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Development of holden character in catcher in the rye
Catcher in the rye, holdens inability to progress
An analysis of Holden from the catcher in the rye
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McCandless Journey to Death Chris McCandless was a well educated and smart man that was eager to leave everything behind and start a new life. McCandless believed that he would truly find himself in nature. He left his old life when the compassion to start a new life, but his arrogance and underestimations over nature caused him to walk into the wild unprepared. McCandless believed that he would conquer nature with his intelligence and academic abilities but he didn 't realize how nature worked until it was too late. McCandless visions of his reality Distorted his views which lead to his failure.
As the book starts Holden describes his childhood and how he has been kicked out of several school and once more again from his currently school, giving a sense of irresponsibility and no care in the world. Holden later on mentioned slowly the loss of his brother due to leukemia and how he reacted outrageously by breaking the windows of his garage home. As a reader one would view that behavior as abnormal, but Peter Shaw descried it as a normal behavior for a fictional character in the 1950s and by mentioning that Holden, “is presenting in a somewhat different manner than are the sentimentalized young people in other novels if his period” (par. 3), admitting that Holden was somewhat of an outcast of a character even for its time he is still considered normal. Shaw also challenged the reader’s view of Holden by emphasizing that Holden is not a real person, but a fiction character developed in the 1950s and in fact a mad psychological character is normal and made the reading rather more interesting and acceptable during that time. As readers someone may come across as understanding Holden’s behavior due to a loss and everyone mourns differently and as Shaw said, “ the one period of life in which abnormal behavior is common rather than exceptional” (par.
Holden for a short period of time attends a boarding school called Pencey Prep, but then states, “They kicked me out. I wasn’t supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself at all” (4). Pencey is the third school Holden gets kicked out of, however it is something that could have been avoided had Holden wanted it to. Since Allie’s death however, Holden seems to stop caring about his life progression as he struggles to face the idea of growing up and conforming to adult society.
In the novel, Holden is being kicked out of his current boarding school Pencey Prep. He is being expelled because he was failing four or five classes. Holden states in the story that he doesn’t try hard
In the novel catcher in the rye, Holden doesn’t like school " Well... they'll be pretty irritated about it," I said. "They really will. This is about the fourth school I've gone to. " I shook my head.
It is evident that Holden Caulfield’s anxiety and depression in The Catcher in the Rye directly correlates to the realities of child anxiety and depression. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders affect one in eight children. Common rationales that lead to child anxiety and depression include formidable parents, parental conflict, separation anxiety, academic pressure, sexual abuse and bullying (Mahale). Influences of paternal, maternal, and social structure results in child disorders such as anxiety and depression.
Unlike his peers who may strive to become teachers or doctors, Holden describes a path in which in reality he can never pursue. In fact, his whole scheme for his future is based on a misinterpretation of a popular song. He does not understand the process of growth and
Holden’s main problem is he doesn’t have courage ( “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move.” ) Holden thinks that if he moves forward he is going to change and become impure. We as people all want to move forward but sometimes the people you are associated with are not helping you either. You can tell once he says “You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two
Although others may say that Holden was successful on his journey, saying that he grew up he. Holden showed lots of immaturity throughout the novel and was the biggest phony of all.. Holden’s attitude throughout the novel was very immature and made constant poor decisions. While he was still at Pencey he put in no effort and had the attitude that nothing mattered. As he moves on from Pencey and goes to New York, he shows no care for anything as he blows lots of his money and doesn’t even take care of himself. He doesn’t clean himself up or get any sleep because of his attitude towards life.
This is exactly what Holden grows to detest whilst attending Pencey, the conformist culture he was forced into, which Holden describes as “corny” (Salinger, 19) or “phony”
He is constantly in denial and thinks that everything else is to blame for his own problems. Holden always has an excuse to justify his action. When he left his old school he said, “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That’s all” (17). Holden is basically saying here that he left his old school not because he is not smart but it was because he could not stand the people there.
The beginning of Holden’s journey starts with the innocence and naivety of childhood. Childhood is the stage that ignorance is bliss with no care in the world. Holden goes to a prestigious boarding school for boys and he believes that everyone in that school is a phony in some way. Holden is an observant character as he stays in the background, but he can also cause the most trouble. Like a child, he asks many questions and he is very curious to the point that he can be annoying.
Holden's tone in the novel is sad, annoyed, happy and angry. In chapter 1 page 4 Holden says “I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by. I mean I’ve left schools and places I didn't even know I was leaving them. I hate that.
The freedom that Holden had was great so he could figure out what his goals were, but the lack of structure lead to some mistakes and a lot of wasted time. In today 's society, many students take a gap year before they go off to college which is said to “offer valuable personal freedom. Young people are able to figure out who they are and what inspires them” (Patterson 2). This year gives these students time to figure out what they actually want to do in life. This also gives them absolute responsibility over their future and education because they gain the experience to know what they want.
Holden is actually doing the complete opposite by getting kicked out and not getting the proper education. He actually managed to get kicked out of four schools, and does not care for what society thinks he should
