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Examples Of Self Reliant Snob In 'Catcher In The Rye'

524 Words3 Pages

The Self-Reliant Snob Holden has to rely heavily on himself whilst alone in New York. J.D. Salinger proves that Holden is a very independent young man since the beginning of the story when Holden decides to travel alone to New York. Holden is a student at Pencey prep, but is getting expelled due to the fact that he is failing every class except english. Holden does not want to return home until his parents have received word of his explosion. As a result he wants to stay in a hotel for a few days to think about what his next move will be. “All of a sudden, I decided what I’d really do, I’d get the hell out of Pencey - right that same night and all. I mean not wait until Wednesday or anything. I just didn’t want to hang around anymore. It made me to sad and lonesome. So what I decided to do, I decided I’d take a room in a hotel in New York… and just take it easy until wednesday. Then, on wednesday, I’d go home all rested up and feelin swell” (51). This proves that Holden is self reliant because he is able to leave his school head to New York and check himself into a hotel all on his own. …show more content…

In chapter 10, Holden, feeling restless decides to put on a nice shirt and go to a bar that him and his brother used to go to in New York. Holden is able to easily calls himself a cab and get to Ernie's just fine. While at Ernie's he is able to order himself a drink (Holden is underage) and he is able to turn down his brother's ex girlfriend's offer of sitting with her and her. In not wanting to sit with his brothers ex, he decides to walk back to his hotel. This shows Self-reliance and independency because Holden turns down his brothers ex, orders himself an alcoholic beverage and walks all the way back to his hotel

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697 Words | 3 Pages

In Chapter 9-14 Holden Caulfield leaves Penecy Prep and heads to New York City. Where he will stay for a couple days before winter vacation starts and he will head home. Delaying breaking the news to his family he got kicked out of school for as long as possible. These chapters are where Holden’s loneliness becomes abundantly clear. The reader is subjected to many long rants by Holden about the company he wants, though he attempts to settle several times.

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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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668 Words | 3 Pages

As the time holden spend in New York, he does the things that teenager should avoid, as drinking, smoking, or have sex. Because Holden wants to live in his own way like an adult, he follows three adult activity. As what he acts, he is a common teenager

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744 Words | 3 Pages

When he wandered the city, he attempted to make “friends” with prostitutes, cab drivers, and random people. He stayed at hotels and never communicated with his parents. When he was missing his sister, he snuck into their house to see her, a thing he wouldn’t have to do if he’d told his family in the first place. Holden didn’t give care much for the future, and this shows in the last chapter when he states he might not want to return to school once he is well. Holden’s only desire or career plan was to be a lowly farmer; not exactly a great career choice when your parents prompt you to attend boarding school after boarding school to ensure you have a good career and future.

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988 Words | 4 Pages

Holden continues to play it off and pretends that the waiter had “insulted the hell” out of him and replies, “ Do I look like I’m under twenty-one?”(78). Holden also expresses his need for adventure to distract from his depression when he “goes against his principles” and hires Sunny and even comments that, “When you’re feeling very depressed, you can’t even think, ”(102). After hiring Sunny he finds that it was not a scenario he wanted to be in and attempted to pay her to have a conversation with him, for he was so lonely. Holden often makes decisions out of the ordinary and as a result, it creates a situations that he either can’t handle or puts him

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656 Words | 3 Pages

Although others may say that Holden was successful on his journey, saying that he grew up he. Holden showed lots of immaturity throughout the novel and was the biggest phony of all.. Holden’s attitude throughout the novel was very immature and made constant poor decisions. While he was still at Pencey he put in no effort and had the attitude that nothing mattered. As he moves on from Pencey and goes to New York, he shows no care for anything as he blows lots of his money and doesn’t even take care of himself. He doesn’t clean himself up or get any sleep because of his attitude towards life.

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942 Words | 4 Pages

Holden represents the typical teenager. He demands his independence and refuses to view himself as anything but invincible. In his mind, he has life figured out and everyone around him is simply stupid. He fails out of multiple schools and cannot manage to find friends because he is looking for his environment to cater to him. He does not want to put in the time or effort required to succeed.

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744 Words | 3 Pages

Although Holden shows maturity when he agrees to back off from his plans, it devastates Holden, knowing he cannot run away from his problems anymore. He realizes he has no choice but to stay in a world where he doesn’t

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311 Words | 2 Pages

In an attempt to pass time after his breakfast, Holden has the idea to stroll around the city. He visits broadway to purchase a record for Phoebe, he eventually chooses a vivacious record with a unique and brash sound. Holden believes that Phoebe is special and wants to showcase his beliefs to her by giving her a record with music that corresponds with her individualism. Consequently, Holden’s mind begins to meander for a while when he starts to admire Phoebe’s maturity and intelligence. It is only until he overhears a young boy in the middle of the street singing “If a body catch a body coming through the rye” (Salinger 115), that Holden is brought back to reality.

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894 Words | 4 Pages

Holden Caulfield is shaped to be deeply lonely and isolated by the author despite his interactions with others throughout the story. He is alienated from his peers and his family, as he constantly feels like an outsider looking in. This can be seen in the first chapter when Holden stands on top of a hill looking down on those at a nearby football game. Not only is Holden physically looking down on those at the game but he is also isolating himself from them as a form of self-protection. He does this because he wants to protect himself from the potential phoniness to which he could be susceptible.

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1325 Words | 6 Pages

He knows that the school doesn’t want him to be there anymore, his roommate almost beat him unconscious, and his parents will only be disappointed when they know that he has been expelled from yet another school. For Holden, it seems like there is no one else to turn to, except his younger sister Phoebe who he can’t see unless he goes home. Teenagers all across America feel this same sort of detachment from the rest of society. Only one thing going wrong could cause the rest of our worlds to collapse. Holden ended up trying to live on the streets when he ran out of money, and as the story progressed, he dug himself into a larger hole of loneliness.

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1707 Words | 7 Pages

I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead” (42). Not only is Holden's unstable mental health demonstrated, so are the effects of parents' negligence and his fear of being alone. His parents had their own lives, attending parties

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1715 Words | 7 Pages

Holden’s environment also had an effect on his personality. Holden would move from school to school and from place to place and would not feel a thing due to the fact that he would not become attached to anything. He states “This is about the fourth school I've gone to” (Salinger 9). This illustrates how Holden moves a lot which results in detachment due to on how he will leave it eventually. Holden tries to not become attached to things because he wants to avoid the future pain of loss.

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664 Words | 3 Pages

After arriving, Holden “went into [a] phone booth” and spent “about twenty minutes” without calling anybody (77-78). After pondering the many people he could call, Holden finally thinks of calling “Carl Luce, but [he] didn’t like him much” (78). While Holden has many people whom he could call, he spends twenty minutes convincing himself of why he cannot call any of these people. This illustrates alienation as Holden chooses to avoid talking to others, isolating himself when he could have easily chosen to interact with others. Moreover, this alienation provides Holden with self-protection as he does not run into any chances of his parents finding out that he has been expelled from school and has run away to New York.

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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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