Why Did The Catcher In The Rye Fail

In the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden was molded into someone with a more hopeful future. He went from a life of sloth and indifference to fighting for children and generously helping save their innocence. Holden first displays the sin of sloth through all aspects of his life, especially in his schooling. He is failing four out of five of his classes. Holden is a high school student and has been expelled of four schools already for academic failure. One of Holden's old teachers, Mr.Spencer, asked him how many classes he was taking. Holden responded with, “ ‘Five.’ And how many are you failing?’ ‘Four’” (Salinger 10). The reason Holden is failing so many classes is that he doesn't care about anything. He is overcome by

A uproar occurred between Holden and Stradlater. He fought for Jane even though he stood no chance against his beefy roommate. Generously he stood up for someone who didn't know the entire truth about someone. Much later in the book, Holden generously attempts to protect the innocence of children and protect them from the adult world. Innocence is a valuable to Holden, and he alludes that he had a traumatic experience at a young age which took it from him. It's shown in his attempt to erase the F-word off of public places so kids won’t see it. When his younger sister, Phoebe, asked him what he wants in life, Holden responds with, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to fall over the cliff” (Salinger 173). Holden wants to be the “catcher in the rye”. He wants to catch the children as they fall into adulthood, when they lose their innocence. He wants to be a hero but doesn’t want the recognition. This is where Holden’s character is truly shows. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger shows the development from the sin of sloth to the virtue of generosity. Holden changed for the