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Analysis of the catcher in the rye
Analytical essay the catcher in the rye
Analysis of the catcher in the rye
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Holden meets few prominent mentors throughout the novel, who offer ephemeral relief to his problems, allowing for itinerantly to the past instead of living in the present. Allie, Holden’s brother, is a significant mentor who makes Holden reminisce on positive experiences with him before he passes away. Furthermore, Holden struggles long-term when Allie passes away and violently reacts, displaying his impaired judgement due to the stress of losing a family member ( Salinger 38-39). Holden admires his brother for being able to work past hardships and emotionally express himself through his unique poetry on his baseball mitt, which becomes a symbolic item to Holden when remembering Allie. Holden’s other prominent mentor is his sister, Phoebe, who sticks by his side,
Holden wants his sister, Phoebe, to see an everlasting childhood, but Phoebe is a strong character that does not think the same way as Holden, she has no desire to keep her childhood for long since she knows that one day she will grow into an adult. Phoebe helps Holden by comforting him with being “the catcher in the rye” who saves kids from falling. She has a good understanding that one must move on because for her Allie is dead and that people should need to interact and not try to save something that is completely
When he wandered the city, he attempted to make “friends” with prostitutes, cab drivers, and random people. He stayed at hotels and never communicated with his parents. When he was missing his sister, he snuck into their house to see her, a thing he wouldn’t have to do if he’d told his family in the first place. Holden didn’t give care much for the future, and this shows in the last chapter when he states he might not want to return to school once he is well. Holden’s only desire or career plan was to be a lowly farmer; not exactly a great career choice when your parents prompt you to attend boarding school after boarding school to ensure you have a good career and future.
He faces many problems throughout the book, and is always trying to save kids innocence. Holden also wants to stay a kid and not grow up, however he finds out that he can’t do this by the end of the novel. Some people may think that Holden wasn't successful throughout his journey, however, one could also see how he was successful in his journey. By the end of the novel, Holden was able to find out that he couldn't save kids innocence, he couldn’t be a kid forever, and he sees that even though the world is filled with evil, he can accept it, or at least live with it.
All throughout the book Holden smokes, looks for a way to gain access to alcohol, is lonely and depressed and was even kicked out of school. According to the article Holden is a teenager who is struggling to cope with the loss of his brother. If one were to look at both the novel and this article through the archetypal lens, they would surely be able to see the connection between the
Holden wasn 't really shown any support from his parents, unlike Claudia, only his siblings. Holden’s parents were considering getting him psychoanalyzed after Holden’s brother died, but they sent him to boarding school instead. His parents continued to neglect him by ignoring his cries for help by sending him to a different school when he failed out of the one before it. The only person Holden allowed to actively support and understand him was his little sister Phoebe. Phoebe understood that his red hunting hat was like a safety blanket for Holden, “Then what [Phoebe] did-- it almost killed me-- she reached in the coat pocket and took out my red hunting hat and put it on my head.
Holden’s brother Allie dies because of leukemia when Holden is 13 years old. Allie is very valuable for Holden. That’s why, Holden is feeling really terrible after Allie’s death. On page 44, Holden says, “I slept in the garage the night he (Allie) died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it” (Salinger). This shows that he is really affected by his brother’s death.
Holden has little control over his actions, is constantly lying, and purposefully alienates himself from others. It is clear of these things because, although Holden never says it, he makes it obvious he is undergoing treatment for this exact thing as he is writing this story. It’s clear that he thinks that becoming an adult is so bad because his parents were terrible to him and gave him no attention growing up. As a result, his mind became entangled with the notion that becoming an adult was bad and that he had to keep everyone from becoming one. Holden was clearly insane, he didn’t get any love or affection from his parents, he couldn’t let go of past trauma, and he struggled with the fact that everyone had to grow up.
Throughout the book, Holden is struggling to get by. The death of his brother Allie has left him in a tough spot. Holden doesn’t exactly know how to deal with this. The different stages of grief are represented through Holden. Holden shows denial and anger when he flashbacks to one of his memories after his brother’s death.
The only motivator that Holden has to continue living is his younger sister, Phoebe, who is extraordinarily intelligent for her age. After he gets kicked out of Pencey, Holden is lost in life. He speaks to many people, seeking advice and comfort, but they are not able to help him find a human connection. Holden’s depression increases throughout the novel, almost to the point of suicide. He criticizes many people and ideas, labeling them as ‘phony’.
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.
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
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
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.
Holden 's life issue is his need to be, “The Catcher in the Rye”, his life lesson is how he overcomes it. At the end of the novel Holden comes to the understanding that everyone grows up. At the end of the book Holden accepts that he doesn 't need to be little kids protectors and that Phoebe wants to grow up and be an adult. Even though he didn 't grow to his full potential at the end of the novel his progression is made apparent by the quote “Don’t tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody” (Salinger 214).
