Preview

Examples Of Catcher In The Rye Essay On Thoughts And Choices

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
654 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Examples Of Catcher In The Rye Essay On Thoughts And Choices
Dania K.
Culminating activity
Mr. Shirbegi
June 6th

Part A. Mini essay
Thoughts, Choices, and Actions

Fate and destiny, people often confuse the two. According to the law of destiny, people "are in control of their destiny but have no control over fate. Destiny gives [people] an opportunity to turn a situation to [their] advantage and accomplish something great through [their] own efforts. It is designed to give [people] the best opportunities for the development of [their] consciousness. It doesn't detract from [their] free-will in any way, because [they] decide exactly how [they] want to act in any situation" - (EsotericScience.org). Sometimes, we are unaware of the fact that we are in charge of our own destiny. While those who are aware
…show more content…
Holden could have looked at entering adulthood in a positive manner but failed to do so. Instead of learning from their mistakes, Holden blames the adults in his life for ruining adulthood. His pessimistic state of mind and childish behaviors led to hardship and …show more content…
Parson and Markwardt from the text The Man Who Had No Eyes. Both the men start off as factory workers, and go through the same traumatic experience of the Westbury chemical explosion, where "a hundred and eight people [were] killed, about two hundred injured, and over fifty of them lost their eyes" It was up to them where they wanted to end up. Choosing to not let his impairment get in the way, Mr. Parson decides to take control of his life by turning himself into a "successful, respected, [and] admired" insurance broker. Whereas, Markwardt decides to take the easy road and plays on the sympathy of others. He blames the Westbury chemical explosion for him being handicapped and jobless. The quote "people who make the choice to study, work hard or do whatever they endeavor is to give it the max on themselves to reach to the top level. And you have the people who get envy and jealous, yet are not willing to put that work in, and they want to get the same praise" (Evander Holyfield) perfectly describes the characters, Mr Parson and Markwardt. Unlike Markwardt, Mr Parson chose to take control of his life after the explosion. He made the choice to change himself as well as his life for the better and not to be so dependent on others, despite his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    One of Holden’s biggest problems is his idealism. What he demands and expects of the world is unreasonable; he expects near perfection from everyone and everything and, as this is impossible, is always disappointed with the world and those around him.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Something that is always brought up is,¨do we control our destiny or does your destiny choose you?¨ Well folks the answer is very simple. I am going to summarize two stories that talk about how much we control our destiny. People have also been talking about this concept for many centuries too.…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leaving home and living on his own is an aspiration of Holden’s, but this is made into a child-like fantasy world in his mind. Holden dreams of being a protector over children, a “catcher in the rye”, from the danger of becoming an adult.…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Holden came from a wealthy family and could have anything he wants. His parents have paid for him to go to a numerous amount of prep schools. He has everything he could ever wanted and more and still this kid isnt happy. He wont be happy untill he can actually find his true love.…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden believed he could help kids, saving them form losing their innocence. He wanted to be the “catcher in the rye.” But he now knows he can’t, kids have to grow up. We all grow up and there is nothing we can do about it. He finally accepts that, he come face to face with himself. Holden is growing up. He accepts the hard cold truth about adulthood. Eventually kids will learn they have to grow up and they will finally acknowledge it just like Holden did. For once Holden is happy, before he was unstable but he has an emotional release. The carousel shows adulthood, you have to let them make mistakes to…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden purposely alienates himself from others and doesn’t hold many close relationships. He displays lack of interest in his education. It is not straight forward, but Holden believes he has no future, does he even want one? Detachment is also represented when he fails out of every school he is sent to. He rebels against those who wish for him to have a decent life. Mr. Antolini was one of those who cares and stated “ the mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one” which Holden takes advantage of . Holden is particularly introverted (Salinger 188). He wanders the city, passing hundreds of by standards, he is still all alone. Sure he wants to talk to people but he doesn’t know how to hold a proper conversation. He is a constant critic of others actions although his actions make him come off as an arrogant pest, therefore Holden isolates…

