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Holden Caulfield Alienation

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The Rampart of Alienation ?
Improve; One regardless of varying strength or effectiveness wields some form of protection against threat; Threat itself manifesting in various forms. NEED TRANSITON In those, common ones include the use of weapons, violence, and death itself. In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher In the Rye one is a witness to Holden Caulfield's form of protection. As the novel proceeds Holden utse of alienation as means of protection . Holden, describing the world to be “phony” including those who reside in it. With very few not being. Holden portrays himself as an outcast and does so by using alienation as means to achieve it.
Alienation from friends-
In the very commencement of the novel, quite literally the first few pages Holden finds himself accompanied only by solitude on a windy hilltop stating; “Anyway, it was the Saturday of the football game. […] I remember around three o'clock that afternoon I was standing way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill. […] You could see the whole field from there, and you could see the two teams bashing each other all over the place. […] You could hear them all yelling”(Salinger) He does not associate well with others. Distancing himself from social situation for afterwards inflict himself with remorse over the matter. For example, in (inset quote) …show more content…

A quandary, both internal and outward is symbolized as his hunting cap. Referencing it several times from when he first obtained in: to other less meaningful times such as when strolling down

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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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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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Gretchen Rubin once said, “Negative emotions like loneliness, envy, and guilt have an important role to play in a happy life; they're big, flashing signs that something needs to change.” However, in The Catcher in the Rye there is no one who understands Holden’s loneliness, and Holden does not quite know how to express it. In his novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger develops the theme of loneliness through Holden’s need for human contact, suicidal thoughts, and his separation from others around him. One way J.D. Salinger expresses Holden’s loneliness is through his need for human contact.

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1436 Words | 6 Pages

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