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Examples Of Alienation In Catcher In The Rye

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As a child you are slowly growing up, whether you like it or not. You do not have a choice. ¨The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger tells about a young man named Holden Caulfield who goes through the struggles of growing up and how he wants be the ¨catcher in the rye.¨ It symbolizes him wanting to protect innocence. Salinger 's purpose is to show the difficulties of young adolescents accepting that the fact that they are growing up. To begin with, one theme that contributes to the author´s purpose is alienation. Alienation is one of the reasons Holden struggles to grow up. He desperately needs love and contact from others, but his bitterness prevents him from looking for such interactions. Holden seems to be ostracised and victimized from the world around him. Interactions with others confuse and overwhelm him, so Holden is usually isolated. Holden is in this weird situation where he desires companionships or to interact with others but he ends up backing out. The reason behind his alienation could be the fact that others alienate him, he alienates himself, or both for that matter. In chapter twenty, he …show more content…

The third theme one could argue is “The Phoniness of the Adult World” or rather just the adult world in general. Holden doesn 't like adults that much is clear but there is a underlying meaning to this I believe. With the context of the author one could argue that holden does not only does not trust them and thinks that they are fake. Weather It be the way they talk or the way they act he seems to think that the way they are expressing themselves is a lie unlike himself who is “ perfect”. He often, I feel like, wants to understand them. He quotes “I dont give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am - I really do - but people never notice it. People never notice anything.” he can 't fit in with them so he despises them because they are everything that he should be but

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808 Words | 4 Pages

The loss of his older brother and the absent parents have really affected Holden’s behavior. He lives a life without any care but with exception of younger children. Holden has a fascination with younger children and their innocence possibly because he wasn’t able to enjoy his adolescent years and nor did his brother. Holden mentions “‘Every time I'd get to the end of a block I'd make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I'd say to him, "Allie, don't let me disappear.

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828 Words | 4 Pages

Rhetorical Précis 1: In his essay, “ Love and Death in The Catcher in the Rye” (1991), Peter Shaw claimed that Holden behavior and way of thinking is due to common abnormal behavior in a certain time for teenagers (par. 10). Shaw supported his assertion of the young Holden by comparing the literary culture of the 1950s and how Holden’s fictional character fits within the contemporary Americans novels as a, “ sensitive, psychological cripples but superior character” (par. 3). Shaw’s purpose was to show that Holden’s sensitive and psychological behavior is not abnormal, but such like stated by Mrs. Trilling that,” madness is a normal, even a better then normal way of life” (par 4). Peter Shaw’s tone assumed a highly educated audience who is

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1039 Words | 5 Pages

Alienation In The Catcher In The Rye In J.D Salinger’s The Catcher In The Rye, loneliness is the main topic of the book. The main character Holden Caulfield is an outsider from the beginning, which makes it easier for him to feel lonely. In the book he talks about the things leading up to him getting expelled from Pencey Prep, a private school, and the events that occur after. Holden Caulfield desperately wants human companionship but since he isn’t mature enough and he dislikes human interaction, he ends up being alone.

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1032 Words | 5 Pages

If the book is read solely on its surface level, it just seems like a book about an annoying teenager who just complains about everything, but the messages it carries are actually profound. For example, near the end of the story Holden is upset by some profane graffiti on the wall at a museum that says “F*** you” (Salinger 224). He is upset by it because he is worried some little kids will see it and wonder what it means, and then be curious enough to find out adn have their innocence stolen. He finds the graffiti multiple times in the museum. The profane graffiti, if looked at beyond the surface level, symbolises the fact that Holden can not do anything to stop little kids from losing their innocence.

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734 Words | 3 Pages

Holden is unaware of his problem. When people try to help him he tells them there is nothing wrong with him. Holden wonders why he cannot connect with others. He blames it on other people when the source of his problems is himself. Holden’s past holds him back from connecting with others, but his fear of letting go of his past has him limited and scarred from making new relationships and connections.

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917 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel, Holden is seen trying to make friends to feel a sense of belonging after a long time of isolation. For example, the direct speech, “yeah. I was defending your goddam honor. Stradlater said you had a lousy personality. I couldn’t let him get away with that stuff.”

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1851 Words | 8 Pages

Holden wishes that people could keep their good qualities by “sticking them into glass cases and leaving them alone.” (Chapter16). While he realises that this is just a fantasy, it does not stop him from wanting to protect the children from falling into the emotional and mental distress of personality changes that occur in the journey from childhood to adulthood. This ties into the

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1142 Words | 5 Pages

Adulthood is when we mature into a person that continues to live life in reality as we let our childhood and adolescence become a faint memory. The memories, however, taught us lessons of acceptance as we cannot always shape the future. Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye takes a journey through the rite of passage by experiencing the innocence of youth and the phoniness of adulthood.

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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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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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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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830 Words | 4 Pages

He has trouble growing up and accepting life as it is. Holden thinks adults are "phony" which makes him hate the fact of growing up and staying innocent as much as he can while he is old enough to become an adult. He is frustrated with the world and people which makes him act with anger. His innocent childish dream is to be the Catcher in the Rye, to catch the kids before they become phonies like Holden says about adults. The moment he realizes that he cannot keep kids from falling or in other words, from growing up and becoming adults, he, reaches adulthood, and takes a big step towards it at the end of the novel.

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693 Words | 3 Pages

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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2081 Words | 9 Pages

In this novel, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is the narrator that goes through a variety of problems. He has dilemmas, but meets/reconnects with people on his quest of life. This novel is more than just a simple story about a protagonist and his life events. This novel follows the structure of bildungsroman. There are four parts to it- character’s growth in social structure, a form of loss, process of maturity, and if the character ends in a new place of society.

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