Catcher in the rye

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Patrick Doyle                Sunday 26th October 2008

        Explore the idea that Holden is on a quest in the novel. What is he searching for?

Throughout the novel, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, Holden Caulfield, The Main Character, also the narrator, is on a big and difficult journey through Adolescence.

He always feels really down, depressed and blue about everything throughout the three days the book is set on. He mentions this depression a few times in the book. One of them, by saying ‘Anyway, it made me feel depressed and lousy again, and I damn near got my coat back and went back to the hotel, but it was too early and I didn't feel much like being all alone.’

Holden Caulfield is looking for the meaning of life and his destiny. He is looking for some friends that care about him, as all his friends at his old school were unpleasant towards him, which meant he didn’t like most of them. Stradlater was one of the people which he didn’t like. He described him as a bastard many times. One of them was, ‘…stupid bastard like Stradlater.’

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‘Why am I here’? You can almost hear him thinking it! He is looking for love, and affection. The only few times you see him more cheerful in this book are when he is with the few people who love and care about him especially Phoebe, his sister. Holden and Phoebe get along quite well. An example of a time when Phoebe shows Holden the affection he desires is when Holden goes to his parent’s house to see phoebe and she greets him. ‘She put her arms around my neck and all. She's very affectionate.’  

At various ...

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