Preview

J. D. Salinger: Philosophies Of Conformity And Capitalism

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
221 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
J. D. Salinger: Philosophies Of Conformity And Capitalism
J. D. Salinger was an American born in 1919. Although, a majority of his works were relatively short they had a massive influence on the adolescents of the early 1950s, the peak of his writing career. Moreover, his works were highly controversial at the time, because they challenged the philosophies of conformity and capitalism. Both of which were of which were considered staples of American life in the 1950s. Salinger uses philosophy, morals, and mental health to create a point against conformity and capitalism. Many of Salinger’s characters have personal beliefs and philosophies that cause them to analysis of the Catcher in the Rye that “Holden’s feelings and thoughts isolate him from his vulgar, clique-ridden schoolmates, from his
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Character Analysis: Holden Caulfield
    • 122 Words
    • 1 Page

    Character Analysis: Holden Caulfield

    Holden Caulfield is J.D. Salinger’s main character in The Catcher in the Rye. We learn several interesting things about Holden, however, while learning the these we are not experiencing or seeing what Holden is. We learn about it through Holden’s perspective throughout the entire story like, for example, the death of his younger brother, Allie or the time James Castle committed suicide by jumping out of the school window. Most of these experiences have a significant meaning behind them and we find these out by reading the book. We get to know Holden in a personal way. While reading, comprehending, and understanding Holden’s emotions towards the encounters he has with the characters in this book, which makes it very interesting.…

    • 122 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Is Holden Caulfield An Honest Liar
    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Is Holden Caulfield An Honest Liar

    The story of The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is given from the perspective of the main character, Holden Caulfield. Although the story goes into a considerable amount of detail the reader is not led to believe every part of the story because Holden presents himself as a self-avowed liar, and therefore he cannot be trusted. This greatly hinders the reader's ability to gather valid information and put together their own perspective of Holden's story.…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Holden Caulfield Symbolism Essay
    • 1609 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Holden Caulfield Symbolism Essay

    J.D Salinger has a written a novel called catcher in the rye, about a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield who lives in New York City. Holden is not an ordinary teenage boy. His way of viewing life is different its extraordinary Holden is confused, lost, and depressed. His character is very complex to understand through the book Holden tries to reach out to a lot of people and he tries to build a relation but something is not letting Holden to do so, the fact that Holden wants to remain a child is keeping him away from growing up and becoming more understandable to himself and the people around him. He has no stable relation with his parents which has affected him to do poorly academically. Through the book J.D Salinger have used symbolism that shows Holden’s mental anguish. The symbolism explains everything that’s is going on with Holden…

    • 1609 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Phoebe Caulfield Catcher
    • 2282 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Phoebe Caulfield Catcher

    Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye reveals a teenager’s dramatic struggle against death and growing up. The book is composed of stories after the protagonist Holden Caulfield’s expulsion from a private school. He leaves school early to explore New York before returning home, interacting with teachers, prostitutes, nuns, an ex-girlfriend and his sister along the way. We characterize Holden as an innocent child that possesses an ideal fantasy of becoming a catcher in the rye, protecting an unsophisticated world of love, passion and justice. It seems Holden, a “guardian” towards childhood and innocence is the hero or “catcher” without any questions. Throughout the entire book, however,…

    • 2282 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Holden Caulfield Character Analysis
    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Holden Caulfield Character Analysis

    In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger writes about a troubled teen named Holden Caulfield who undergoes failing school and travels through New York City at night. Salinger depicts Holden as someone with uncontrollable anger, many anxieties, extreme loneliness, powerful love, and numerous fears. All of this molds Holden into a complex person with an unusual personality and unique traits that make him different and unable to accept most of the people around him. In addition, there seems to be a deep connection between many of the things that he did and his own personality traits. The most prominent traits of Holden Caulfield, displayed through his speech, actions, and thoughts, are that he is judgmental, lonely, and depressed.…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Catcher In The Rye: A Literary Analysis
    • 1991 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Catcher In The Rye: A Literary Analysis

    He sees adults and friends who succumb to these norms, and he outwardly looks down upon them and call them phonies of society. As an author, J.D. Salinger created Holden Caulfield as a character to challenge the expected norms of this time period, and as a whole, the novel addresses the challenge of accepting societal norms and diverging from norms to create a different lifestyle. For Holden, although many other reasons attribute to his refusal to accept society, he mainly believes that the 1950’s American Dream culture valuing marriage, family and education is not one that he wishes to be associated with. It is also crucial to note that by the end of the novel, Holden ends up in a mental institution, the location from which he narrates Catcher in the Rye. This element of the novel is crucial to our understanding of Holden as a character; he seems to have rejected the values and views of the post-war era so intensely, he is literally unable to function and has been…

    • 1991 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Holden Caulfield Phony
    • 1558 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Holden Caulfield Phony

    The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger is a reflection of his own life being shown through a teenage boy, Holden Caulfield. Like Salinger in the novel Holden jumps from prep school to prep school not finishing each time, however excels in English classes. Holden’s life in the novel shook the nation with controversy and curiosity. Illustrated in the text it conveys extreme depression, sexual tension, love, and lewd language. Holden attempts to see the “phony” world through a new light, however fails due to the type of person he is, his troubled background, sexual confusion, family issues, and fallacious world we all live in.…

    • 1558 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rye Rough Draft
    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Rye Rough Draft

    In the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Salinger demonstrates the struggles of a boy Holden as he tries to battle his way though his high school years given all the obstacle and task he has to overcome to do as he pleases. The basis of the authors work is to show readers how alienation can be detrimental to one’s life.…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examples Of Mental Isolation In Catcher In The Rye
    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Examples Of Mental Isolation In Catcher In The Rye

    Despite being surrounded by others, many people tend to feel alone in society. This feeling of mental isolation is shown throughout J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. A sixteen-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield, wanders around New York City after being expelled from his most recent school and encounters numerous people, particularly women, before going back to his family. Though Holden tries to surround himself with others, he never seems to be able to connect to them.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis Of The Catcher In The Rye
    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis Of The Catcher In The Rye

    In this novel, Holden Caulfield gets kicked out of his school and stays in New York for a couple of days before returning home. During his travels Holden does not maintain any relationships and he associates most adults with being phony. He is constantly trying to protect himself and his sister Phoebe from being exposed to the harsh adult world. In The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger uses rhetorical devices to explain Holden’s struggles and establish the theme of preserving his own innocence and the innocence of those around him.…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Catcher In The Rye Society Analysis
    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Catcher In The Rye Society Analysis

    Salinger demonstrates that Holden’s refusal to grow up and his individualistic attitude towards life, proves to be directly against the uniform society and established institutions during the 1950’s. In addition to Holden’s adversity with a mental illness, prep school social hierarchy, strict teachers and a city of corruption and decay, Holden is seen as an anti-hero. Due to interactions with other characters, Salinger paints the reader an unflattering picture of postwar America while showing how different social institutions follow one mainstream value. In all the 1950’s gave way to the counter-cultural movement that flourished in the 1960, making Catcher in the Rye the begin of the snowball…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Depression In Catcher In The Rye
    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Depression In Catcher In The Rye

    Stress, depression, and confusion, has made the protagonist a interesting character. The author J.D Salinger represents Holden in The Catcher in the Rye as a failing student at Pencey Prep trying to go through life the best he can. However Holden's life has not been easy many things have happened to Holden. Throughout Holden's life many things have hurt him and many things have helped him such as adults, children, women, and peers. How ever as throughout the book Holden has changed how he interacts with people.…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Literary Analysis Of Catcher In The Rye
    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Literary Analysis Of Catcher In The Rye

    Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in Rye speaks to core of being an outsider, but beyond the anti-hero, anti-establishment persona that Holden reflects, Salinger wrote a portrait of a boy deeply troubled by the end of simplicity. Past the cynical nature and the reclusion from people, Holden is a little boy saddened by the death of his brother. Holden was never able to get closure over Allie’s death and because of this he has never been able to move on. To remember his brother and a simpler time Holden treasures innocence and has remained a child himself in many ways. Through the uses of metaphorical landscapes, a relatable anti-hero, and the setting of a repressed post-war American society Salinger depicts the journey of a young boy fighting, resisting the transition from childhood to adulthood. Holden Caulfield’s cynicism and reclusion are his defense mechanism, they warn of phony and slobs alike, but leave him lonely. He is both a figure for the youth and old alike, because Holden’s disdain of hypocrisy, longing for innocence, and his need for acceptance transcend age groups, these are human emotions that bother any age group. At the end of the novel, Holden says “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do you start missing everybody” (Salinger 214). There are times when Holden comes off as neurotic, but in this case he meant that you will the way life used to be if you remember it. At the end Holden realizes that Allie’s death and his longing to go back to his childhood were holding him back, keeping him from applying himself. Many readers come away from that last line and feel that there is no happy ending for Holden, but the negative tone of the comment is less of a warning and more of a new being for Holden, meaning that Holden’s dream of being the catcher in the rye can can…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Loneliness In Catcher In The Rye
    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Loneliness In Catcher In The Rye

    “You could tell they didn't want me around”, Holden constantly displays his lack of self-confidence through bringing himself down in J.D Salinger’s the Catcher in the Rye, which follows seventeen year old, angsty teen, Holden Caulfield as he tells the in depth story of a trip to New York after flunking out of Pencey School. Holden’s loneliness and isolation highlights his inability to recognize his traumatizing past and lack of closure due to his brother’s recent death, establishing his depression and furthering his apathetic attitude towards school, aspirations, and his future entirely.…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Catcher in the Rye
    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Catcher in the Rye

    Inside J.D. Salingers classic novel, Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caulfield, is a social outcast and is isolated in his own world. He has a way of pushing people away with his quirky personality and constant need to not just feel but be different from the average person.…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More