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Catcher In The Rye Conformity Analysis

909 Words4 Pages

Societal expectations and norms, if followed or not, can have a profound impact on one’s mind set or way of comporting themselves. Concepts akin to these are present or noted in all types of media or literature, two such examples being The Catcher in the Rye and Shattered Glass. J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye exemplifies non-conformity in the 1950’s through 17 year-old Holden Caulfield, who happens to be narrating from a mental hospital throughout the entirety of the book. Subsequently, the director Billy Ray portrays nonconformity and its consequences in terms of ethical behavior through a narcissistic journalist named Stephen Glass who has a propensity of a sociopath. The Catcher in the Rye and Shattered Glass demonstrate that not …show more content…

In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger demonstrates through Holden that refusing to accept or initiate change can ensue in self-deception. When Holden settles for going to go the Museum of Natural History- after having had no luck in searching for Phoebe- he begins to reminisce on the consistency of the very glass display cases in the museum, and how he wishes that “ Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone” (Salinger 158). Holden conjectures that beautiful and mirthful moments should be long-lasting and that time be stopped for the sake of stability. With this in mind, Holden opts for avoiding reality altogether. Doing so guarantees in Holden not having to accept how distinct and amended his friends and peers are now than when he had last seen or spoken to them. On the hand, if Holden were to bear the fact that everything and everyone has changed, he would have to acknowledge that it is time that he grow up or change as well, something which is very difficult for him seeing as how he is unwilling to lose his innocence. Consequently, this induces Holden to deluding himself steering clear from reality. Thus proving that J.D. Salinger demonstrates through Holden that refusing to accept or initiate change can ensue in

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In the novel, Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist Holden is forced to face with the reality of growing up though he is trying to hold on to his innocence of childhood. Salinger uses many rhetorical strategies to reveal how Holden deals with being faced with the adult word. Whenever Holden is verbally confronted with not facing his adult problems he always denies it, he gets very defensive in his words. “ Yes I do.

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Holden clings to knowing the world around him will stay the same. That is the only thing that keeps him going and you can tell ( “the museum connotes ideas of both dynamism and stasis. However, to begin with, Holden clings to its associations with stasis.”) Holden’s mind is fighting between everything staying the same and not moving to he knows that everyone will change and become impure. He clings on to stasis because he is afraid of what the future will bring.

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Meanwhile, Holden is still stuck in the past. The change that is occuring in his life is affecting his current emotions and his ability to move forward. When forced with abrupt, unforeseen change, people desire to hold onto the familiar. Salinger uses the death of Holden 's family and friends to show the tragic change that he has to deal with.

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Holden Caulfield Conformity Analysis

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