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Catcher In The Rye Reflection Essay

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The Cather in the Rye This essay will be a psychoanalytical reflection based upon the protagonist in the book The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield. I have chosen to reflect upon the psychological state Holden is in the majority of the story, and why he finds himself in such a state/that state. The book “The Catcher in the Rye” is almost entirely based on the difficulties 17-year-old Holden faces in his modern civilisation, which he frequently meets with a cynical filter latched onto his eyes. The protagonist of the story recounts his week in New York during Christmas break following his expulsion from Pencey Prep, the boarding school he attended to. Throughout the novel we get to know Holden and his negative ways. Some people pass him …show more content…

In that way, Allie is the one acting like the catcher in the rye: because of his perpetual death he remains eternally innocent and somehow keeps Holden from going over his own cliff—from going “down, down, down.” See how those roles are reversed? Holden wants to be for someone what Allie is to him. The death of Allie also affected Holden’s relationship with his parents. In the very beginning of the novel, Holden says, quote, “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” Holden does not intentionally discuss his relationship with his parents any further in the book. But if you read the chapter when Holden sneaks into his apartment to see Phoebe where she cleverly figures out why he is in New York earlier than he should be, and Phoebe continuously tells Holden that their father will kill him because of it and Holden responds “No, he won’t. The worst he’ll do, he’ll give me hell again and then send me to a goddam military school. That’s all he’ll do to

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I think Holden dosen 't mind children becuase they are not as complex and "lousy" as adults. Children mostly go where the wind takes them and that 's Holden 's mentallity. Adults think things too much through and make clear-cut plans, where Holden and children tend to just make it up as they go. Much more carefree. This shows Holdens mentallity

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1032 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the book Holden is isolated from people that would look after him and as a result Holden sees himself as his own adviser and

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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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1000 Words | 4 Pages

The “Catcher in the Rye” is a novel written by J.D Salinger and focused around the main character Holden Caulfield’s life. Holden Caulfield is a teenage boy who is suffering with many problems within him. When he was 13, his younger brother Allie passed away, which took a great toll in his life. Holden shows many signs of developing the disorder PTSD. PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and it affects Holden throughout the entire book.

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904 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, the protagonist Holden Caulfield demonstrates his unusual behaviour. The narrator introduces the story of an emotionally damaged teenager whose suspicions and personal issues prevent him from being “normal” in a society full of phonies that he does not seem to get along with. It becomes clear that Holden has clouded judgement as he rides an emotional rollercoaster of mood swings with the people he likes, and dislikes. Therefore, it becomes obvious that some of his personal flaws include his distrust, depression, and unreasonable attitudes and thoughts are based on his underlying emotional problems. Holden Caulfield has a variety psychological problems, such as his skepticism, depressive behaviour, and

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1374 Words | 6 Pages

The novel, Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger reveals one stuck between their past and present can cause isolation, depression, and fearfulness for the future. Holden Caulfield is a sixteen year old, who has gotten expelled by a few schools. In the beginning of the novel, Holden describes is background and who his family is. Holden describes his parents as people who are to busy to care about their children.

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1107 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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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

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356 Words | 2 Pages

My first impression of Holden is that he doesn’t like to give exact explanations or reasons for any of his actions. In the beginning of chapter one, he doesn’t give the reader a lot of information about himself. He likes to keep all of his thoughts to himself. Holden puts up a front that shields his true feelings about certain situations. We can see this when he goes to visit his teacher Mr. Spencer.

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1247 Words | 5 Pages

Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help develop and inform the text's major themes. One of the prominent themes in the novel The Catcher in the Rye and one of great interest to the narrator himself, would be 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 in 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 with. Holden becomes increasingly attracted to the idea and comes close to obsession, as his mind is flooded with thoughts of death and disappearance, as well as questions which are revealed throughout the novel.

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1734 Words | 7 Pages

Unfortunately Holden had a brother named Allie who had died from leukemia. I believe Holden is a troubled teen because of his brothers death, maybe if things were different, his problems with his interactions with others wouldn't bother him as much as it does. Throughout the story I could notice the problems Holden has with not only the interactions with people but the environment because he has problems with people that are fake and in the story Holden always calls them, “Phonies”. I quite enjoyed this book because not only does it explain what goes through a teenage mind it explains the meaning of life to me. I believe it

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1130 Words | 5 Pages

In the book, The Catcher in the Rye, author J.D. Salinger expresses such struggles through a series of engagements with numerous stereotypes and establishments of the American society. Typical of the 1940s - 1950s, that represent facets of society a well as figurative micro rift of these conflicting positions. Salinger’s narrator and protagonist, Holden Caulfield gives different and sui generis perspective of observing this interaction of the adventures of himself. In this book, Holden is preserved within a glass case at a museum for us to reconsider for, unlike the reader whom Holden addresses, the world will not change. Let us now explore an array of these encounters and how they demonstrate the theme of conflict between control and independence as the character of the disorder faced by the protagonist Holden Caulfield.

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779 Words | 4 Pages

Furthermore, Holden starts to hate all the adults or loses faith in them, calls them phony. Holden has a second thought of becoming an adult he loses hope in his future and it seems to him nothing in the world matters to him anymore. We can see that throughout the book. He smokes, gets drunk, and does daring acts like getting a prostitute in his room. He also tries to escape all this guilt and grief by wasting time with unnecessary people he calls phony.

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830 Words | 4 Pages

Holden’s Struggle To Find Himself: Throughout the novel, The Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden struggles to find himself and who he truly is in order to be happy. His struggles relate to many things that he does or say in particular. Holden lacks with a social status with women and his family, whether it’s a relationship or being antisocial. Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield experiences the complexities and struggles involved with both physical and emotional relationships.

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693 Words | 3 Pages

Holden 's life issue is his need to be, “The Catcher in the Rye”, his life lesson is how he overcomes it. At the end of the novel Holden comes to the understanding that everyone grows up. At the end of the book Holden accepts that he doesn 't need to be little kids protectors and that Phoebe wants to grow up and be an adult. Even though he didn 't grow to his full potential at the end of the novel his progression is made apparent by the quote “Don’t tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody” (Salinger 214).

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