Why He Left Elkton Hills In Catcher In The Rye

In J.D. Salinger’s, “The Catcher and the Rye” tells a story about a 16 year old

boy, Holden Caulfield, during the 1950’s. In the beginning of the story, Holden explains that he’s

been having a hard time coping with his brother’s death. Throughout the story, Holden struggles

with his feelings, and is unable to recover with his brother being gone. He doesn’t want to ask

others for help, but rather keeps his feelings to himself. He complains about how his life

doesn’t make sense, but doesn’t gain “sense” of the world around him. He describes adults as

“phonies” which he does not consider himself as. Holden explains how the phoniness controls

his lifestyle, and complains about how they don’t portray for what they actually feel to do.

He does not want to ask others for help, but rather he keeps his feelings’ to himself. Holden is

againest some adults who in his opinion, are considered “phonies”. In Chapter 2, Holden

explains why he left Elkton Hills, “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I

was surrounded by phonies. They were all coming from the goddam window. For instance, they

had this headmaster, Mr. Haas, that was the biggest phoniest bastard I ever met in my

life”(pg.13-14). In the story, the people Holden doesn’t consider as “phonies” are, Allie, Phoebe,

and Jane which he considers as “authentic” kind of people. Throughout the story, Holden’s grief

for his dead brother, is hard for Holden, because he doesn’t want the recovery from his passing

that he needs in order to move from it.

Holden finds closure from his brother’s death when he watches Phoebe ride on

the carousel. He admires the innocence of Phoebe, a child having fun. However, readers are

unaware whether Holden takes the help he needs. He’s mindful that he needs to move on,