How does Slinger present Holden as being both a strong and a weak character in 'The Catcher in the Rye'?

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Emily Dart 11C

How does Slinger present Holden as being both a strong and a weak character in ‘The Catcher in the Rye’?

Timed : 45mins

Salinger, author of the teenage novel ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, presents the character of Holden Caulfield to have both weak and strong qualities. He shows this through the use of his linguistic techniques. At a first glance it seems that the character of Holden only has weak points however, after a more in depth reading it is clear that he also has some strengths.

The first weakness to note about the character of Holden Caulfield is his judgemental tendencies. Throughout the first ten chapters this weakness becomes increasingly frequent. One example of this is when Holden goes to visit his history teacher, upon Mrs. Spencer’s opening of the door he comments, ‘They didn’t have a maid or anything, and they always opened the door themselves. They didn’t have too much dough.’ By Salinger’s use of this sentence Holden is showed to be judgemental towards even those whom he cares for. This suggests that his personality wills him to criticize, as well as this he notices ‘flaws’ others would not. On the other hand this could show a strength in which he is somewhat perceptive and notices many little differences others would not. Further on in the book Holden becomes alone and it seems that he either mentions others from his past so that he may judge them – ‘something happened once … I roomed with this boy, Dick Slagle, that had these very inexpensive suitcases’ – or begins to judge himself – ‘but I’m crazy. I swear to God I am’. These examples highlight this fault even more whilst also forming a new one in the shape of low self-esteem.

Holden is shown to categorise those he comes into contact with by how much money they have. This weakness is shown by how Salinger mentions Holden’s near disgust at things that aren’t as good as his an example of this is in Chapter 15; Holden as made a comment about the nun’s cheap suitcases and says ‘I can even get to hate somebody, just looking at them’. This suggests that Holden believes that material items determine people’s characters. This is a weak point as it shows his mind not only forces him to categorise but make premature judgements as well. Holden is also shown to categorize people by age groups. This means that he puts all adults into a typical stereotype and answers them in a way that ‘all’ adults would like to be answered. This is first evident upon Holden’s visit to Mr. Spencer when he says ‘while I shot the bull’; this suggests that he is making things up to please Mr Spencer. This quote also reveals another weakness in which Holden is not concerned about his future however seems to fixate on unimportant things; namely the ducks at Central Park ‘Where did he ducks go’. Salinger’s repetition of Holden’s ideas about these ducks suggests that Holden is somewhat immature therefore revealing a weakness however this could perhaps be due to his possible mental instability which is also hinted throughout Holden’s narration.

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Salinger often uses sex references to make it out like Holden is ‘sex-obsessed’ which is a clear weakness. An example where sexual reference has been used in an inappropriate place is ‘cold as a witch’s teat’. In this simile Salinger uses the image of a ‘teat’ to suggest that Holden is obsessed with sexual aspects. Although he often mentions sex Holden is in fact, much to the audience’s knowledge, a virgin who, soon after mentioning some sexual acts, admits that they are ‘crumby’. By the use of these to contradiction Salinger suggests that another weakness of Holden is that ...

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