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Holden Caulfield Character Analysis Essay

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Within the novel ‘Catcher in the Rye’ by J. D. Salinger, the character of Holden Caulfield, has been presented as a complex character. His life begins in turmoil, due to the death of his little brother. Holden despises the loss of innocence among children, which is shown through his vivid thoughts of catching children, preventing them from falling into adulthood. He later struggles academically and socially, he fails school and struggles to socialise. He experiences physical and emotional collapse later in the novel when he feels like he’s disappearing from society. However, he has a moment of epiphany later in the novel where he realises that children need to be allowed to live their own lives. It is clear that his character has certainly …show more content…

The use of metaphor ‘you felt you were disappearing every time you crossed a road’ reflects his feelings of isolation and inability to connect with people. It could also show how he feels insignificant since he is unable to meet his family and class expectations by consistently failing in school. Holden comes from a middle class American family in the 1950s where parents often worked exceptionally hard to earn money for the family in order to send children to high school and good colleges. The lack of care and comfort from his parents could be a reason why Holden fails to fit in with society as he has not been exposed to a warm and loving family life during childhood. His feelings of loneliness and isolation are transformed into cynicism as he is extremely judgmental towards everything and the world around him. This could be linked to the fact that he is unable to fit in and so he decides to act superior and be negative towards those around him to make himself feel better. The reader would think that Holden feels like he’s disappearing because he has no one to share his thoughts and feelings with or feel that the lack of family support contributes to his mental instability. Perhaps, Salinger presented Holden in such a way to highlight the importance of family support or suggest how significant its effects are. This is shown at the beginning of the novel to reflect how his childhood was traumatised in the past and highlights the significance of childhood in later

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In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a peculiar character portrayed as a skeptic living in “a world of phonies” in circa 1950. These personality traits can be seen through his doubts of society as well as his way of thinking and acting toward others. He also demonstrates a lack of responsibility adding to his role as a slacker. Holden flunks out of school repeatedly and has no desire to confront his parents. He mopes around the city for days, delaying the inevitable punishments he’s sure to get.

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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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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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These few lines from the book are a clear indication of Holdens loneliness. Holden didnt have a good explanation as to why he started crying out of blue, only to say himself that he was depressed and

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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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The Catcher in the Rye Thematic Essay Imagine living a lonesome life, full of fear and little hope of better days to come. Imagine the toll this would take on a person’s life and how they develop as a person. For Holden Caulfield, the main character of J.D Salinger’s classic The Catcher in the Rye this, is his reality. Holden is a sixteen year old troubled boy suffering through major mental issues and living a rather a depressing life for a teenager. Throughout the novel he goes through many hardships that only worsen his depression making him feel hatred towards his seemingly hellish world.

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He knows deep down his mistakes, failing out of school, and disconnecting himself from the world, will affect more than his life at 15. Everyone else is growing up and living their lives the way they intended. So although Holden is thinking of them, they probably are not thinking of Holden. The rest of the world was moving on but without Holden. Salinger shows how Holden’s fear of being forgotten contributes to his challenges of growing

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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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The 1950s was a cesspool of war, violence, and internal turmoil. In the United States alone, issues regarding civil rights, the Korean War, and the Cold War seized precedence over the establishment peace within the country. An author able to recognize these issues established the pen name Nevil Shute. After emigrating to Melbourne, Australia in 1950, Shute analyzes the horrific issues that take place in the world, and later incorporates them into his novel, “On the Beach”. In his novel, the author incorporates the occurrences of Moira’s internal struggles.

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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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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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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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Holden’s Struggle To Find Himself: Throughout the novel, The Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden struggles to find himself and who he truly is in order to be happy. His struggles relate to many things that he does or say in particular. Holden lacks with a social status with women and his family, whether it’s a relationship or being antisocial. Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield experiences the complexities and struggles involved with both physical and emotional relationships.

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Although Holden is a very intelligent character he finds the hypocrisy and ugliness in the world around him and quickly associates it with the adult world. Holden is a very introverted character who hesitates throughout the book to share information about his life . J.D Salinger makes sure to portray Holden that way to

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Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has abnormal tendencies. Although he could just be a typical teenager, dealing with difficult situations, after analyzing his behavior it is believed that he is suffering from a mental ailment of some sort. Events from Holden’s past are still currently haunting him and it is evident that he is struggling. He needs the guidance of those around him in order to help himself through these tough time.

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