Examples Of Control In Catcher In The Rye

Aidan La France

Mr. Belluscio

AP Lang 9

23 March 2023

Things Are Out of Control in The Catcher in the Rye

“That’s life,” is what many often say when an unfortunate event occurs. Since control is out of their hands and things simply are the way they are, there is nothing that they can do. This mindset can certainly be appropriate in some instances; but, when unmoderated, this mentality becomes dangerous. Psychologists call this an external locus of control. People using an external locus of control believe external factors such as other people, fate, or a higher power are responsible for a particular event or occurrence. On the opposite end of the spectrum, someone with an internal locus of control believes they have the power to influence the

The National Science Foundation worked with psychologists to discover how much frustration and anger come from losing control. They conditioned three groups of babies to learn how their arm movement consistently resulted in the sound of music. Suddenly, one group would stop receiving music, regardless of the arm pull, another only received music every third arm pull, and the last group would hear music play randomly, unrelated to the arm pull. In the end, the greatest amount of frustration and anger came from the last group, who lost the most control to another source (Sullivan and Lewis). Likewise, in The Catcher in the Rye, we recognize Holden’s initial rage when he loses Allie and smashes his garage windows. Caulfield feels entirely powerless and wants to feel powerful so he destroys something inanimate that he can control. Nevertheless, he does not address his feelings, allowing this built-up anger to linger through a trace of bitterness at the world. When Ackley tries to socialize with him, Holden points out his physical flaws, complaining, “Not just on his forehead or his chin, like most guys, but all over his whole face. And not only that, he had a terrible personality. He was also sort of a nasty guy” (Salinger 19). Throughout the novel, Holden stays fixated on other characters’ quirks and judges them. Stradlater is too self-absorbed and used a dirty razor, Sally is too “stupid”, and Mr. Spencer is too old and pathetic. Caulfield needs to feel superior to those he interacts with to maintain a sense of control. Each of these obsessions became a habit and he was automatically judgemental. The build-up of these obsessions over time collectively demonstrates Holden’s resentment towards society, which stems from his blaming society for what happened to Allie. Despite some finding potential benefits of excuses in