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Literary Analysis Essay On The Catcher In The Rye

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“It always rains the hardest on the people who deserve the sun” (Quotes New) In the book The Catcher and the Rye there is events throughout the novel that force the reader to consider why bad things happen to good people. This question first surfaces when Holden details Allie’s tragic death.“God he was a nice kid, though. He used to laugh so hard at something he thought of at the dinner table that he just about fell off his chair. I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage” (J.D. Salinger, 44). Losing a loved one is hard and it makes people question why tragic events happen to good people. The same question arises when Holden details his conflict about James Castle’s …show more content…

“I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn't do it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I'll admit, but I hardly didn't even know I was doing it, and you didn't know Allie” (Salinger, 44). Allie’s death tested his family member’s mental health immensely. "They live right in the goddam ice. It's their nature, for Chrissake. They get frozen right in one position for the whole winter”(Salinger, 92). Fish do not go anywhere during the winter but they freeze over in the water and the ducks just fly away for the winter. Holden is similar to the fish, after Allie’s death Holden is frozen in the time of grief. Everything comes back to Allie throughout Holden’s life and he is stuck in the anguish of his brother’s death similar to the fish stuck in the lagoon because of winter. Throughout the book Holden learns to accept his brother’s death and now is free from the frozen time of his brother’s death, similar to the fish being free because of spring. Allie’s death has made Holden a stronger person and he made it so he would want to help people out and he finally finds something meaningful in life like being the catcher in the rye. Some may believe that God made a path for everyone and maybe …show more content…

“Hangman is great. It teaches you that by saying the wrong things you could end someone’s life” (Pintrest). James Castle said something to someone and refused to take it back, he was then abused so he decided to make the ultimate decision and ended his life. “‘The thing is, it drives me crazy if somebody gets killed-- especially somebody very smart and entertaining and all-- and it's somebody else's fault. Romeo and Juliet, at least it was their own fault”’(Salinger, 124). Even though James’s death was devastating and he did not deserve to die, but his death gave an example to everyone how actions hurt

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522 Words | 3 Pages

Ever since Allie died he has been a mess. He talks about how after Allie died, “[His parents] were going to have [him] psychoanalyzed and all, because [he] broke all the windows in the garage” (Salinger 39). He develops a negative outlook on life. This is the cause of Holden’s continuous downward spiral. He becomes more and more disturbed and eventually ends up in a mental institution.

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886 Words | 4 Pages

Through the effects shown in The Catcher In The Rye, Salinger depicts the struggles of grief and loss in various stages of life. Holden takes Allie's death very harshly. The night that Allie died, he slept in the garage and ended up punching out all the windows in the garage and kept going until his hand was broken and he “had to go to the hospital and all”(Salinger 201). Allie’s death affects Holden as a person, not

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455 Words | 2 Pages

The book The Catcher in the Rye is a story of internal conflicts and the shallowness of adulthood. The main character, Holden, is struggling to maintain his strong voice of innocence in a fight only involving himself. One of the many reasons for Holden’s emotional devastation is the death of his younger brother Allie. Allie passed away three years earlier from leukemia and this of course highly affected Holden’s mental state at the time even if he didn’t know it. Salinger’s tone held the most importance of this book.

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983 Words | 4 Pages

This relates back to the idea of Holden's innocence and how it affected his development. Holden can not stop thinking about the death of Allie wishing everything would stop moving showing he does not want to grow up. This remembrance of his childhood trauma affected his development of not wanting to mature during freezing time. Salinger describes how childhood trauma affects Holden's mindset when growing up through his symbolization in more ways than one.

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1548 Words | 7 Pages

Holden grapples with loneliness and a lack of connection stemming from the loss of his brother, Allie, three years before the beginning of the novel. We learn that Allie died of leukemia when Holden was only thirteen: “He's dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You'd have liked him.” Holden’s reminiscences display the hole in his life that Allie once filled.

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303 Words | 2 Pages

(Salinger, Page 38). “He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody.” (Salinger, Page 38). Allie was innocent, and essentially everything Holden could be/wants to be.

