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Examples Of Modern Day Catcher In The Rye

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Modern Day Holden

In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield expresses certain negative characteristics and patterns that we often see today. Dylan Roof, Suspected mass shooter of a church in Charleston, South Carolina, shares many of these Holden like qualities. Holden never commits any serious crimes, but growing up the two have very similar childhood’s. In both cases Holden and Dylan drift in and out school, care about little to nothing, and neglect basic rules. Holden Caulfield shares challenges and ideologies that many kids face today, without providing help and extra care to these kids, the results can be tragic.

School is an important part of every kid's childhood, dropping out or missing big chunks of school at …show more content…

The absence of these things is another similarity in the lives of Holden and Dylan. Holden talks about his depression and lack of caring often throughout the book, “After old Sunny was gone, I sat in the chair for a while and smoked a couple of cigarettes. It was getting daylight outside. Boy, I felt miserable. I felt so depressed, you can't imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed”. Allie, Holden's dead brother, seems to be another traumatic experience in Holden's life that he cannot move forth from. Dylan had little emotional support growing up too seeing as his dad was abusive to his mom and multiple domestic disputes occurred between the two. His stepmom ended up being his main guardian, “Paige Mann, said she raised him while his father traveled up to four days a week. She described her stepson as, “a loner and quiet and very smart - too smart”. They knew something was seriously wrong with Dylan, but no attempt to help or talk with him about it was made. Both Holden and Dylan needed extra care, their patterns of carelessness, solitariness, and depression should have been …show more content…

In extreme cases like Dylan's, the outcome is tragic. But Dylan is not the only other Holden like person out there, there are many other examples of Holden's ideas and principles in teens today. The pattern of these negative styles of life in our youth should raise red flags as these traits may indicate something serious such as Dylan's shooting rampage. If both Dylan and Holden had gotten help from their schools or parents, the outcomes of their situations may have been very

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In America, we grow up in a society that grooms us to become a successful and happy adult. A society in which people are able to say and do what they want. This freedom that comes with growing up can be too much to handle. As we grow up we start to realize the flaws in our society and the flaws within ourselves. This pressure to remain happy can have various effects.

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Have you ever wondered why the protagonist in a work of literature acts as he/she does? Have you ever wondered what the prime influence in his/her actions, values, and attitudes was? Well, in many cases, namely Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist endures significant influence, both negative and positive, from past events that are often traumatic and serve as guides for the character in present instances. This trend can be found in many other works of literature such as Number the Stars by Lois Lowry in which the abuse of the protagonist’s Jewish neighbor leads to her taking a much more sensitive approach in her present life. Holden Caulfield repeatedly displays this pattern in Catcher when he commits actions, and puts forth his values and attitudes based off of a variety of prior events in his life including the death of his younger brother Allie, the departure of his older brother D.B., and

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In the beginning of the book Holden hints that he went through unfortunate events in this life. It can be foreshadowed that something bad has happened around Christmas and that Holden is getting help from some sort of institution. Holden came off to me as laid back and irresponsible, he was the fencing team captain but left all the equipment’s in the subway. Holden also did not seem to care about anything. I noticed that he thinks something in his head but does the opposite.

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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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593 Words | 3 Pages

Was Holden successful in his Journey This is an essay on whether or not Holden Caulfield is successful on his journey throughout the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by Jerome David Salinger. This book shows how hard it can be for teenagers that are going from an adolescent to adulthood. Holden, who is sixteen years old, has been kicked out of several schools. Pencey Prep. was the latest.

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656 Words | 3 Pages

The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” was about the journey of a adolescent boy finding his way to adulthood. In the book Holden Caulfield was unsuccessful in finding his way to adulthood. Holden’s attitude in the novel throughout his journey was very immature. He also can't accept the fact that innocence can’t be forever protected. Lastly, Holden calls everyone a phony when in reality he is the real phony.

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People do not expect the death of a loved one to occur at such a young age, and so abruptly like Allie 's death. The smashing of the windows shows the huge impact that he had on Holden, and how upset he was that he no longer had his brother by his side. Holden was uncertain in how to deal with this upsetting change in his life, resulted in aggressive behavior. Holden was also exposed to another traumatic event in his life during his time at Pencey. After being introduced to one of Holden 's classmates Castle he states, ¨Finally, what he did, instead of

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999 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout his adventure, he displays multiple symptoms of teen depression. One of the first symptoms he displays is low academic performance. He tells us in the first few pages of the book that he was evicted from multiple schools and hated all of those schools. Negative thoughts leads us into another symptom of teen depression, the thought that life in the future is grim or bleak. Holden calls almost everybody throughout the entire novel phonies and fakes.

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Throughout the book, Holden is struggling to get by. The death of his brother Allie has left him in a tough spot. Holden doesn’t exactly know how to deal with this. The different stages of grief are represented through Holden. Holden shows denial and anger when he flashbacks to one of his memories after his brother’s death.

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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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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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454 Words | 2 Pages

The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher In The Rye  On the Run from Reality You can escape from jail, school, or even from eating your vegetables at home, but how can you escape from reality? In the book Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger creates a main character that tries to escape from reality. Holden Caulfield sees that most people cope with reality by being phony and making self-destructive choices.

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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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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

Holden is actually doing the complete opposite by getting kicked out and not getting the proper education. He actually managed to get kicked out of four schools, and does not care for what society thinks he should

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