Holden Caulfield Nostalgic Places Analysis

New York City is the city that never sleeps. There are bustling people, all having a place to be at, small coffee shops, and don’t forget about the city lights. You can easily be swept away with the city's aura and forget about your worries. In the novel The Catcher In The Rye, the protagonist Holden Caulfield explores the city over a span of 3 days after fleeing his private school Pencey prep. Holden becomes one with the city and is always occupying his time to postpone an encounter with his parents. Holden travels to nostalgic places of his childhood which causes him to recall his previous encounters and experiences. The setting of New York City triggers memories from Holden’s past and distracts him from being left with his pessimistic thoughts.

Holden is almost always finding a way to occupy his mind and his time and does this to the point it becomes tiring. An example of Holden finding ways to occupy his mind would be when he is walking through The Mall in Central Park and thought, “ It was lousy in the park. It wasn’t too cold, but the sun still wasn't out and there didn't look like there was anything in the park except for dog crap and globs of spit and cigar butts from old men… I kept walking over to the mall anyway because that's where Phoebe usually goes when she's in the park. She likes to skate near the Bandstand. It’s funny. That’s the same place I used to like to skate when I was a kid.” ( Salinger,131). This quote exemplifies how Holden’s negative thoughts disappear when he is thinking about one of the things that make him the happiest, his sister Phoebe. Phoebe is an innocent child who may not view the world as Holden perceives it. Holden has been through many traumatic events which makes him think that it is him against the world, and the only way to fix this feeling would be to find someone to help him cope with this