Holden Caulfield In The Catcher In The Rye

Holden Caulfield, the novel’s protagonist, is a pivotal character in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is characterized as an innocent, apathetic, naive teen who is seeking knowledge of life and the meaning of becoming an adult. Holden’s struggle with seeing the genuine nature of people is something that acts as a barrier for him throughout the novel. Holden is troubled and burdened throughout the story, which causes him to have a warped view on an array of subjects. Holden passes strict judgement on everyone, as he struggles to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Holden appears to be stunned when he sees how different the life of an adult is comparison to that of children. His views on topics such as, life, his future, and sex. Holden approaches each of these subjects with strict views, and feels dejected when he realizes there are more multiple perspectives to these topics.
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In chapter 14, Holden is seen sitting outside watching the sunrise. Holden describes himself as feeling miserable and depressed. The tone of this chapter is very dark and loathing. Holden then reveals to the reader that he talks to his deceased brother, Allie, when he is feeling depressed. Allie has been dead for three years, yet his death still heavily impacts Holden. Later on in the chapter, Holden gets ready for bed, he states that he, “felt like praying or something. But I couldn’t do it. I can’t always pray when I feel like it. In the first place, I’m sort of an atheist. I like Jesus and all, but I don’t care too much for most of the other stuff in the Bible” (Salinger 99). This quote also adds to the darkness of the chapter, Holden is looking to pray so he can have faith and hope, but cannot bring himself to complete the act. This quote also shows his weary and judgemental view on religion. Holden also smokes a heavy amount of cigarettes in this chapter, he describes the taste of the cigarettes as “lousy”, once again he cannot find an outlet to release his stress