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Theme Of Loneliness In Catcher In The Rye

978 Words4 Pages

Mother Teresa once said “Loneliness, and the feeling of being unwanted, is the most terrible poverty”. As a result of this loneliness, people become motivated to take drastic measures to end the desperation it causes. The desperation to not be lonely often causes people to lie about themselves to others to look better. Holden Caulfield, the narrator of J. D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, shows this struggle of loneliness as he attempts to find his purpose in the world. The novel begins when Holden is expelled from the prestigious Pencey Prep High School, and then, without telling his parents, he roams the streets of New York, confronting the adult world while searching for a friend. This search for friendship leads Holden to see the dark side of humanity and reveals his own hypocrisy. His struggles, however insignificant, are decidedly human and his opinions fluid and flawed. Holden's desperate tone makes him an unreliable yet powerful narrator as he lies to himself and others in order to decrease his loneliness, showing the dark side of humanity.
Holden’s desperation leads him to make a fool of himself as he attempts to relieve his loneliness. This is particularly shown when Holden is speaking …show more content…

J.D. Salinger incorporates elements such as theme to catch the reader's eye and show them that they are not much different than the main character. Holden lies like no other character, similar to the Giver from the book The Giver. The Giver lives in a dystopian world where people have no life choices, and therefore cannot lie, he is the only person who lies. Therefore, no one knows that he is lying. Holden, on the other hand, lies so much that the reader cannot tell what is fiction and what is the truth. Holden is unreliable yet powerful as he is constantly desperate to decrease his

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