Preview

Catcher in the Rye: Holden Caulfield

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
342 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Catcher in the Rye: Holden Caulfield
Holden is introduced as a rebel that refuses to complete his homework assignments and has even got expelled for his poor grades.

Holden describes most people as phonies and fakes because he feels they are putting on an act to impress others.

Holden is a person that values honesty and sincerity.

Holden likes to act spontaneously. For example, he decides to go to NYC to spend a few nights in a cheap motel.

Holden is very interested in sex even though he is a virgin. He feels strongly that sex should happen between people who care deeply about and respect one another, and he is upset by the realization that sex can be casual. He even hires a prostitute to talk to her, not to have sex.

Holden acts like a tough guy when in reality he is a coward. He is very nervous about having a prostitute but he tries to act normal about it. He then tries to act tough when Maurice is asking for five more dollars for the prostitute but Holden starts to cry when the prostitute takes the five dollars.

Holden likes to exaggerate. This is ironic because this makes him appear as a phony himself.

Holden has strong feelings towards young children. For example, he is very closely attached to his younger sister Phoebe. He even erases profanity off the walls of the museum and the school so that little children don't see it.

Holden is also lonely and depressed. He feels left out of society and tries desperately to find his place in the world.

Holden is obsessed with death. He constantly dwells on the death of his brother, Allie. He carries Allie's baseball glove wherever he goes because he enjoys reading the poems written in green ink on it.

Holden feels that he is the "greatest liar in the world."

Holden enjoys "playing around with people." He enjoyed lying to one of his classmate's mother by describing her son as popular and a ladies man.

Holden likes to wear his red hunting hat. This is symbolic because it is almost as if he is hunting

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Catcher In The Rye Summary

    • 1259 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In his room he interrogates his roommate, Stradlater, about one of Holden's old friends, Jane. Stradlater just got back from a date with Jane and Holden was worried sick. "I'm thinking now of when Stradlater got back from his date with Jane. I mean I cant remember exactly what I was doing... I probably still looking out the window, but I swear I cant remember. I was so damn…

    • 1259 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Holden gets depressed when Sunny takes off her dress because he realized that she was a child. He agreed to a prostitute because he was pressured and depressed so he thought he can blow off some steam using the prostitute. He changes his mind about having sex because the girl tells to stop and he doesnt know if he should continue or if he should stop. He stops most of the time.…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden seems to act this way in front of most girls. I think he does this because he sees other guys acting the same way with girls and he naturally copies them because he doesn’t know how else to act. As a result, he contradicts himself often, but he just doesn’t realise…

    • 1211 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The past of Holden’s life is holding him down to the point where he’s judgemental about anyone he meets. Even though he usually keeps all the negative comments to himself he sometimes gets to his climax where he lets everything out. He is 16 year old and he’s already very moody and has a bad perspective of the world. However, he becomes very vulnerable when it comes to his little sister Phoebe where he changes his attitude towards her and shows love and compassion. According to the novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, it states that “I kept calling him a sonuvabitch and all” (Holden 50). This quote demonstrates how Holden is under a lot of stress where he has no control of what he’s saying or he doesn’t think what he’s saying is hurting others in any type of way. Basically, he only concerns for himself and of course for his little sister.…

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden Caulfield is a phony. Even though the story is being told from his point of view we can conclude that he is fake. Not only is he an impulsive liar but he is a great hypocrite. He has no remorse about any of his actions towards people, and everything and everyone he meets is a phony in his eyes. Holden Caulfield can never say anything truly good about anyone, he always has something to bring them down. Even little things upsets him, like when Mr. Spencer, Holden’s old teacher at Pencey Prep, “started going into this nodding routine”, he said “You never saw anyone nod as much in your life as Old…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden Caulfield is a teenage boy living in a society in which he believes to be full of hypocrites and "phonies". Everything with any connection to his life he believes to be a phony. From teachers to his friends, to people he does not even know. Holden always found some kind of a reason to give off the impression that he is superior because they are just fake. He is in belief that he is capable of understanding everything about a person just by looking at them and judging their first impression. Holden seems to almost have an obsession with people being phony. He explains that children are innocent but once they reach a point in their lives where they can almost be taken seriously, he strives to find phoniness in somebody's personality…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden Caulfield Phony

    • 1558 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Holden’s *friends are familiar and experienced with the topic of sex while Holden stays puzzled and curious. Holden comes on strongly with just about every woman he meets for example Sally Hayes, Sunny, and Jane Gallagher. Sally Hayes is a longtime friend of Holden’s and grew up together. Holden is extremely attracted to Sally and even dreams of running off to a cabin with her having children and living happily ever after. Holden says that he “felt like marrying her the minute I saw her” (138). Sunny is a prostitute that Holden paid just to talk to even after she started removing her clothes. When he met her pimp he knew what he was paying for, however never went through with it. Jane Gallagher is an old friend that Holden used to spend summers with and she is very important to him. He comes on strong to women at the bar and close friends but never actually does it. Holden is confused about sexuality, especially when it is homosexual. Holden strongly dislikes when a guy “flirts” a lot and is simply puzzled by the whole topic of sex. Sex is simply a confusing idea for any young teen, but for Holden it is a little harder. In the novel it implies that as a child he was sexual abused by his neighbors dad and was neglected by his own parents. He is also timid when it comes to being imamate with a women after his brother, Allie, lost his life to cancer. Phoebe is…

