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Societal Flaws In Catcher In The Rye

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J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye tells the heart-wrenching story of a young teenager’s battle to fit in with the world around him. Although Holden Caufield’s privileged life at home and at Pency Prep, is seemingly ideal, he struggles to find meaning. He travels throughout New York City, witnessing human behavior that depresses him. Some of the issues that most trouble Holden are adult phoniness, religion’s phoniness, and school’s phoniness. Because of Holden’s brother’s death, and his own acute intelligence, Holden is better able to see societal flaws. However, he never truly forgives society for its flaws, he only forgives the people he sees as genuine: his sister, Phoebe Caufield, older adults, and young kids. Holden has personal
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In every novel around the globe you can find carefully constructed paragraphs, written by the author to send a specific message to the readers. In The catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, one particular section overflows with symbolism, metaphors, and hidden messages. By analyzing the passage’s diction, setting, and selection of detail it is possible discern the less overt statements hidden in the text and reveal the turbulent nature of the main character, Holden Caulfield. The diction of this passage appears to be the key in unraveling Holden’s mood swings.

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Holden Caulfield is an irresponsible character and this can be proven time and again through his thoughts and actions toward himself and others. To start, Holden was proven to be careless with his schoolwork. He flunked out of several schools,

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The Catcher in the Rye is a fictional novel written by S.D Salinger. Sixteen year old Holden Caulfield has flunked out of the prestigious, all-boys Pencey Prep boarding school in Connecticut. But, Holden did not fail every class, except for English, for nothing. Holden wants to leave Pencey. He is tired of feeling rejected by the phonies and the fakes at Pencey, so Holden leaves and goes to New York.

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The Catcher in the Rye Thematic Essay Imagine living a lonesome life, full of fear and little hope of better days to come. Imagine the toll this would take on a person’s life and how they develop as a person. For Holden Caulfield, the main character of J.D Salinger’s classic The Catcher in the Rye this, is his reality. Holden is a sixteen year old troubled boy suffering through major mental issues and living a rather a depressing life for a teenager. Throughout the novel he goes through many hardships that only worsen his depression making him feel hatred towards his seemingly hellish world.

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Within the most arduous interlude of one’s life, – the transitory period from childhood to adulthood – one must discover oneself as an extension of the surrounding world. Acknowledging the world’s woes are requisite in becoming an adult. The struggle in accepting this reality is evident in J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, which presents the prelude to Holden Caulfield’s admittance into a mental institute. His conflict with himself and the adult world is the epitome of the novel: Holden yearns to preserve innocence while vituperating adulthood. Although he initially sees the two as an unfulfilling dichotomy, Holden slowly reassesses his perspective to see that both can coexist and that his presence within it is plausible.

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768 Words | 4 Pages

A common obstacle faced by many adolescents is the search for identity. While trying to find oneself, it is common for an individual to reach out to society to seek acceptance and a sense of belonging. This outcry for recognition is sometimes endorsed and other times denied. In The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caulfield journeys through New York seeking approval from those who surround him. J. D. Salinger displays Holden’s desire for acceptance in the novel when he visits Mr. Spencer to seek closure and a proper goodbye, when he decides to have a conversation with the prostitute instead of get in bed with her, and when he offers his help and donations to the nuns.

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In The Catcher in the Rye J.D.Salinger depicts a vivid picture of a teenager standing at a crossroads of childhood and adulthood. The story is an overlapping of ideas when truth get mixed with lie,alienation absorbes a solitary teenager,insomnia veils reality with reminiscences and in the middle of it all stands Holden Caulfield,the main character of the book. He shares his perspective of things during few days while he roams the city of New York and looks for a person who would be able to get into his shoes at least for a second. This alienation leads Holden to sleep deprivation,panick attacks and constant state of depression.

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The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a novel written from the point of view of Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old boy who is learning about the struggle of growing up and finding one’s purpose in the world. He feels it is important to protect children from losing their innocence and becoming “phony” adults. After getting expelled from school Caulfield travels back home to New York for the rest of the week where he encounters multiple life changing events and conflicts. Salinger illustrates the major themes of lost innocence, mortality, and change throughout the book.

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909 Words | 4 Pages

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger explores the mind of a mentally ill teenager as the audience views the world through his eyes. Salinger’s novel presents a past account of events that lead up to an ending that leaves the readers mystified. Throughout the narrative, the author displays his use of tone and symbolism to hint at the true meaning of his work. First, the book begins with Holden Caulfield, a delusional seventeen-year-old, recalling his thoughts on what had happened after he is expelled from his school.

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Purpose: To show how a small change in choice could affect holden’s life The Catcher in the Rye is about Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy from New York. The novel starts with Holden, writing in his book, hinting that he is in some sort of mental facility .Even though he comes from a wealthy family,because of his loss of interest in studies,and low grades, he gets expelled from all schools he has studied in .Holden leaves his final school, Pency Prep and decides that he will stay in New York City until his parents learn of his expulsion and “cool down” .Most of the novel is dedicated to Holden’s time in the city, Holden lives in a hotel room for a few days during his stay .Holden then starts meeting with people that he used know, some strangers and goes to places with. From his conversations, he

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859 Words | 4 Pages

In the Catcher in the Rye, Salinger depicts the immature mentality of typical teenagers through Holden’s childish curiosity. Teens experience

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1011 Words | 5 Pages

Catcher in the Rye Essay Children are only innocent because of their unbiased and positive outlook on the world. But soon enough, their exposure to reality will dismantle the innocence that they have. There will be a point in their life where their positive attitudes, dreams of doing everything, and wild attitude disappear and are lost forever. As children grow up, they are pushed into a world where stress, anxiety and decisions are prominent and therefore destroy the remnants of their childhood innocence. Taking place in the east coast of the United States, Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye, runs away from his problems and finds himself in New York.

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1146 Words | 5 Pages

Society as a whole is something you make of it. If one wants to denounce the society they live in because it is “phony” that is because they’ve made the world around them phony. The character of Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye is a prime example of someone being stuck in the idea that society is unchanging. Society is just how a person perceives the world in front of them. The eye of the beholder is the one that creates the society of their choice.

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1055 Words | 5 Pages

He lives on the line between morality and immorality, frequently crossing this line, even though he might not realize it. Throughout his experiences Holden engages in multiple illegal activities, such as drinking alcohol as a sixteen year old. He is constantly lying and deceiving people.

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1433 Words | 6 Pages

Usually considered a controversial novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger can often express the feelings of being an outcast and the desire to find a meaning in the world. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel, though often complains of the phoniness of the world around him, has a way of creating a deeper meaning within the readers. While the truth may be that Salinger purposely set the story in such a way that the readers will be able to connect with Holden, not often do readers find it easy to do so. While Holden believes that everything around him are wicked and phony, there is part of him trying to protect the innocence of those not corrupted by such phoniness. Although Holden wants to protect and save the innocence of children, can he really do so if cannot protect himself and trust those around him.

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