ipl-logo

Imagined And Real Traumas Affecting Holden Cawfield

1074 Words5 Pages

Audrey Lutz English 9 period 5 Ms. Morris February 3, 2023 Imagined and real wounds affecting Holden Holden Cawfield undergoes a trauma at the age of 13 leaving him with irreparable scars. He has to deal with the reminder of his past choices and memories even after years of recovery. Holden has to suffer from physical wounds as well as emotional ones. While dealing with emotional scars he is affected by physical wounds that will stay with him for many years. Holden will also open old scars when protecting Phoebe. Holden also falters in life due to the emotional damage his parents did to him. Holden hates adults but loves children, even with his troubled childhood, he will still pick a trusty worthy child over a phony adult. Holden struggles …show more content…

He feels abandoned by his parents leading him to run away when conflict arises. “I don’t even know what I was running for - I guess I just felt like it” (Salinger 8) Running is the only thing Holden knows how to do-so he constantly runs from his problems. This shows the immature side of Holden. He deals with this unbalanced lifestyle of falling between childhood and adulthood. He shares his ideas on adults and how adulthood corrupts you. “If you do something too good, then, after a while, if you don’t watch it, you start showing off. And then your not as good anymore.” (Salinger 140) Holden hates how phony adults are, and how they are all acting a part. He will always take a dislike to his own childhood experiences, but he does everything he can to protect others from experiencing bad moments. Holden never had the childhood he dreamed of, and he holds onto the hope that he can provide innocence for Phoebe. “God, I love it when a kid’s nice and polite when you tighten their skate for them or something. Most kids are. They really are.” (Salinger 133) Holden is so attached to childhood. He doesn’t want to grow up and he does like children. Since he believes adults are phonies, children are the only thing he can rely on. Children are the only people who are blunt with their words, they are real and Holden loves that in

Show More
Related

Holden Caulfield Phony Analysis

372 Words | 2 Pages

As I had mentioned before, Holden loves the word “phony” but he hates people who are phony. He believes that the world is corrupt with fake, ungenuine people. For this reason he loves children as they innocent and genuine. I believe this is because he really loved his late brother, Allie, who passed away when he was 10.

Read More

Holden's Loss Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye

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.

Read More

How Does Holden Mature In Catcher In The Rye

695 Words | 3 Pages

Holden hates being talked to as if he a child, and he just wants to be treated like an adult. Partly why he runs away from boarding school

Read More

How Is Holden Caulfield Mental Illness

1957 Words | 8 Pages

Holden maintains a negative attitude that makes him find fault in people, his parents, teachers, classmates, strangers even.(He especially negative toward adults) However, Holden’s negative attitude changes when it comes to children, nuns, etc. People of innocence. Holden likes children, and Jesus, because they are innocent, have not done any wrong.

Read More

Holden Caulfield's Anxiety And Depression In The Catcher In The

985 Words | 4 Pages

Initially, Holden Caulfield is depicted as the teen who fights the path towards adulthood by utilizing lying and amplified emotions. Events such as the death of his brother, and being kicked out

Read More

The Catcher In The Rye: Was Holden Successful In His Journey

593 Words | 3 Pages

The reason that Holden Caulfield is always trying to stop kids from growing up in the first place is because he want’s to protect them, and shelter them from the bad things in the world. By the end of the novel Holden realizes that he can’t protect kids all the time or save their innocence. Holden comes right out and say’s that you can’t protect kids, or their innocence when Phoebe is riding the carousel toward the end of the book, Holden says “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them". This quote is one reason that proves Holden was successful throughout his journey in the

Read More

Catcher In The Rye Holden's Journey Analysis

656 Words | 3 Pages

Holden says that all he want to do is be the catcher in the rye protecting children from falling. The whole novel Holden makes observation around him that are taking away from children's innocence. This is what upsets him the most the fact that everyone will eventually have to grow up. While he is trying to go get Phoebe he is reminded this in the following quote. “I went down by a different staircase, and I saw another "Fuck you" on the wall.

Read More

Holden Caulfield's Emotional Dispair

182 Words | 1 Pages

Holden struggles with his exposures to the harsh reality of adulthood, as his perception of innocence is brutually

Read More

Holden Caulfield Mental Illness

1023 Words | 5 Pages

Holden Caulfield is a young kid who is struggling with his belonging and stance in life. When he was 13 his brother died, and it had a very long lasting effect on him. The most significant underlying cause for Holdens problematic behavior would be the death of his brother and how he and the family handled the loss. His fear of growing up and his idealized version of childhood are what's holding him back in life. Holden Caulfield is being diagnosed with depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies, and PTSD.

Read More

Catcher In The Rye Transition From Childhood To Adulthood

605 Words | 3 Pages

There are still many hurdles that young adults have to make it over in order to fully transition to being an adult. Often, kids try and grow up too fast and end up missing the innocence and simplicity of their childhood, like Holden does throughout the novel. They wear makeup, go to parties, drink, and try and act older than they are. It is not until later on in life that they realize how good being a child was, and by then it is too late. Holden claims that he does not want to grow up, but at the same time always tries to appear older, especially when at a bar.

Read More

Adolescence In Catcher In The Rye

784 Words | 4 Pages

There have been several situations where Holden has encountered children. When he is around them Holden is more laid back, as if he just got out a mine field and finally reached safe ground. What stands out the most about his interaction with children is the way his speech changes. It has been mentioned before how Holden was good writing; in fact, English is the only class that he was not failing. When he is around children though, his speech becomes more simplified.

Read More

Theme Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye

1851 Words | 8 Pages

Holden wishes that people could keep their good qualities by “sticking them into glass cases and leaving them alone.” (Chapter16). While he realises that this is just a fantasy, it does not stop him from wanting to protect the children from falling into the emotional and mental distress of personality changes that occur in the journey from childhood to adulthood. This ties into the

Read More

Catcher In The Rye Allie's Mitt Analysis

779 Words | 4 Pages

Furthermore, Holden starts to hate all the adults or loses faith in them, calls them phony. Holden has a second thought of becoming an adult he loses hope in his future and it seems to him nothing in the world matters to him anymore. We can see that throughout the book. He smokes, gets drunk, and does daring acts like getting a prostitute in his room. He also tries to escape all this guilt and grief by wasting time with unnecessary people he calls phony.

Read More

Theme Of Maturity In Catcher In The Rye

837 Words | 4 Pages

Holden struggles with growing up and facing reality. There are many examples of Holden’s immaturity that are displayed in many forms such as facing responsibilities, his speech, his actions, and etc. Holden’s outlook on adult life is that it is superficial and brimming with phonies, but childhood was all about looking pleasing and innocent. He wants everything to stay the same and for time to stop. As Holden progresses in age, he will discover more about becoming mature in the

Read More

Catcher In The Rye Holden's Struggles Essay

830 Words | 4 Pages

He has trouble growing up and accepting life as it is. Holden thinks adults are "phony" which makes him hate the fact of growing up and staying innocent as much as he can while he is old enough to become an adult. He is frustrated with the world and people which makes him act with anger. His innocent childish dream is to be the Catcher in the Rye, to catch the kids before they become phonies like Holden says about adults. The moment he realizes that he cannot keep kids from falling or in other words, from growing up and becoming adults, he, reaches adulthood, and takes a big step towards it at the end of the novel.

Read More

More about Imagined And Real Traumas Affecting Holden Cawfield

Related Topics

Open Document