Catcher in the Rye Thesis Paper

In this bildungsroman novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield believes that there is adolescence and adulthood, and he is so frightened of being categorized in the adulthood category that he goes to extremes to alienate himself from the population. He refuses to conform to the norm of American adulthood through his wild, immaturely driven thoughts and isolated feelings of others. Holden sees many people and many things throughout this book, most of them he shakes his head at and brands them as phonies. He sees pure innocence in his little sister, which is the only time he tells us he is happy. Specifically, when Phoebe is riding on the carousel. He sees disgusting, frightening adulthood everywhere else. Holden hates everyone and is so afraid to be just like everyone else his age because he has seen what they turn into as adults. It is clear that Holden is afraid to grow up through the immature things he does, the things he says and the things he wears.
Holden constantly proves to the reader that he feels different he wears clothes that make him stand out even though it may make him look stupid. Holden alienating himself like this makes him feel good, he wants to stick out by doing ridiculous things. One of these ridiculous things is wearing a red hunting hat. Holden wears the red hunting hat for a reason, it’s not just because it’s convenient and keeps his head warm. He wears it to stick out of the crowd, to remind and show everyone that he is different, which to him is a way of preserving his childhood. The reason for the hat being pointed backwards is him looking back at the past, childhood, and wanting to hold on to it for as long as possible. Although these eccentric behavior makes him stand out, his physical attributes also contribute to his sense of “odd self”; he has gray hair and is tall for his age, standing at six foot two and a half at seventeen years old.
The biggest way that Holden alienates himself is by convincing himself