More handpicked essays just for you.
Holden Caulfield Catcher in the Rye character analysis
An analysis of Holden from the catcher in the rye
An analysis of Holden from the catcher in the rye
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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.
If you 're looking for the perfect place to spend this Memorial Day weekend, how about spending it poolside at Argyle Country Club in Silver Spring, MD. Since 1945, Argyle Country Club has served as the community 's leading affordable country club, and Memorial Day Weekend they 're celebrating the start of the summer season by opening the swimming pool. The elegant swim facilities at Argyle Country Club include a 25-meter swimming pool with a diving area, as well as a separate baby pool for toddlers just learning to get their feet wet. In addition to that, there 's also a separate pool house with showers and changing rooms, designed to be of the utmost comfort, and a snack and beverage bar.
The catcher in the rye tells the story of Holden Caufield, a teenage boy who recently got kicked out from his fourth school. Holden decides to leave the school before he is scheduled to and wanders around New York. Holden shows many symptoms of depression throughout the novel such as, disengaging from activities, not doing his school work and having no interests or hobbies. Holden shows little to no change throughout the novel and does not develop as a character. Holden’s flight reaction is something that stays with him throughout the book.
Catcher in the Rye is the recounting of the weekend after the main character gets expelled for the umpteenth time from another uppity private school. The name of the main character, "Holden Caulfield," can be broken down in such a way that it reveals the character in question's tendency to hold onto and protect happier memories and childhood innocence from this big, unfair, scary game we call life, without realizing that he would be stunting the growth of those whom he is protecting. The character's first name, "Holden", can be interpreted as a pun for how he wants to "hold on" to better times. Throughout the story, Holden speaks fondly about his childhood summer memories, talking about when he used to play checkers with Jane Gallagher (p.17), or when he, his younger siblings, Phoebe and Allie, went to the park every Sunday (p. 37) to play, and often brushes the more serious moments he has experienced off, instead of going on a tangent like he usually does (p.21).
In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a peculiar character portrayed as a skeptic living in “a world of phonies” in circa 1950. These personality traits can be seen through his doubts of society as well as his way of thinking and acting toward others. He also demonstrates a lack of responsibility adding to his role as a slacker. Holden flunks out of school repeatedly and has no desire to confront his parents. He mopes around the city for days, delaying the inevitable punishments he’s sure to get.
The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” was about the journey of a adolescent boy finding his way to adulthood. In the book Holden Caulfield was unsuccessful in finding his way to adulthood. Holden’s attitude in the novel throughout his journey was very immature. He also can't accept the fact that innocence can’t be forever protected. Lastly, Holden calls everyone a phony when in reality he is the real phony.
Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, many things trouble the book’s main character , Holden Caufield. Holden is at a point in his life where life isn’t going too well, which is pretty evident, as he’s telling his life story from a mental hospital laying on a bed. His main difficulties include his annoyance with phonies, depression, and loneliness. Holden is a very short tempered kid. He got kicked out of two schools and left one.
The Catcher in the Rye Thematic Essay Imagine living a lonesome life, full of fear and little hope of better days to come. Imagine the toll this would take on a person’s life and how they develop as a person. For Holden Caulfield, the main character of J.D Salinger’s classic The Catcher in the Rye this, is his reality. Holden is a sixteen year old troubled boy suffering through major mental issues and living a rather a depressing life for a teenager. Throughout the novel he goes through many hardships that only worsen his depression making him feel hatred towards his seemingly hellish world.
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.
‘’I felt so lonesome, all of the sudden. I almost wished I was dead,’’ a quote from the classic novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger which relates to how some teens felt at one point in their life. The novel was published to attract adult readers and has become popular for its themes, motifs, and connections an individual has with the main character, Holden Caulfield. We tend to feel a connection to the struggles of Holden Caulfield as we put ourselves in his shoes and see life through his perspective. The book is still pertinent due to Holden facing challenges such as loneliness and the inability to make a connection to make with a purpose thus the readers see themselves in Holden.
Jessica Casimiro October 30, 2015 English 3/PayLea Short Story Essay Patrick Rothfuss once claimed, “The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” The novel Catcher in the Rye focuses on Holden Caulfield, an angst-ridden teen conflicted between remaining in a state of prolonged innocence or transitioning into the world of adulthood, thus facing the corruption and phoniness that it correlates with. Through Holden’s dynamic character, J.D Salinger depicts how innocence is slowly lost when exposed to adulthood. Reluctant to the idea of growing up, Holden strives to protect the innocence of himself and the ones’ around him. Holden reminisces about the Natural Museum of History, a place he enjoyed going
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.
Purpose: To show how a small change in choice could affect holden’s life The Catcher in the Rye is about Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy from New York. The novel starts with Holden, writing in his book, hinting that he is in some sort of mental facility .Even though he comes from a wealthy family,because of his loss of interest in studies,and low grades, he gets expelled from all schools he has studied in .Holden leaves his final school, Pency Prep and decides that he will stay in New York City until his parents learn of his expulsion and “cool down” .Most of the novel is dedicated to Holden’s time in the city, Holden lives in a hotel room for a few days during his stay .Holden then starts meeting with people that he used know, some strangers and goes to places with. From his conversations, he
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.
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.
