s views on aging. However, once he realizes that maturing is not always a pleasant experience, Holden sees that his efforts in protecting children from adulthood were futile and he becomes temporarily happy before having a mental breakdown. Through his negative experiences and epiphany on adulthood, Holden attains an understanding of maturity and is saved from self…
Many people in this world will believe in the first impression they get. The appearance people see will usually satisfy them without further investigating into the reality of a situation. The difference between appearance and reality can be quite different. This also applies to literature. There are many instances where an author will describes a character as kind, but is actually deceptive and mean. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there are characters and situations that show how appearances can differ from reality. The three main instances are the Grangerford and Shepherdson feud, through the Duke and the Dauphin, and Miss Watson.…
Holden Caulfield is a character whose actions speak more than his words. In J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Holden is an innocent person who expects the world to be perfect. He knows that there are choices available for every decision he makes, but doesn't have any particular instructions to go with it. He seems to be a very positive person who has just given up trying to make better of him after his Brother Allie's death. This plus his "teenage mood and attitude changes," the society thinks that he's always making the wrong decision and not applying himself enough.…
Fitting into society is hard these days, and with the high expectations and the need to conform, many of today’s youth are like Holden in their wish to be their own person, but unable find happiness in their culture with the constant criticisms for their choices and personality. Holden is “the first image of middle class youth growing up absurd” according to John Hayden in his book Reunion. In other words, Holden has captured the spirit of thousands of Americans suppressed by the confines of conformity. Every school has its “lonely crowd of imitation Holdens” (Reisman), especially Ferndale. In the Halls of Ferndale High school roam students very much like Holden: the losers or future drop outs that represent Holden’s hatred of institutional confines; the wacky dressers who don clothing relative to Holden’s red hunting hat in expressing their own emotions; the wanna-bes who just wish to fit in like Holden but fail; the loner group who take in the unsociable…
It has long been generally accepted that we as humans are influenced greatly by the things that surround our everyday lives. These things can include friends, family, co-workers, the media and even society as a whole. The society in which people live can play a huge role in how they view themselves and how they view others. Over the years researchers have come up with many theories as to how and why society has such a large influence on people. Now-a-days there are appearance prescriptions for everything in our society. It is not good to be too fat, but it is not good to be too skinny either. The way a person looks, dresses and acts is a large factor in how other people will think about, talk about and respond to them. These societal prescriptions also differentiate between other factors such as gender, race, level of education and more. Interestingly most of these prescriptions for appearance in society today are relatively unspoken until someone violates them. This paper will attempt to shed some light on the complex societal prescriptions regarding personal appearance and body imaging; more specifically it will delve into how those prescriptions are gendered within society and how people respond both positively and negatively to those prescriptions.…
The US Army is a professional organization which prides itself on being the best, brightest, and strongest military in the world. With that reputation comes a very high level of expectation from its joining members. Every soldier is an ambassador for the US Army, responsible for upholding its image at all times and all places. Therefore maintaining a professional appearance is vital to maintaining that image.…