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Holden's Redemption In The Catcher In The Rye

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Tales of Adolescent Redemption and Social Stigma "Life is a game that one plays according to the rules" (Salinger 12). This quote, from one of Holden Caulfield's professors in The Catcher and the Rye, is meant to give Holden advice for the future. The message is that one must follow the formula of living a successful life to be happy. It can be inferred that the two main characters of this ISP essay are not playing the game of life according to the rules of Holden's professor. Holden has been kicked out of school, and Juno is pregnant, which can be seen as unredeemable qualities due to social stigma. However, they have a different mindset than many, and are supported by the people around them. Although they do not seem like the best influence …show more content…

Holden has a strong relationship with his younger sister, Phoebe, and his past teachers have made an impact on him as well. Mr. Antolini, Holden's professor from an old school, tells him, "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one” (Salinger 244) He gives Holden advice just as old Spencer has done, hoping that it would help Holden understand that he needs to put forth more effort in life. Juno seems close to her loved ones, as she manages to have calm and rational discussions about what to do with the baby. There seems to be rarely any fights between her and her parents, and they seem to be in a healthy relationship. Her dad says, “I thought you were the kind of girl who’d know when to say when,” and Juno responds, “I don’t really know what kind of girl I am”. Her parents were surprised to hear that she was pregnant out of all other possibilities, and it seems that Juno was just as shocked. The protagonists’ relationship with the other characters show how different they are from the typical stereotypes of “bad boy gets kicked out” and “troubled girl makes terrible

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What did you want to be when you grow up? Holden Caulfield, from Catcher in the Rye did know what he was going to do. The Catcher in the Rye is about the 16 year old boy I mentioned earlier, recalling the events that took place after he was expelled from Pencey Prep. He then decides to roam New York, after he gets into a fight with his roommate, Stradlater. Then, the rising action builds from there.

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796 Words | 4 Pages

"I just gave all three of them this very cool glance and all." (70). Holden, like every other teen, tries to build a relationship and desperately looks for all the attention that can be on him, so he can feel a connection and talk to someone, even if they're not his age. Holden's relationship with his family The current relationship Holden has with his family is very common; he feels his parents can't understand his problems or his values. Before Holden goes to his house to surprise Phoebe, he thinks about how he will sneak in, but he doesn't want his parents to know, especially his mom.

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707 Words | 3 Pages

Holden Caulfield’s early loss of innocence causes him to fiercely guard the innocence of others, resulting in pain for him when he realizes that his attempts are futile. Holden’s negative experiences with the adults in his life lead to his valuing the idea of innocence. Despite his bad role models, Holden clings to the concept that integrity is the most important quality in a person. While reflecting on one of his old boarding schools, he expresses his dislike for its “phony” headmaster, Mr. Haas. He complains, “[O]ld Haas went around shaking hands with everybody's parents when they drove up to school.

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492 Words | 2 Pages

In chapters 14-20 of the Catcher in the Rye, Holden is spiralling out losing control of himself and who he is. He’s chain smoking from the stress, going to extreme lengths to maintain companionship as always. His biggest fear at this point being alone. Holden’s date with Sally is the prime example of him finally losing it. The stress from school, pressure from others to be sexually active and perform well in school is crushing him.

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649 Words | 3 Pages

It seems as if holden is searching for something throughout the course of this novel. Some might argue that holden is trying to seek love from others. In the novel catcher in the rye by Jd Salinger we learn about Holden Caulfield’s character and how his mood changes throughout the story. The novel starts out with holden writing in an underground mental hospital. Many were to believe throughout the novel that when holden’s younger brother allie passed away with leukemia and holden punched a glass window, he had scratches and cuts and bleeding all down his arms so his parents thought he was trying to hurt himself.

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593 Words | 3 Pages

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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675 Words | 3 Pages

Holden emotion and problems My connection through the video called “stressed out” and the book called catcher in the rye Holden main point is being depressed and being stressed out in his life with problems and issues. Holden is having a lack of problems and issue was when holden thinks about his dead brother holden he feels that he will disappear or fall into an abyss when he steps off a curb to cross a street. Sometimes when this happens, he calls on his dead brother Allie for help. Holden says that about his dead brother “My brother Allie had his this left handed fielder mitt.

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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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926 Words | 4 Pages

Although Jim and Holden are very different people, they both experienced a tough upbringing, where they lost their innocence at a young age and had difficult parents, which led to depression in which they both contemplated suicide. Compared to holden, Jim does not have a singular event that shattered his innocence, rather his parents throughout his childhood did that for him. Before Jim leaves his home for the chickie run he looks for his father and finds him wearing an apron cleaning the floor and mistakes him for his mother. This interaction pretty much summarizes his childhood as he has an overbearing mother who pushes his father around and made his father a weak, cowardly person, who can't be relied upon for advice or help. The apron symbolizes

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112 Words | 1 Pages

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger tells the story of Holden Caulfield and his three day journey through the streets of New York after getting expelled from Pencey Prep. Holden experiences a vast variety of emotions and experiences that past events have lead up to. One of the few positive experiences Holden has would be talking to his younger sister, Phoebe, about his dreams of being “the catcher in the rye.” Holden’s dream of being “the catcher in the rye” has Holden standing guard on the edge of a rye field, located on a cliff, watching children play and being there to catch the children before they fall off the

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858 Words | 4 Pages

The idea of having a character that struggles to find themselves is quite a common idea in many books. This is seen in the Catcher in the Rye where JD Salinger puts Holden the main character through different struggles throughout the book to finally realise what his purpose is and what he aims to be. There are many different situations that Holden is put through but they all aim to the same purpose, being a catcher in the rye. Two of the main struggles are his journey into adulthood and to retain his innocence. The second is how he is almost alienating himself from others and very rarely opens up to anybody, and his relationships with people are not great because he thinks of many of the people he meets are phony.

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1230 Words | 5 Pages

A. Allie’s death causes Holden to become obsessed with death and this obsession makes him believe that growing up and becoming a “phonie” is like dying; this belief that is planted inside Holden’s head when Allie died is what sends him on a quest to preserve children’s innocence and save them from the “death” of growing up. B. Salinger includes the traumatic story of Allies death that happened years in advance to provide an explanation for Holden’s obsession with death and how he sees loss of innocence as equivalent to dying. Allie died with his innocence still intact, so Holden does not want other children to grow up and have their innocence “die”. C. Holden even admits to being mentally unstable after his brother’s traumatic death when he says, “I was only 13, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all

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830 Words | 4 Pages

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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693 Words | 3 Pages

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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767 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a deep character that shows(possesses) many personality traits. His character is what connects many readers to him and helps in understanding him. Some character traits Holden possesses are that he is generous, kindhearted, usually honest, very intelligent, makes quick judgements, speaks his mind, is anxious about change, and likes kids. Considering his many character traits, it is easy for the reader to understand and relate to Holden. There are many character traits that I share with him.

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