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What Is The Mood Of The Catcher In The Rye

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The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is one of the many great novels in American literature to this day. The novel follows a young man named Holden Caulfield and the journey he goes through during his teenage years. The story is told through the perspective of Holden as he struggles with finding the right path for his life and dealing with the struggles of growing up. During this book the reader follows Holden through his bad experiences Pencey Preparatory, leading up to him getting expelled, continuing through his experiences in New York City, and with his family. During this time Holden is struggling with the death of his younger brother, Allie. Throughout the novel Holden feels trapped, due to his thoughts on growing up and …show more content…

Since the given central idea is pertaining to the loss of innocence, the mood also brings together the discovered theme that life can be hard when you are feeling lost and do not know where to go with your life. Throughout The Catcher in the Rye Holden tries to hold himself together, but at parts Holden is often depressed and breaks down and starts to cry. In chapter 23, Holden stops home secretly to check in with Phoebe, his younger sister. During their reuniting, Holden began to breakdown crying. “But I couldn’t stop for a long time. I thought I was going to choke to death or something. Boy, I scared the hell out of old Phoebe” (p.198). This quote reinforces the mood of sadness and despair because this was at a time where Holden broke down after stopping himself from almost crying. Also his mention of almost dying makes the reader feel a sad vibe because most people associate death with sadness and grief. In the poem “Where do I go?” the mood is similar to that of The Catcher in the Rye. The poem is very repetitive where brings n the curiosity of where should this person go. The quote, “Is there an answer in there sweet faces, that tells me why I live and why I die?’’ also brings to light the mood of sadness and despair. Although when read it gives off a curious mood, the talk of death makes the reader feel the sense of sadness and gloom. As Holden and the character referred to in the poem think about and mention death, this allows the mood of sadness and despair to be shown amongst these two works. This mood also strengthens the theme that life can be hard when you are feeling lost and do not know where to go with your

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Holden emotion and problems My connection through the video called “stressed out” and the book called catcher in the rye Holden main point is being depressed and being stressed out in his life with problems and issues. Holden is having a lack of problems and issue was when holden thinks about his dead brother holden he feels that he will disappear or fall into an abyss when he steps off a curb to cross a street. Sometimes when this happens, he calls on his dead brother Allie for help. Holden says that about his dead brother “My brother Allie had his this left handed fielder mitt.

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Holden is afraid to grow up. He sees the adult world to be abusive and corruptive, like when he orders a prostitute, he sees her, all young and innocent, and he doesn’t want to have sex with her(106). He gets depressed because he knows they are similar in age and she has already been fully taken in by the adult world and it isn’t doing any good for her. She looks like a young girl but is really a unlucky prostitute who grew up too fast. Although he despises the adult world it is soon proven to him that the adult world is unavoidable.

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There is one experience in life that everyone can relate to. Whether it was pleasurable or not, no one can deny the fact that they have not been through it. This experience is that of growing up and change, a time in all of our lives where it is such a complicated yet natural process that kids just ‘go with it’. In the novel, Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield suffers from the same complexity in his life. Holden is struck with events throughout the book questioning his maturity and emotions.

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Emotional pain is present in everyone's life, and this is seen again In the novel, “The Catcher in the Rye”. The main character, Holden, experiences pain due to the fact that he is different from all the other kids, and doesn’t fit in the way he desires. This leads him to realize his desire to be alone, and to escape the control of others. Holden receives pain when he isn’t accepted. For example, when he sees his old friend, Sally, he tells her his idealistic plan to escape together to live in a cabin- where no adults are.

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The theme of The Catcher in the Rye deals with childhood innocence and growing up. Holden's age is a time of change, while he is not a child still, he is not and adult either. It is a theme of change and growing. Death is another theme as he thinks of his brother Allie. His character develops throughout the story as the reader learns about different events in his life during this time.

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606 Words | 3 Pages

The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, is a novel about a teen named Holden. He struggles with feelings of depression, not fitting in, and loneliness. He is kicked out of his prep school, Pencey. He spends a few days wandering around New York City avoiding confrontation with his parents. Over these few days he is on a downward spiral.

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1836 Words | 8 Pages

Holden’s depression directly relates to his family, specifically his brother, Allie. “I slept in the garage the night he dies, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist…” (Salinger 39). Holden experiences much pain when his brother dies, leaving him constantly wondering about him and what might happen to him. From a general perspective, Holden would seem in need of psychoanalysis, however, death is never easy to cope with, especially at his age.

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923 Words | 4 Pages

Holden was begging to release his emotions, “ When I finally got down off the radiator and went out to the hat-check room, I was crying and all. I don't know why, but I was. I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome” (Salinger). The fact that Holden is aware that he has no one make him depress , this was a cry for help for Holden. Therefore, this reveals how humanity is in search for their time to express how they feel.

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388 Words | 2 Pages

J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye follows the story of Holden Caulfield, a young man struggling with depression as he navigates the challenges of growing up and transitioning into adulthood. Throughout the novel, it becomes evident that Holden's depression is fueled by his fear of maturing and losing his innocence as he enters adulthood. He longs to hold onto the simplicity and purity of childhood and grapples with the complexities and responsibilities of the adult world. As he struggles to find his place and purpose in life, Holden's depression deepens, leading him on a journey of self-discovery and coming of age. One aspect of Holden's depression is his difficulty in forming and maintaining relationships.

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1160 Words | 5 Pages

”(Salinger 118) Along with Holden's language, he also uses his voice to create an image of how he sees the world. Without this voice it would just be a bland description of a park, but once Holden puts his spin on it making it his it becomes more relatable and easier to picture. This outlook on a world of lousiness and despair that Holden shows can be very relatable to teenagers who are coming of

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2137 Words | 9 Pages

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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539 Words | 3 Pages

Expelled from his fourth school, Holden goes on a journey back home, in Manhattan, where he wanted to be all along but was too afraid. Holden was only able to communicate to his late brother, Allie, and his younger sister, Phoebe. He urges to not only protect children but himself from the innocence of childhood into adulthood. J.D. Salinger’s book The Catcher of in the Rye shows a teenage boy going through fear, signs of depression, and his concerns about adulthood. Holden Caulfield, sixteen years old, goes through a crisis identity.

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1067 Words | 5 Pages

This displays Holden’s impulsive reactions towards the death, and shows how he refuses to face the loss. The underagged character furthermore

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941 Words | 4 Pages

Holden´s own innocence was taken away too early which develops into his hatred of ¨phonies” and his desire to protect other children's natural purity which has not yet been spoiled by the mundane, and sometimes cruel, affairs of adult life. Thus it is because of this that Holden learns further into adult nature throughout Catcher in the Rye. Fundamentally, Holden strives to be seen as an adult, however, his attempts at navigating adulthood ironically portray him as a child. This sentiment is first introduced when Holden meets his former teacher, Mr. Spencer, to talk about his pending expulsion due to his failing grades which resulted from a lack of motivation.

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1125 Words | 5 Pages

Ultimately, Holden’s general loss of innocence can be attributed and supported mainly to Allie’s death. The theme of the book supports him attempting to save children from what he’s gone through by “losing their innocence,” but Holden aspires to be a “catcher in the rye” - which equates to someone who catches children from falling off of a cliff in a big field of rye (symbolizing inevitable losing innocence) that he believes they shouldn’t navigate themselves. We are able to observe many instances of this and analyze the specific details associated with each event, such as the Lavender Room and Phoebe, and discover a correlation between his alienation and his depression which stem from his loss of innocence - due to Allie’s

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