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Holden Caulfield Conformity Analysis

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After the WWII, America’s economy boomed causing its population to increase. The increase in the population led to many suburban homes each with a family containing many children. The ideal life goals were to go to school, get a job, get married, buy a suburban house, and have kids. The whole idea was to get more American to achieve a middle class status to buy products, such as the television, which was the latest craze, to help the economy. J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye troubled character Holden Caulfield goes against “culture of conformity” social standards. Holden Caulfield represents a growing discontent with 1950 America’s “culture of conformity” because he is rejecting going to a good school, seeing girls only for marriage, and not wanting to fit in. First, most Americans want to go to an ivy league school, but Holden Caulfield rejects going to an Ivy league. In chapter twelve of The Catcher in the Rye, Caulfield is at a nightclub called Ernie’s where he makes a lot of observations and overhears some conversations. He says “On my right there was this very Joe Yale-looking guy, in a gray flannel suit and one of those flitty-looking Tattersall vests. All those …show more content…

In chapter six of Catcher in the Rye, he said “I told him he thought he could give the time to anybody he felt like. I told him he didn’t even care if a girl kept all her kings in the back row or not, and the reason he didn't care was because he was a goddam stupid moron.” Caulfield does not see Jane for her beauty, but because of who she is, and what she does, and how they connect with one another. He then continues by saying “You don't even know if her first name is Jane or Jean, ya goddam moron!" During this period going on a date was the first step before marriage, which was an American standard. When Stradlater started dating Jane, Caulfield was upset because he felt Stradlater was just dating her to fit in with American

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In the 1950’s the American economy was booming due to the conclusion of World War II. Economic prosperity transformed family life and people put more emphasis on the individual. Television programs represented how people should live the ideal life. With many changes in culture people began to have a different perspective on life. In the 1998 film, “Pleasantville” directed by Gary Ross and the novel, “The Catcher in the Rye” written by J.D. Salinger both depict teenage culture of the 1950s.

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1899 Words | 8 Pages

Both Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Huckleberry Finn from Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are the main protagonists of their respective texts. Both Caulfield and Huck undertake a journey in their text, in which the character learns from their experiences and meet new people, who alter their outlook on life. Both these characters are still not mature, and this is shown throughout the two books, but the boys have to mature soon, as they are becoming adults.

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In the lives of many teenagers today, rejection plays a sizable role in growing into adulthood. Whether this is rejection from a friend, family member or other adult, it still leaves a mark on the individual, making them grow up faster than needed. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a young man who seeks the acceptance of others. Holden Caulfield seeks acceptance from his friend Ackley, who tells him he can not sleep in his missing roommates bed, a prostitute who he hires to sit and listen to his problems, but she refuses to do so, and a group of nuns he meets in a diner.

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In the book Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a young man in Pennsylvania that sees the world as a dark and gloomy place where there is no love, no mercy, and no friendships to go along. Holding attempts to get over this, and mature. He has no idea how and doesn’t know why thinking that it will help his situation. Holdin goes to Pency Prep, which is like a boarding school, this is Holden’s fourth school to be attending he got kicked out of the other schools because of Holdin fails to pass his classes. Holdin expresses this as a “huge crock of shit.”

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744 Words | 3 Pages

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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627 Words | 3 Pages

In the story The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. This story is about a teenager who feels misplaced in life and is unhappy with his surroundings. The main character, Holden Caulfield, hops around from school to school taking us on his adventure from school in Pennsylvania to his house in New York City. If Holden, or a child like him were to attempt this by themselves today they wouldn 't succeed like Holden did. In the story Holden does many crazy things that a teenager wouldn 't be able to do .

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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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The book, The Catcher in the Rye, takes place in the years of the 1940s-1950s of New York City. Author J.D. Salinger expresses in the book about the struggles and the countless amount of stereotypes and establishments of the American society. Holden Caulfield, J.D Salinger’s protagonist, gives perspectives of society’s conflicts and facets of society. Holden addresses that would should not change, but should be preserved within a glass case at a museum. Now explore the varieties of encounters and how the give an example of the theme of conflict between control and independence that the protagonist confronts in the book, The Catcher in the Rye.