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818 Words | 4 Pages

The quote explains how Holden faces impactful trauma and sadness over Allie’s death and struggles to deal with it. Furthermore, Holden’s limited understanding of his emotions prevents him from dealing with them mentally, but instead resorts to violence. As this story continues, Holden’s abnormal behavior is more exposed as “This next part I don't remember is so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed, like I was going down to the can or something, and then I tried to sock him, with all my might” (Salinger 49). In the quote, Holden’s method of dealing with extreme frustration is harmful to him as well as others around him.

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1022 Words | 5 Pages

People do not expect the death of a loved one to occur at such a young age, and so abruptly like Allie 's death. The smashing of the windows shows the huge impact that he had on Holden, and how upset he was that he no longer had his brother by his side. Holden was uncertain in how to deal with this upsetting change in his life, resulted in aggressive behavior. Holden was also exposed to another traumatic event in his life during his time at Pencey. After being introduced to one of Holden 's classmates Castle he states, ¨Finally, what he did, instead of

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926 Words | 4 Pages

His first traumatizing encounter was when his young brother, Allie, died of leukemia. Holden talks about the first reaction he had, saying “ I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn't do it,” (Salinger 21). Holden’s second traumatizing encounter was when he witnessed six malicious boys bully another boy to a point where he jumped out of the window and committed suicide. Holden describes the gruesome scene, saying, “...and there was old James Castle laying right on the stone steps and all.

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685 Words | 3 Pages

Although Holden experiences the loss of human life in a more intimate manner than Salinger, they both deal with death evasively in a futile effort to preserve their youthful innocence and idealistic outlook on the cruel and heartless world. After reflecting on the jubilant moments in his younger brother’s short life, a distraught Holden reveals his confusion over death of innocent beings as well as his evasive efforts to solace himself: I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn't do it. It was a very stupid thing to do,

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656 Words | 3 Pages

Holden recalls the time he spent the night in his garage: “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. It was very stupid I have to admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie (Salinger, 39).” His denial is represented when he does not admit why he did what he did to the garage. Holden

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332 Words | 2 Pages

Grief can affect not only the person experiencing it, but also those who are close to him. J.D. Salinger’s novel illustrates this through a teenager’s reflection on a troubled time in his life. The experiences of both Holden and his sister, Phoebe, as they cope with the death of their beloved brother Allie reveal the importance of accepting the death of a loved one, as well as the effects grief has on a person’s behavior and the difficulty of writing a stupid fucking essay at 9:30 at night. One idea conveyed through the novel is that accepting the death of a loved one is an important step in coping with grief. Holden’s reluctance to accept his brother’s death is evinced by his conversation with Phoebe after he returns to his home. When asked

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1149 Words | 5 Pages

The representations of mental issues in Catcher are shown through Holden’s personal experience and attitude. First, He suffers the traumas from the pass. “I couldn’t stand it. I know it’s only his body and all that’s in the cemetery, and his souls in the Heaven, but I couldn’t stand it any way. I just wish he wasn’t there” (Salinger 172).

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720 Words | 3 Pages

Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, embodies the classic teenager in the process of discovering himself, and how the world works. But, regardless of Holden 's rich, prep school lifestyle, the series of events that have mapped out his life up to this point have utterly affected his emotional well being and perception of the world. Many traumatic events such as the death of holds brother Allie, the death of a class mate, and countless numbers of awkward incidents with adults have all added up to affects Holden 's well-being and detach him from reality. The death of Holden 's younger brother Allie has caused him to confuse his perception of reality and to alienate himself.

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978 Words | 4 Pages

Greek influence is evident in modern day art, music, philosophy, religion, and many other aspects. As astounding as it may seem that traces of an ancient culture can last thousands of years, it is due to the rise and development of the Greeks and the conflicts that continued to develop and refine the civilization. In the democracy of our government and the paintings that hang in museums, Greek influence is a major part of modern culture. For example, the Greeks developed a form of democracy, which influenced the form of the American Government.

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