Holden's Dislike For Ackley In 'Catcher In The Rye'

“They’re nice and all-I’m not saying that-but they’re also touchy as hell” (1).

Holden’s very careless, almost aggressive tone shows how little respect for his parents. Although at the start, it seems as if he does not have many emotional feelings attached to his parents, due to the fact that he only refers to them as being nice- then following it with a negative statement, it is later shown in the novel that Holden does have some bond with his parents, specifically his mother, and cares about their opinions towards him. It may seem that Holden has this tone of “not caring” due to the time period being a time where rebellion was rising amongst teenagers and respect for authority was declining.

“ “I know he’s dead! Don’t you think I know

This can be proved by the idea that if you dislike someone, their appearance is a key target for you. Also, since Ackley has disrupted Holden’s reading, Holden is upset with him. Although at time it seems as if Holden dislikes him, later in the novel, Ackley would be a small support to Holden before he leaves, as well as being someone Holden ultimately misses. Feelings one may have towards someone can change once in a new environment without them.

“Just because they’re crazy about themself, they think you’re crazy about them, too, and that you’re just dying to do them a favor” (28).

The syntax of the italicized words shows how crazy Holden thinks Stradlater’s mindset is. The italicized words emphasizes how Holden thinks Stradlater is full of himself. Holden feels as if he’s constantly doing favors for him due to the idea of Stradlater is “crazy about himself.” This mindset Stradlater has would ultimately lead to: the fight between him and Holden, Holden leaving Pency, and what began Holden’s obsessive behavior towards Jane. One’s ego can ultimately be the downfall for another.

“That’s the whole trouble. You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you’re not looking, somebody’ll sneak up and write “F*** you” right under your nose”

Previously, he never showed much emotion towards his parents (besides the idea that he knows his parents will be disappointed in him once they found out he was kicked out of school), but now he has some compassion towards the way they’d feel after his death- due to it being another one of their children dying. Holden is thinking about his death while drunk, on a very cold night, thinking he’ll get pneumonia. It seems as if all his feelings of regret with school, his family, and Jane are causing him to have these depressed thoughts. Holden is drinking to mask his pain and feelings of