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How Is Holden Presented In The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

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As illustrated in the Catcher in the Rye and the Perks of being a Wallflower, teenagers are generally different from how they appear to be. The protagonists of both of the books – two teenagers named Holden and Charlie – struggle with their inner dark memories. Holden’s classmate commits suicide and his brother dies because of leukemia. Charlie’s best friend commits suicide and his brother dies of leukemia as well. Holden’s and Charlie’s traumas can not be compared with each other’s trauma’s difficulty and harshness because they have difficult and incomparable childhood traumas. However, one must realize that not only their traumas are different, but their ways of dealing with their traumas are different as well. Type of sharing their feelings …show more content…

There is an example from The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Charlie plays a game with his friends while Mary Elizabeth -who is Charlie’s girlfriend- sits next to him. Charlie’s friend say: “Kiss the prettiest girl in the room on the lips.” (Chbosky 144) Charlie kisses Sam instead of Mary Elizabeth. It gets very big issue. Because Charlie did kiss Sam, Mary Elizabeth gets really angry and cry. “Mary Elizabeth [She] walked quickly out of the room and into the bathroom.”(Chbosky 145) This fake does not succeed and Mary Elizabeth leaves him. It proves that being a faker does not bring success sometimes listening to the brain can be better than listening to heart. In The Catcher in The Rye there is a same behaviour again. Holden loves Jane but he goes away with Sally. Holden says, “I mean about going away somewhere, to Massachusetts and Vermont and all.” ( Salinger 149) In this quote Holden offers to Sally to go anywhere with her even though he loves Jane. Charlie and Holden seem like they love one girl -even Charlie has a girlfriend- except Sally and Sam but they make a fake and they be interested in with other girls more than their love but this is not okay for them it turns into a problem for

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In Chapter 9-14 Holden Caulfield leaves Penecy Prep and heads to New York City. Where he will stay for a couple days before winter vacation starts and he will head home. Delaying breaking the news to his family he got kicked out of school for as long as possible. These chapters are where Holden’s loneliness becomes abundantly clear. The reader is subjected to many long rants by Holden about the company he wants, though he attempts to settle several times.

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In the paradoxical personality of Holden we discover something much deeper. As Holden makes himself out to be tougher than what he actually is, Salinger introduces stubbornness. Holden’s true nature of gentleness and sensitivity offered throughout the book often brings bedlam into his life, though Salinger brings into

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Although Holden fails and can't seem to fit in right, he does try and want to fit into society. In the famous controversial novel by J.D. Salinger, titled “The CATCHER in The RYE” Holden tries to fit into Society by acting or saying what he thinks is right, and shows that he wants and has emotions. In the story, Salinger wrote, “I know he does, I said. Then I started shooting the old crap around a little bit.

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A. Martinez Mr. Shambaugh English 10 Honors 01 March 2023 Grief and Acceptance Many experiences the loss of loved ones closest to them, which can affect many, especially adolescents. Throughout the Catcher in the Rye, Holden gives readers small glimpses of his younger brother, Allie, through objects, presented throughout the story. As a lover of poetry and a bright student with a gleaming future ahead of him, Allie passed away due to leukemia at age 11. The effects of this on Holden are still present throughout the story as he reminiscences the loss of his younger brother.

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Secondly, Holden appreciates Jane's lack of phoniness. Jane was the only person Holden saw that acted like her actual self. Holden's outlook on the world is based on his sense of phoniness; he constantly questions who is completely genuine. The instances that stand out to him are those that show her lack

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Holden Caulfield lives his life as an outsider to his society, because of this any we (as a reader) find normal is a phony to him. Basically, every breathing thing in The Catcher in the Rye is a phony expect a select few, like Jane Gallagher. What is a phony to Holden and why is he obsessed with them? A phony is anyone who Holden feels is that living their authentic life, like D.B. (his older brother). Or simply anyone who fits into society norms, for example, Sally Hayes.

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The purpose of my essay is to explore how different social backgrounds and the social norms that follow affect the personality of two fictive characters and encourage them to break out of their station to find an identity. The protagonists Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye and Tambudzai in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel Nervous Conditions are both victims of social norms. Therefore, the foundation of this essay was to analyze the character’s social background, which has influenced their personalities, behavior and aspirations, and consequently their opposing actions against society. Holden Caulfield is an American adolescent during the period after the Second World War.

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In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Mr. Antolini gives Holden Caulfield advice when he is at one of his lowest points. Already aware of Holden’s mental state and position on school, he quotes Wilhelm Stekel, a psychoanalyst, “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” (Salinger 188). Although Holden fails to grasp Mr. Antolini’s message, the quote applies directly to his life because of his relationship with death as a result of his younger brother, Allie’s, death. Mr. Antolini uses this quote specifically because he wants Holden take a step back and try to live for a noble cause instead of resorting to death.

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In the Catcher in the Rye, Salinger depicts the immature mentality of typical teenagers through Holden’s childish curiosity. Teens experience

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In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger readers are introduced to a young man named Holden Caulfield who introduces himself and begins to tell his story of how and why he left his school; Pencey Prep. In the story, Holden explains how he is being kicked out of school and doesn't want his parents to know and so leaves school early. throughout the story, Holden explains what happens to him before he must go home and act like he is home from school for a break instead of being kicked out. When it comes to the topic of Author's purpose of The will of individual vs the will of the majority some will think the purpose is to show that Holden going against the will of society to rebel, however, I think the author’s purpose of The Catcher in the Rye was to show that the individual will manifest in his desire for isolation comes from his is fear and damage done by fear of pain, failure, rejection, and is unwilling or unable to go along with the majority. This all shown through Imagery, symbolism, and diction.

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Society as a whole is something you make of it. If one wants to denounce the society they live in because it is “phony” that is because they’ve made the world around them phony. The character of Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye is a prime example of someone being stuck in the idea that society is unchanging. Society is just how a person perceives the world in front of them. The eye of the beholder is the one that creates the society of their choice.

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Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, embodies the classic teenager in the process of discovering himself, and how the world works. But, regardless of Holden 's rich, prep school lifestyle, the series of events that have mapped out his life up to this point have utterly affected his emotional well being and perception of the world. Many traumatic events such as the death of holds brother Allie, the death of a class mate, and countless numbers of awkward incidents with adults have all added up to affects Holden 's well-being and detach him from reality. The death of Holden 's younger brother Allie has caused him to confuse his perception of reality and to alienate himself.

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At only age 16, Holden Caulfield struggles with basic day-to-day interactions and obstacles. When he comes across people, he is very selective over whom he lets in and how much he opens up. In “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, Holden displays that he is a sensitive subject to work with on many different occasions. When dealing with family, it’s a touchy subject with which he does not like discussing a ton. When thinking about his siblings, Holden starts to reveal himself as a semi-sensitive guy.

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Holden’s unusual fantasy metaphorically displays this desire to save children’s innocence on his quest, and literally displays his obsession with death and preventing it, as being the catcher in the rye would accomplish both goals. F. Literary Critics also note that Holden’s catcher in the rye job is a dream of his that he pretends to be a reality to hide the fact that he secretly knows that he is unable to save the innocence of all children. G. Authors James E. Miller jr, and Arthur Heiserman explicitly state that, “Holden delights in circles – a comforting bounded figure which yet connotes hopelessness” (Miller, Heiserman 496). H. The “comforting bounded figure” is Holden’s catcher fantasy that he literally uses to comfort himself against the reality he refuses to believe because it “connotes hopelessness” and he is still too innocent and naïve to accept that. I. Holden possesses this dream as a weak attempt to save the innocence of children and to avoid a hopeless reality of defeat he has yet to accept.

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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help develop and inform the text 's major themes. One of the recurring themes in the novel The Catcher in the Rye is the omnipresent theme of death. It could be argued that the novel is not only full of references to death in the literal sense, physical disappearance, but also in the metaphorical, taking the form of spiritual disappearance, something which Holden often focuses on, along with the actual theme of mortality. It is possible that this occurs because of his reluctance to interact with the living world. As his means of escaping from the reality he despises, his mundane thoughts and the “phoniness” that he is surrounded by.

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