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Catcher In The Rye Isolation Theme

1449 Words6 Pages

Adolescence can be the time of your life, or it can leave feeling dejected and alone. Isolation is something that I bet most of us have all felt at one time or another. This feeling is something reflected in various texts including Chinese Cinderella and The Catcher in the Rye. The theme of isolation is ever present in J.D. Salinger’s 1951 novel, the Catcher in the Rye. the Author J.D. Salinger, is almost writing this from a personal level, due to his very secretive actions which he had during his life. And this leads Holden to almost cement himself in isolation and loneliness, because he can’t help but shut out people who try to help him. You can tell that he felt this in the real life, due to the structure of the novel. The author very rarely …show more content…

Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right—I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game.’’ This is clearly showing the defiance that Holden shows to the older generations, even though this is after he was kicked out of Spency (His old school) the way he speaks to Spencer (An old teacher), just shows the reader that after everything that just happened within his life, Holden still is adamant not to show the slightest amount of remorse or any apology to the people he has …show more content…

“People never notice anything.” This small quote, has a very large impact on the reader, and the image that portrays Holden. We knew that he was a troublesome child, and had little if no respect for adults, but what that just a cry for help, trying to make someone notice he was in pain? That is a reoccurring point that Holden brings up during the book “the best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody move. Nobody be different. The only thing that would be different would be you.’’ This is almost the first glimpse we get of Holden interacting and being almost a normal person in society, by visiting a museum. However, it’s the way he interprets the museum, and the way he can compare it to how his ideal world would

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828 Words | 4 Pages

As the book starts Holden describes his childhood and how he has been kicked out of several school and once more again from his currently school, giving a sense of irresponsibility and no care in the world. Holden later on mentioned slowly the loss of his brother due to leukemia and how he reacted outrageously by breaking the windows of his garage home. As a reader one would view that behavior as abnormal, but Peter Shaw descried it as a normal behavior for a fictional character in the 1950s and by mentioning that Holden, “is presenting in a somewhat different manner than are the sentimentalized young people in other novels if his period” (par. 3), admitting that Holden was somewhat of an outcast of a character even for its time he is still considered normal. Shaw also challenged the reader’s view of Holden by emphasizing that Holden is not a real person, but a fiction character developed in the 1950s and in fact a mad psychological character is normal and made the reading rather more interesting and acceptable during that time. As readers someone may come across as understanding Holden’s behavior due to a loss and everyone mourns differently and as Shaw said, “ the one period of life in which abnormal behavior is common rather than exceptional” (par.

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289 Words | 2 Pages

He wants to leave some impression to people. He wants them to remember him instead of ignoring. Holden is not as tough as he shows when he describes his parents and his brother D.B in the previous paragraphs. Another good example shows his fragility appears when his brother died and “[he] broke all the goddam windows

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649 Words | 3 Pages

He always felt that people were being phoneys and not understanding what his struggles were. From losing his brother to being confused as to what he wanted relationship wise it was a long hard struggle that even the person reading the book could understand how hard it was for Holden. He has peculiar behavioral tendencies, his emotions that are building up inside of him prevents him from interacting with the world and the people around him. The way that holden speaks throughout the novel one can tell that holden shows signs of depression. He relay a deep feeling of sadness that i do not believe he knows he is showing.

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1751 Words | 8 Pages

This shows Holden is trying to cover up his own vulnerability about not wanting to grow up and instead masks it with immature comments of others to make himself feel younger and childlike. Another example of Holden's critical observations is when he and Jane are intruded on by her mother's husband asking where the cigarettes are. Holden has a very critical opinion of the man immediately. In Holden’s perspective, this man is who Holden believes he should be, and it intimidates him because Holden knows he does not want to be like this stereotypical man. Holden says, “I didn't know him too well or anything, but he looked like the kind of a guy that wouldn't talk to you much unless he wanted something off you.

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983 Words | 4 Pages

Holden finds solace in lying to almost everyone that he meets just for something to do. For example, when on a train ride to New York City, he encounters a classmates mother and fathomed an entire fake story about her son. After numerous lies, Holden tries to quickly end the discussion with an unfortunate excuse once it started to get personal and says, “It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain” (Salinger ) This quote exemplifies how Holdens chronic lying shows the reader how he is not content with himself.