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden Caulfield, the novel’s protagonist, is a pivotal character in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is characterized as an innocent, apathetic, naive teen who is seeking knowledge of life and the meaning of becoming an adult. Holden’s struggle with seeing the genuine nature of people is something that acts as a barrier for him throughout the novel. Holden is troubled and burdened throughout the story, which causes him to have a warped view on an array of subjects. Holden passes strict judgement on everyone, as he struggles to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Holden appears to be stunned when he sees how different the life of an adult is comparison to that of children. His views on topics such as, life, his future, and sex. Holden approaches each of these subjects with strict views, and feels dejected when he realizes there are more multiple perspectives to these topics.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Just like the lake in a midway transition, Holden is between childhood and adulthood, and cannot seem to let go of his younger years. This is regularly proven when something goes wrong and he does something more adult in Holden's mind view such as repaying the prostitute. After the events, he often thinks he deserved it or just wanted to end it all. It can be regularly seen when something does not go the way Holden intended, he will often verbally beat himself up about it which shows Holden does not have very good self-esteem at this age. Interestingly, Holden also mentions "I didn't give much of a damn any more if they caught me. I really didn't. I figured if they caught me, they caught me. I almost wished they did, in a way." This can be interpreted to mean perhaps Holden wanted to transition into adulthood, but the grief of Allie's death was holding him back too much. Although at the end of the book, Holden has a realization about adulthood. During the carousel scene with Pheobe, Holden realizes Instead, of trying to catch kids or his own self from going into adulthood, he should allow them to make their own mistakes. He says, “I was sort of afraid…but I didn’t say or do anything…If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them” (232). Comparatively, it took a while for Holden to come to this realization. Moreover, it also helped…

    • 1410 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden vainly seeks for innocence in society only developing anger and depression as a result. Holden acts disturbingly at the thought of Jane, his childhood friend, having a casual encounter with his room…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Holden is experiencing the pressures that come along with adolescence, ergo does not know how to cope with his feelings. This leads him to judge everyone but himself. Furthermore, afraid of confrontation, Holden blames the “phonies” when problems arise, and projects his insecurities of himself on others. Despite Holden’s distasteful attitude, Holden possess morally correct ideas about how things ought to be. However, while Holden struggles to find himself, the extremity of Holden’s thoughts and his social inability to act appropriately in situations causes him to project a semblance of angst at the entire world.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Though Holden needs closeness and love in order to renew his life, he keeps driving himself further away from it in order to avoid the inevitable loss. The more he wants to experience life, the more antisocial he becomes and the more he imagines death. This paradox is part of Holden’s life: there is pain in shutting down one's feelings, and there is pain in the risk of opening oneself up again. He impossibly tries to avoid pains that are inevitable for human mortals while they live. As he starts to become mature since he says “...I said, in this very mature voice and all "Oh, I have a few qualms, all right. Sure. . . but not too many. Not yet, anyway. I guess it hasn't really hit me yet. It takes things a while to hit me. All I'm doing right now is thinking about going home Wednesday. I'm a moron." "Do you feel absolutely no concern for your future, boy?" "Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess." "You will," old Spencer said. "You will, boy. You will when it's too late." (Page 17) Since this is the beginning of the story it does show a sense of maturity through education however another example was Holden's interactions with his little sister Phoebe show his "maturity". He acts as a role model to her, or at the least…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There are two traumatic events that take place in Holden’s life. The first of the two is when his brother Allie had died of leukemia. The second experience is when a boy by the name James Castle commits suicide after being a victim of severe bullying. The suicide of the boy seems to shake Holden the most. Seeing James bloodied body before him puts the thought of “this could’ve been me” idea into his brain. After these past events take place, he begins to alienate himself as a form of self-protection from the rest of the world. It’s not a very effective method because he deprives himself of human interaction which we as humans crave.…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The novel is basically about young Holden and his psychological problems. He is stuck between the adult world versus rejecting it. So Holden attempts to connect with his peers on a whole different level. He experiences an encounter that deems him unable to handle a sexual encounter. Finally, it is revealed to Holden that he should just remain a child for as long as possible and not to rush himself into adulthood.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden failed out of three schools. With each school, came grand changes. With each school came a grade level older. With each school came new acquaintances. All which are factors that changed Holden. Transitioning from school to school was a detail that could have meant him not being comfortable with his transitioning into adulthood.…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Throughout the novel Holden fights to protect his innocence from the cruel society around him that is just so… phony. He hates all of society for the phony things it does, he hates sex because that may make him feel that he too is apart of the adult life, and he hates change because change is just a recipe for a child to step into the new life, the older more mature life. The one that comes with responsibilities that Holden is not ready to…

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays