Holden Caulfield Hero's Journey

A hero can be described in many ways from Superman’s example to teenager, Malala Yousafzai’s. Holden Caulfield, a 17 year old boy, who flunks out of school, in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is said to follow the Hero’s Quest- that the novel is a modernization of this mythic from. Upon reading this novel, Holden does not seem like the type of person who would be a hero, however his journey overlaps with a traditional hero’s journey in more than one place. Holden’s heroic characteristics tells the reader that anyone can be a hero, in their own way, even with all of their teen angst. Holden follows the first two steps of a hero’s journey throughout the novel. The first step, pre-separation is where the character is before his journey

This step is the refusal of the call which is a time when the hero is undergoing all of the stress and burdens of the call and refuses to accept and continue with the calling. Holden’s refusal to the call is flunking out of the school and staying at Pencey after he is kicked out. What Holden really wants before leaving Pencey is to go home is some closure from the school, before he has to go to a new one or wherever else he goes. He even says it himself: “what [he] was really hanging around for, [he] was trying to feel some kind of good-by,” (Salinger 4). Holden is not ready to leave even though he has to. He keeps delaying the inevitable by watching the game, and socializing in his dorm room. A threshold for a hero is anything that retards the progression of the journey. Holden’s first and main threshold is leaving Pencey. His escaping and overcoming of the taxing obstacle forces down on him as he, “stood for a while next to the stairs and took a last look down the goddamn corridor. [He] was sort of crying,” (Salinger 52). His legitimate reaction unveils a side of him that has not yet been able to show itself. To go along with the threshold, are the threshold guardians, who are any beings that attempt to make the hero turn back. Holden’s threshold guardians are virtually the entirety of society, as throughout the novel, he complains, argues with, and disregards other people's feelings. For example, when Holden goes on a date with a girl, Sally Hayes, he completely disrespects her. On the date he says to her: “you give me a royal pain in the ass, if you want to know the truth,” (Salinger 133). Holden makes a fuss about Sally, along with almost every other character, who connects with him in someway, either, in his head, which is to the reader or verbally to the character. Although these actions may not seem heroic, Holden is being who he is meant to be, and he has no other