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656 Words | 3 Pages

Holden says that all he want to do is be the catcher in the rye protecting children from falling. The whole novel Holden makes observation around him that are taking away from children's innocence. This is what upsets him the most the fact that everyone will eventually have to grow up. While he is trying to go get Phoebe he is reminded this in the following quote. “I went down by a different staircase, and I saw another "Fuck you" on the wall.

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754 Words | 4 Pages

Holden's isolation makes him want to move to a secluded area, however, Sally thinks it is stupid. Holden then loses control and rejects Sally, thereby failing to achieve another intimate relationship. Holden's isolation not only makes him fail to talk with girls properly, he also cannot maintain mental

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1039 Words | 5 Pages

These few lines from the book are a clear indication of Holdens loneliness. Holden didnt have a good explanation as to why he started crying out of blue, only to say himself that he was depressed and

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1250 Words | 5 Pages

Holden wanting to live as a child pure and innocent like he sees the kids at Phoebe's school, thinking how they could be tainted by the writing of “Fuck you”(Salinger, 202) on the walls when in reality it was most likely a child who had written it to get a laugh from their classmates, or

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1142 Words | 5 Pages

The beginning of Holden’s journey starts with the innocence and naivety of childhood. Childhood is the stage that ignorance is bliss with no care in the world. Holden goes to a prestigious boarding school for boys and he believes that everyone in that school is a phony in some way. Holden is an observant character as he stays in the background, but he can also cause the most trouble. Like a child, he asks many questions and he is very curious to the point that he can be annoying.

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1436 Words | 6 Pages

Holden attempts to assert himself above everybody else in society and essentially portrays that he is better than everyone. Isolation is a major characteristic in Gothic writing because it forces the audience to solely focus on the protagonists and his everyday struggles with fitting into society. Holden isolates himself from everyone by the judgment he places on people in society. This isolation correlates to him immaturity and the reason he doesn't connect with anyone. When Holden comes out of the theater and sees the phonies in the mist, he states, “At the end of the first act we went out with all the other jerks for a cigarette.

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1615 Words | 7 Pages

In Holden 's journey, he becomes more and more isolated from the world throughout the book. He isolates himself by choosing to not interact or go out with people. And further, when he does, he only ends up doing things that ruin the interaction with others, and makes himself become more isolated. Holden tries, but is always rejected and unsuccessful with his attempts.

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664 Words | 3 Pages

After arriving, Holden “went into [a] phone booth” and spent “about twenty minutes” without calling anybody (77-78). After pondering the many people he could call, Holden finally thinks of calling “Carl Luce, but [he] didn’t like him much” (78). While Holden has many people whom he could call, he spends twenty minutes convincing himself of why he cannot call any of these people. This illustrates alienation as Holden chooses to avoid talking to others, isolating himself when he could have easily chosen to interact with others. Moreover, this alienation provides Holden with self-protection as he does not run into any chances of his parents finding out that he has been expelled from school and has run away to New York.

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837 Words | 4 Pages

Holden struggles with growing up and facing reality. There are many examples of Holden’s immaturity that are displayed in many forms such as facing responsibilities, his speech, his actions, and etc. Holden’s outlook on adult life is that it is superficial and brimming with phonies, but childhood was all about looking pleasing and innocent. He wants everything to stay the same and for time to stop. As Holden progresses in age, he will discover more about becoming mature in the

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619 Words | 3 Pages

Adolescent substance abuse prevention programs are generally idealistic, intuitive and driven by theory and data (e.g. data that provides findings on risk and protective factors). Assuming that I am awarded fifty thousand dollars annually for three years, I would construct a substance abuse prevention program for youth ages 10-14 (i.e. middle school youth). This prevention program would serve youth residing in an urban community where schools may be lacking support. It has been stated that “zero-tolerance policies” often rebuff youth rather than support them (Inaba and Cohen, 2011, p. 8.31). Inaba and Cohen (2011) also explain that surveys are typically inaccurate or misleading because high school and college students tend to minimize or omit information regarding their use of drugs (p. 8.28).

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