How Past Events Affect Holden Caulfield's Life
The Catcher in the Rye Year 2007 Essay Influence of the past resonates within society and ultimately within each individual. This influence, however, can be of detrimental or of advantageous affect. Holden Caulfield, protagonist of the novel The Catcher in the Rye, experiences first hand the effects of two earth-shattering traumas and of spirit breaking setbacks that play a toll on his emotional psyche. These incidences, the death of Caulfield's brother, the suicide of a school friend and his constant feeling of alienation, eventually leads him to reject what he feels is the "phoniness" of the adult world. The death of Holden's brother, Allie, greatly affected his ties to reality and preempted his mental breakdown. For instance, in chapter twenty-five, while wandering around New York, Holden continually prays to his brother saying, "Allie, don't let me disappear. Allie don't let me disappear," until he reached the other side of each street. This lapse in mental stability implies that Holden does not feel that he has a connection amongst his environment. Instead, he imagines that he is a fleeting presence that will instantaneously vanish at any given moment. In addition, this traumatic experience prompts the cynicism Holden expresses towards the world and he uses it to prevent him from expressing his feelings. His idealized view of Allie as being "the smartest and most
Why does Holden fear adulthood?
Valentina Díaz Why does Holden fear adulthood? The novel catcher in the rye is set in the 1950's and is narrated by a young boy called Holden Caulfield who is sixteen years old. He tells the story between the end of his school term and Christmas break. We know he is in a mental hospital and is telling the story of a few days he spent in New York city, he shares his feelings, emotions and opinions against the world surrounding him. Holden Caulfield, he is a person who feels the need to be in control of everything in his life, but the problem comes when he finds himself in the transition between childhood and adulthood. Holden wants and tries to act like an adult, but is unable to accept the fact he is becoming one, perhaps because of his association of adulthood with phonies and all he hates. By being in the stage where he is, he manages to avoid change, control his world with his own hands, yet creates a paradox between what he is, and what he wants to be. Possibly the main reason to why Holden doesn't want to become an adult is his perception of "phoniness" and hypocrisy surrounding adult society. Holden shows his criticism towards most of the grownups who intervene in his life, specially those related to his schools. We can take Ossenburger as an example, he represents everything Holden hates, wealthy famous character who for Holden only gives phony speeches on how to
Discuss the view that in "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" and "Catcher in the Rye" Holden and Ruby can be regarded as unreliable narrators
Julia Christie Coursework Discuss the view that in "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" and "Catcher in the Rye" Holden and Ruby can be regarded as unreliable narrators ---------------------------------- In both "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" and "Catcher in the Rye" there are obvious signs that Holden and Ruby are troubled and unreliable characters. The informal conversational tone that Holden uses is meant to be spontaneous and unrehearsed; so instead of getting a focused autobiography, we get a scanty account of a few days that often trail into other stories that are what we use to draw a picture of Holden. Holden states his intentions from the beginning. He has no intentions of telling his 'whole goddam autobiography or anything' and states clearly that he doesn't want to write 'all that David Copperfield kind of crap'. This also suggests that Holden has no concern with what has happened previously, which we later see is not the case. "Catcher in the Rye" is only spread over a few days unlike "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" which can be seen as more of a bildungsroman and appears to be a child's viewpoint in an adults voice. This is characterised by the use of vocabulary and descriptions and also marked by the use of parenthesis. Parenthesis often follows descriptions such as after the description of the guest bed Ruby adds in brackets 'much nicer than the camp bed'
Catcher in the Rye
Catcher in the Rye J.Solomon B Anyway, I really did go home after the carrousel. Firstly, Phoebe and I walked over to the pond and we sat and watched the ducks, you could see where the ice was starting to form around the edges of the pond I still didn't have a goddam clue where the ducks go when the pond freezes over. After a while I could see phoebe getting cold but she didn't wanna say, so we walked out of the park onto the east side, and took the bus to Grand Central, to get my goddam Gladstones out of the strong box there. Though it had stopped pouring out, I was still pretty wet. Boy, it rained a lot in New York while we were waiting for a cab Phoebe said that she was happy I could stay and see her in the play. To tell y'all the truth I'm kinda glad that I stayed and saw her in the play. I asked Phoebe where she thought the ducks went when the pond froze over, she said she didn't know. I lit up a cigarette, I must have smoked 'bout 10 packs since I left goddam Pencey. Mom and dad weren't too pleased when they found out about me leaving early but they took it ok taking all things into account. Phoebe took the day off and we decided to take a cab over to Ernie's. I thought maybe I could give old Jane a buzz, but when we got there, the place was packed full of phonies, even at four in the goddam afternoon. Phobe and me got a decent table coz I flashed a
Catcher in the Rye.
Catcher in the Rye By Bartek Les In J.D. Salinger's, The Catcher in the Rye, the novel tries to capture the adolescent life in a hyper-sensitive form, dramatizing Holden Caulfield as the main character who is known to be a "rebel against society." Holden Caulfield, a seventeen-year-old boy, believes in protecting the innocent. He strongly believes in saving the innocence of children who yet not know adulthood. Especially the innocence of his little sister because he lost his brother who he believes lost his innocence when he died. Holden wants the innocence of children to be frozen behind that glass just like the figures in the exhibit are preserved in the museum where he goes to find his little sister Phoebe. He tries to play the role of a hero trying to protect the citizens (children) from the monster (adult). Holden doesn't want to grow up yet because he believes that once you grow up, you become "phony", a word that Holden uses constantly throughout the book in describing adults and people who are prejudice, hypocrites or insincere, but at the same time he is moving to adulthood yet he doesn't want to except reality. For example, when Holden shows two boys where the Egyptian section in the museum is located, he finds that he is walking down a dark hallway. The two boys are afraid and run back but Holden continues forward. This represents how Holden is moving forward from
Does the character of Allie significantly change Holden? In The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger introduces Holden Caulfield, an innocent spirit surrounded by the ugly and harsh realities of the world around him.
