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Compare And Contrast Holden Caulfield And Chris Brin

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Recommended: Analyzing characters from the catcher in the rye

Chris and Holden, two brothers from a different mother In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a wealthy sixteen year old who is in confusion of where he belongs in life. Holden has gone to many top notch boarding schools, but the result has been the same at each one, the expulsion of Holden. He is going to down a slippery slope to adulthood and does not know how to prevent it. Chris Griffin, eldest son of Peter Griffin, is a fourteen year old who does not have a social life and academic career. Chris is seen as in his school as an outcast in his school for his lack of social skills and intelligence. Holden Caulfield is similar to Chris Griffin as they are both the failures of their families, but Holden …show more content…

Holden and Chris have little to no friends and no girlfriend. The difference between them though, is that if Chris gets provoked, he will fight back while Holden will either back out of a confrontation or get beat up. Chris’s toughness is shown when he and his sister, Meg are confronted by a mob of high schoolers in the cafeteria, they are told they cannot be eat in the cafeteria, Megs want to leave, but Chris refuses to back down and says they are eating there. Then, when they get provoked, Chris and Meg brutally beat up every kid that are excluding them. (Season 16, Chris and Meg). Chris during this confrontation remains calm and defensive. Despite the numbers being against him, he will fight anyone who gets in his way. This quality to a person is negative in many ways, but it will give one respect. On the other hand, Holden’s fearful disposition is exemplified when he ponders about what he would do if someone stole his gloves, he describes the confrontation as such: “I’d have the damn gloves right in my hand and all, but I’d feel I ought to sock the guy in the jaw or something -- break his goddamn jaw. Only I wouldn’t have the guts to do it. I’d just stand there, trying to look tough. What I might do, I might say something very cutting and snotty, to rile him up -- instead of socking him in the jaw (99).” Holden is much different person than Chris in a state of inflament. When Holden is annoyed, he would rather use words to his advantage instead of his fists. This cunningness and lack of brutality is what separates Holden from Chris. Chris Griffin is impulsiveness and does think before he takes action while Holden will calculate the damage of every word and movement he

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Holden originally attended Pencey Prep but could never connect with the people around him. He is always criticizing or fighting with others, which lead him to leave Pencey without telling anyone. Holden heads to NYC where he faces many challenges with others and himself, emotionally and physically. Holden finds himself in his hotel room with a prostitute and feels extremely uncomfortable with what he is doing so he pays her and sends her off. The next day he plans a date with Sally Hayes, an old girlfriend, to see a play where he calls her “a pain in the ass” and laughs.

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He, too, is often at a disadvantage and uses his own wits and control of language to survive in various circumstances. In some ways he follows the principles of an “underdog” with his somewhat depressing current status. The readers are usually “rooting” for Holden due to the given background knowledge of this kid. They are concerned for him and want him to succeed no matter what he does. On the other hand, Holden approaches his representation of a trickster in a more subtle and innocent manner.

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Have you ever lost someone dear to you? after Holden's brother Allie passes away, he has strange ways of dealing with his loss. His mixed emotions and the actions caused by them show what a loss can do to impact someones life and can take a toll on themself. One raging emotion that Holden encounters is violent outbursts.

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1025 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout a child 's life, sooner or later they get thrown into the teenage experience which starts their transition from childhood to adulthood. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield is stuck in his childhood and does not want to grow up. He is a very complex character and has an odd way of dealing with his emotions; he doesn 't. When Holden is faced with a problem, instead of facing it and slowly working his way through it, he tries to get rid of it entirely. He does not want to be thrown into the real world and will do anything to not be put in those “adult like situations”. I believe that Holden’s issues arose about the time when his younger brother Allie passed away due to leukemia when he was only eleven.

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Holden also is free in his thinking and judgement of other people. These traits create an image that contributes to them understanding of the chaos of trivialities that is Holden's thoughts

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1913 Words | 8 Pages

Teenagers are so damaged and emotionally broken that at least twenty percent of teenagers suffer from depression before they become adults. That only could explain Holden’s need to self protect and not trust people. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger shows the theme of alienation for the purpose of self-protection . The main character Holden Caulfield uses his red hunting hat when he is looking for protection, refers to the museum when he wants everything to stay the same and Allie’s baseball mit when he wants to have comfort. Holden’s red hunting hat is used as a symbol a surplus amount of times.

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Today we are dealing with Holden Caulfield, a 17 year old student who attends Pencey Prep in New York City. Holden is maturing quickly and has happened to grow six and a half inches in the past year. He has grey hair at the age of seventeen and is very skinny for his age. Holden’s family consists of his mom and dad, his brother D.B, and his sister Phoebe. Holden did have another brother, Allie, but he passed away when Holden was thirteen years old.

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656 Words | 3 Pages

This is a symbol of the fact that innocence can’t forever be protected. Holden is very upset over the fact that innocence is being taken away in a

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Throughout the novel, Holden’s observations are often unreliable because he lacks experience to fully understand or simply because he is denies the truth. After the fight with Stradlater, Holden says "All that blood and all sort of made me look tough. I 'd only been in about two fights in my life, and I lost both of them. I 'm not too tough. I 'm a pacifist, if you want to know the truth" (46).

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Holden often treats life like a game by not taking it too seriously, even when he should. He gets kicked out of many schools

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The innocent actions some take later in life will reward some, and deteriorate others. Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger delays his evitable process of growing up partly because of the tragic events that transpired earlier in his life and his ignorance to reality. However , Chris Mccandless differs from Holden in the fact that he fully understands reality but protests to greed of humans and the material possessions of man and still facing the gruesome consequence of his immaturity. Seymour Glass does not relate to the accepted adult community and further isolates himself from his peers. Although he appears immature, he actually is struggling from PTSD from the war and the picture his has for the violent adult man.

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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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Holden has a “Me vs the World” mentality against anyone that succeeds causing him to push people out of his

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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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Catcher in the Rye In the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, the narrator and protagonist Holden Caulfield a sixteen year old junior undergoes a series of changes. Holden learns multiple life changing lessons; one of them is you must grow up. In the beginning of the novel, Holden starts out as “that kid”; the one with the parents who expect him to get into an ivy league school, and end up with a kid with no intentions of doing so. At the beginning of the book it is very apparent that Holden lacks motivation; he also has hit rock bottom.

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