How Is Holden Caulfield Unsympathetic Character

The protagonist in a novel is the main character. Readers can feel sympathy or have a lack of sympathy for the protagonist in the novel. In the novel, The Catcher In the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Salinger creates an unsympathetic protagonist named Holden Caulfield. Readers are unsympathetic toward Holden because he grasped onto Allie’s death, frequently makes poor decisions and constantly criticizes minor characters without getting to know them.
The trait of holding on to the past displays the unsympathetic character trait of Holden Caulfield in two moments through Holden’s journey; having Allie’s baseball mitt and wanting his life to stay the way it was in the past. For example, Holden’s roommate, Stradlater asked Holden to write his composition …show more content…
For example, just as Holden came back from drinking at the Wicker Bar, he talked to Maurice, the elevator operator and agreed to pay Sunny, a prostitute for sex. After Holden makes the decision he comments, “It was against my principles and all, I was so depressed, I didn’t think” (91). Holden has an internal conflict; between narrator Holden and in the moment Holden. Holden’s internal conflict shows he made a life changing decision without thinking about the consequences till much later in life. Holden is a virgin, therefore if he had sex with Sunny it would be the first time he had sex. Holden is an unsympathetic character in this moment because sex is a very sensitive subject and Holden made a choice without thinking about the consequences. Therefore, readers have a lack of sympathy for Holden because Holden had to choice to respect himself but he chose not too. Another example is when Holden called Carl Luce, his former student advisor at Whooton school. Holden stayed late at the bar after Carl left. Then, Holden decided to walk to Central Park, “I walked all around the whole damn lake-I damn near fell in once, in fact” (154). The motif of falling displays Holden’s poor choice of drinking which could have been a life-changing moment. If Holden fell in the lake he would have died …show more content…
Antolini pats him on the head and when Holden ‘called ’Lillian Simmon’s boyfriend, “Commander Blob”. For instance, Holden is critical of his older brother’s old girlfriend’s boyfriend, an army guy. At the bar, Holden notices Lillian Simmon’s boyfriend, an army guy, “ His name was Commander Blob or something. He was one of those guys that think they are being a pansy if they don’t break around forty bones” (87). Using the hyperbole of breaking around forty bones the reader can clearly see Holden’s criticism towards an army guy who he named Commander Blob. Holden believes “Commander Blob” is just like any other army guy with no personality, who will be “pansy”,a coward if they do not squeeze a person's hand hard enough; in reality Lillian Simmon’s boyfriend is a relatable person since he agrees with Holden in the idea that no one can stand Lillian. As a result, readers find Holden unsympathetic because society wants people to get to know them without judging them. Furthermore, Holden believes that Mr. Antolini, a teacher at Elkton Hills is gay solely because his wife is much older than him and he pats Holden on the head while he was sleeping. When Holden was at Mr. Antolini’s house, Mr. Antolini offers Holden some brotherly advice, then while sleeping at Mr. Antolini’s house he wakes up to this disturbing situation, “What he [Mr. Antolini] was doing was, he was sitting