Does the character of Allie significantly change Holden? In The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger introduces Holden Caulfield, an innocent spirit surrounded by the ugly and harsh realities of the world around him. Holden's need to preserve innocence mainly stems from the loss of his younger brother, Allie. Allie died young at the age of 11 of leukemia when Holden was 13 years old. Holden describes him as terrifically intelligent and the nicest, in lots of ways. Allie's poem-covered mitt is a symbol of how Holden remembers him: smart, sensitive, and insightful. He is Holden's ideal of innocence personified. When Allie dies, Holden smashes all the windows in the garage and his hands in the process. In that moment he encounters true loss for the first time. Salinger hints that it is this loss that fuels Holden's need to protect and preserve innocence; so that he will never have to feel that pain again. Three years later, he now stands on the edge of his cherished childhood, his innocence, peering down into the darkness of adulthood. He scorns the abysss phoniness and cynicism and instead clings to the purity of his childlike innocence. "If a body catch a body, coming through the rye," sings a little boy skipping on the street. Upon hearing this Holden is immediately comforted and notices that some of his depression is lifted. To Holden, the song conjures images of children
Review of The Catcher In The Rye
Catcher in the Rye This is a review of the book called The Catcher In The Rye. It is by Jonathon .D. Salinger. It is a narration, by a boy called Holden Caulfield, of his teenage life, from when he was expelled from Pencey Grammar to where he is now. He finds out he has been expelled from Pencey but his parents do not know. He has been expelled before from schools and he doesn't want his parents to find out so he runs away and spends a couple of nights in New York, one in a hotel and one in a train station. He has a little sister who he misses so much that he goes home late at night without his parents finding out and he meets his sister secretly. Later he decides to leave home and he arranges to meet his sister for the last time but something surprising happens The main character is a 17-year-old boy ho feels let down y the world and he cannot ignore the faults that so many other people can. He is very good at analysing characters and very often calls people 'phoney' and you actually agree with him. He has a sad moment when he is staying with a teacher, his last means of hope in this world and he is let down by him and this tips him over the edge. The other main character in this is Phoebe, his little sister who Holden loves. The reader starts to love her too as she seems just like the perfect sister. Cute, always happy, clever, and mature. She loves Holden a lot too. There
The Catcher in the Rye.
The Catcher in the Rye. In J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, the cause of Holden Caulfield's depression is his confusion about the societal roles of children and adults. He idolizes children, but wants to be mature; he wants to be mature, yet he thinks adults are "phonies". As evidenced by the "Catcher in the Rye" image, he feels himself to be between childhood and adulthood without belonging anywhere.? Children symbolize perfection in Holden's eyes. He idolizes the dead Allie, almost like the God that is absent from his worldview. From the time the reader is first introduced to Allie, when Holden is thinking about Allie's baseball mitt for Stradlater's composition, Holden is praising him: "He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent . . . But it wasn't just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody," (38). Later in the book, Holden prays to Allie to keep him safe or sane or to cheer him up. After Sunny, the prostitute Holden had sent to his room but sent away, leaves his hotel room, he says, "Boy, I felt miserable. I felt so depressed, you can't imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed," (98). Later still, as he's walking and before he decides to run away to pretend to be a
The Catcher In the Rye.
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE READING ANSWER Holden Caulfield is in many ways a typical teenager, doubtful of all authority and with a bad-tempered attitude. Within the first several paragraphs he dismisses his parents as "touchy" and his brother as a sell out to Hollywood consumerism, yet provides no real description of their personality. Holden dislike every character he mentions and all of the actions they undertake. Apart from his younger sister Phoebe. Who he lavishes nearly unconditional praise on her, detailing without any sense of sarcasm of her intelligence and talents. He even appears charmed by her foibles, such as misspelling the name of her girl detective the fascination that Holden has for Phoebe seems part of a longing for childhood.' Significantly, Holden compares her to Allie, one of the few other characters for whom Holden does not express contempt. These two characters, along with Jane Gallagher, represent for Holden a sense of innocence and childhood. Phoebe is still a child, Allie never had the change to mature, and Jane exists for Holden as an innocent girl playing checkers. The first major sign we get of the source of Holden Caulfield's psychological troubles is when he was describing the composition that he have to writes for Stradlater. But instead of writing about a room, he wrote about his brother Allie's baseball mitt in it he tells us about his brother
How much do you find you sympathise with the character of Holden?
How much do you find you sympathise with the character of Holden? Holden Caulfield is a very strange yet unique character. I think that everybody has a certain aspect of Holden inside of them. Holden is the very quiet, loner, calm type. Not many people are like this but most have some of these factors hidden deep inside them. Some people need to be calm sometimes, some need to be alone. This is a point which makes Holden a character that is easily relatable to. Holden's personality is not exactly the model one however. On the contrary, Holden is what one does not want to become like. I think this because the feelings he feels in 'Catcher in the Rye' are feelings or situations that many of us have felt or been in and they are not pleasurable. Holden is an outsider, maybe even a person with a mental problem. Or so he appears from the outside. We the readers have had the benefit of actually being in Holden's shoes while reading this book. This benefit causes us to know Holden more than some of his best friends do. We know how he thinks and how he thinks is extremely different from how he acts behind the mask he wears. Everything he does is almost to a certain extent the opposite of what he thinks. Holden tries to act tough but he has a huge heart. I sympathise with this very deeply as some feelings he feels about people are feelings that I'm sure we all have felt. The feeling