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1695 Words | 7 Pages

Attending school in the 1950s, Holden is a victim of a conformist American society. In a historical context, postwar America is characterized by a booming economy, industrialization and the creation of uniform suburban communities throughout the country. There was also a call for a united America, with the tensions of the Cold War taking hold and a need to fight communism. This attitude of uniformity could be seen in the American education system at the same time, where students were expected to fit the mould of the ideal American child. This child was idealized as being obedient, respectful and subordinate to their superiors.

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Purpose: To show how a small change in choice could affect holden’s life The Catcher in the Rye is about Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy from New York. The novel starts with Holden, writing in his book, hinting that he is in some sort of mental facility .Even though he comes from a wealthy family,because of his loss of interest in studies,and low grades, he gets expelled from all schools he has studied in .Holden leaves his final school, Pency Prep and decides that he will stay in New York City until his parents learn of his expulsion and “cool down” .Most of the novel is dedicated to Holden’s time in the city, Holden lives in a hotel room for a few days during his stay .Holden then starts meeting with people that he used know, some strangers and goes to places with. From his conversations, he

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2272 Words | 10 Pages

Text Analysis Practicum Course Instructor: Dr. Lorelei Caraman Dimişcă Bianca-Melania Russian - English Childhood vs. adulthood in J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” “The Catcher in the Rye” is a novel written by J.D. Salinger in 1951. The book is one of the most controversial books ever written and its popularity comes from the author’s rough attitude towards society from the perspective of a teenager. “The Catcher in the Rye” is thought to be J.D. Salinger’s masterpiece and it is listed as one of the best novels of the 20th century. In 2009 Finlo Rohrer affirmed that even 58 years later after the book has been published it is still considerate “the defining work on what it is like to be a teenager”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catcher_in_the_Rye)

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649 Words | 3 Pages

St. John asked Jane in various occasions to marry him, but unfortunately she refused because she said that she wasn’t ready but it was actually because she wasn’t sure whether she had actual feelings to St. John. At this point in Jane's life she has made a lot of new friends and still communicated with some old friends, some acquaintances, and even some enemies. Jane decided to leave Thornfield because she believed that her passions and her principles as to where she thought that her freedom will be retained if she stayed there in Thornfield. Jane is big on freedom since she didn’t have much as a child. Many times Jane had considered to return back to her old love Mr. Rochester, and in which she eventually does

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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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937 Words | 4 Pages

Bessie, Miss Temple, and even Mrs. Fairfax watch over Jane and give her the affection and direction that she needs, and she furnishes a proportional payback via looking after Adèle and the understudies at her school. All things considered, Jane does not feel as if she has discovered her actual family until she fell in love with Mr. Rochester at Thornfield; he turns out to be even more a related soul to her than any of her organic relatives could be. In any case, she can 't acknowledge Mr. Rochester 's first proposition to be engaged in light of the fact that she understands that their marriage - one in view of unequal social standing - would trade off her self-sufficiency. Jane also denies St. John 's engagement proposal, as it would be one of obligation, not of enthusiasm. Just when she increases money related and enthusiastic self-sufficiency, in the wake of having gotten her legacy and the familial love of her cousins, can Jane

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904 Words | 4 Pages

Mr. Reed is a stern women who treats Jane unfairly in Jane’s childhood, as exemplified by Jane’s isolation from the three children who are “clustered” around their mamma” (Bronte 1). Miss Temple is represented to be a benevolent person who tries to provide for the students at Lowood, as Helen Burns describes her to be “full of goodness” (Bronte 54). Celine Valens is one of Rochester’s former mistress that was motivated by his money to marry him and was unfaithful, as she was caught with another “companion in an officer’s uniform” (Bronte 150). Blanche Ingram is shown to dressed luxuriously, with “jewels” and “a crown of thick plaits”, and to be flirtatious towards Rochester. Bertha Mason is represented as a beast, with “dark grizzled hair” and “bloated features” (Bronte 311).

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