    • 1558 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden is constantly trying to surround himself with other people, but isn’t able to form real connections with anyone. Holden socializes with girls multiple times throughout the book. He makes an effort to engage in conversation with them, but they never seem to want to reach past small talk. This leaves Holden frustrated with the lack of connection made. Holden goes into a club with the hopes of drinking, but is not allowed due to lack of identification. He searches for girls, only to find a group of three who he does not like very much, but dances and flirts with them anyway. He tries to create conversation, only to deem them stupid as a result of their lack of interest in him. When Holden meets up with an old friend, Sally, he rants about New York and the phonies at his school, eventually digressing into a proposal to run away to different states. Sally rejects his proposal and tells him she does not see what he means with his ranting, and he begins hating her, even going on to tell her she gives him a pain in his ass. Holden thinks of the girls in the club as very stupid because he has to force the…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden vainly seeks for innocence in society only developing anger and depression as a result. Holden acts disturbingly at the thought of Jane, his childhood friend, having a casual encounter with his room…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    He hasn’t started being the catcher in the rye yet, but he has the power to save the youngsters. Overall, Holden is a normal teen like the others. Teenagers like to convey their thoughts, take risks, be kind towards others, and experience things. They want to reveal what they are thinking in an honest way. Furthermore, the advantages including the enjoyment from doing things is important to them, so they do whatever it takes to get them. Teenagers are eager in what they want to do, but don’t start until later. To conclude, a typical teenager like Holden has these…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the novel, Holden struggles with the concept of the “phoniness” of society. He believes that all adults are deceiving, materialistic people who only act in greed and conceit. Holden thinks that children are practically the only “non-phonies” in the world, and he wishes to stop them from maturing into adulthood. He only respects children and those who prove to be selfless, compassionate, and always stay true to themselves. As a result, when he is asked what he likes, Holden thinks about the nuns and James Castle. These figures are among the few people that Holden admires and acknowledges as “non-phonies”.…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden’s troubles become primarily evident through his apparent loneliness. Although while reading, the audience may be emotionally swayed by sympathy for Holden due to his clear lack of social skills and friends, readers can eventually develop a sense that Holden actually excludes himself in a way. The story begins with Holden not attending the football game, but rather, standing alone watching from afar. In a sense, he seems to almost enjoy being excluded “The whole team ostracized me [...] It was pretty funny in a way.”…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden’s fear of being intimate and a part of a relationship makes him vulnerable to being hurt. This most likely hints at his fears of the unknown, change and complexity which explains his attachment to the Natural History Museum, where “the only thing that would be different would be you” (65). As a result, he completely detaches himself from people and through his pessimistic persona, he is constantly on the lookout for reasons to hate being an adult. However, when looking at his circle of “friends,” they’re privileged, rich and adults, like him. Hanging out with them gives him the opportunity of being directly judgemental towards them rather than himself because their perspectives and conflicts are similar. With Phoebe, he feels at peace and enjoys his time with her, but her physical image (a child) overpowers her personality of being unpredictable, complex and prone to change. The placement of a child mask on his monsters (fears) forces him to confront them, but in a more positive and relaxed manner. Through this, it becomes clear that the challenging innocent questions from Phoebe challenges Holden to question his self-confidence and self-worth which then leads to his fear of “phoniness.” Through Phoebe’s suggestion of being a lawyer, Holden considers the idea and immediately swarms towards “saving innocent [guys’] lives,” but rejects it after he thinks about what he has…

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this novel Holden not only demonstrates dishonesty by repeatedly lying in various occasions but also shows to be confused as of what he really is. It is also proven that he is a hypocritical person that is just looking to keep his image well even if he has to lie. It is also shown that this character seeks pity from other people in order to make himself feel better.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    They are able to continue along with their lives, and Holden will be there to protect them and their innocence. Holden sees this as his fantasy because a catcher would have caught his little brother, Allie, or failing to do so, would have caught him and saved him from his pain and loneliness. Holden understands that what he wants to do with his life is unreasonable but would rather do so then grow up to be a phony. This shows that Holden would rather see the world as his own fantasy than deal with the realities of the world around him. The real world goes on in quite an ordinary and predictable way while Holden immerses himself in his fantasies to escape from these realities. Holden is too caught up in his own fantasies to realize his mind is just not right. Although, the other characters find Holden to be caught up in his fantasies and his actions to be out of the ordinary, Holden feels they are…

    • 1809 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays