"The Catcher in the Rye" opens with Holden Caulfield at Pency Prep, his high school, where he has just been kicked out for failing almost all of his classes. Holden, as a lost and frustrated teen, goes to his room for his last night before planning to run away from Pency Prep for some "alone time" before telling his parent he was kicked out of another school.…
Grieving is specific to everyone, although according to the American psychiatrist Elizabeth Keebler-Ross all of us go through to five stages when suffering loss, denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. While reading the story it is clear that he went to all five stages. Heartbreakingly he did…
Similar observations are made by academic writer and author Sarah Graham in her book entitled Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. In this book, Graham addresses a variety of reading techniques, themes, and comparisons/contrasts in regards to Salinger’s most popular novel, but she specifically addresses the main theme of Holden’s attempt to escape the phony 1950’s materialistic focused society surrounding him. Graham begins her take on this theme of escaping society with a chapter on Holden’s rebellion: “Developing the theme of rebellion, Holden’s visit to Mr. Spencer confirms that he is opposed to the conventional ideas that school and society encourage in order to promote stability” (34). During this visit to Mr. Spencer’s house that Graham…
Often times, a death might bring unexpected negative consequences to the grieving people, and cause them to act out or adjust differently to life without them. Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, was the most afflicted in his family by his brother’s death, and he faces the ongoing repercussions of it. Shortly after Allie's death, Holden need a psychanalyst to help him cope, but never fully moved past his brother's passing. Therefore, the death of Allie affects Holden’s depressive behavior, his transition between childhood and adulthood, and finally, his realization of growing up is essential in life.…
The title, The Catcher in the Rye, directly indicates the reoccurring theme of the novel, to protect the innocence of the younger generations. The novel is structured on Holden’s desire to protect all the innocent children in the world from growing up because with age comes experiences that lead to corruption and the loss of innocence.…
In today’s society, the youth struggles to find their place and identity in the world they live in. This often leads to seeking personal isolation rather than human interaction, as an attempt to free themselves from being emotionally overwhelmed. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger explores the idea of alienation through the voice of the conflicted narrator, Holden Caulfield. Holden is a profoundly troubled teenager who has completely alienated himself from the society and his surroundings. Although his voice portrays intelligence and sensitivity, Holden is hostile with the hypocrisy and “phoniness” that he observes in the world around him.…
J. D. Salinger published Catcher in the Rye in 1951. Later, he wrote several short stories after. The story takes place in New York City in the late 1940s, after WWII. Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye is faced with the problem of growing up in New York. Throughout the book, the theme of growing up is showed. In the story, New York is a society in which there are a lot of phonies. Holden constantly resists the pull of adulthood as it faces him in life. J. D. Salinger develops the theme of growing up through New York and Holden’s resistance to the society.…
Stress, depression, and confusion, has made the protagonist a interesting character. The author J.D Salinger represents Holden in The Catcher in the Rye as a failing student at Pencey Prep trying to go through life the best he can. However Holden's life has not been easy many things have happened to Holden. Throughout Holden's life many things have hurt him and many things have helped him such as adults, children, women, and peers. How ever as throughout the book Holden has changed how he interacts with people.…
Imagine what it feels like to be a teenager. Is a teenager considerate and open minded? The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger talks about a teenager named Holden Caulfield who tells his story about a school named Pency Prep in Pennsylvania, away from his sister and parents. Throughout most of this book, Holden explains his inner thoughts regarding everyone he knows, and most of them are judgmental. Holden is considered to be a typical American teenager in this novel. First of all, teenagers like to express their thoughts. In Sylvia Plath’s article “Sylvia Plath at Seventeen”, she begins saying,“As of today I have decided to keep a diary again―just a place where I can write my thoughts and opinions when I have a moment. Somehow I…
Every child experiences maturation, and struggles through their adolescence as they attempt to hold on to their innocence. The novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger, illustrates this theme through the character of Holden Caulfield. Holden is an isolated, self-critical, sixteen year old boy, whose attitude is governed by a hatred of hypocrisy which he believes, surrounds him. Holden is terrified of growing up because he sees all of the ugliness of the adult world that he will be forced to enter. However, he already lost his innocence when his brother Allie died of leukemia four…
In the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield portrays the second stage of grief, which is anger. Anger is when a person is not only angry with others, but with themselves. Holden occasionally still tends to show denial, but has moved more towards anger.…
The genuine joy Holden gets from watching Phoebe is a striking image of his fantasies of innocence and his collapsing psyche. For a moment Holden sees the joy that he envisions all the children of his rye field are like. Within Phoebe’s happiness Holden is transfixed and distraught, because the sudden realization that he is transitioning to a world he does not feel equipped for triggers the end of his ambivalence. As the carousel spins so does Holden’s reality, he loses sense of even further sense of himself. The Catcher in the Rye is a bildungsroman, but it is unique in how Holden not only resists growing up, but also he ends the novel more unstable and lost than he started off as. A quest or journey is supposed to lead to a literal or metaphorical…
Young men have to deal with all these emotions, girls, puberty, and school. Most would say this is a huge factor for young men and how they grow up. We see this character named Holden Caulfield, experience this though his journey of becoming a man. A variety of themes occur from J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye.” Holden is dealing with grieving from losing someone and trying to find his purpose in life. Three themes that occur the most throughout Holden's story include loneliness, love, and phoniness.…
Some works of literature portray childhood and adolescence as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder. Others portray it as times of tribulation and terror. In J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, childhood seems to be shown more as times of innocence. Childhood is praised by the protagonist Holden Caulfield, as he does not seem to like the idea that he will grow up and life will be different. The meaning of the novel as a whole is basically that growing up sucks, so protect your innocence. Holden shows this throughout the entire novel by showing his hatred to society, sex and change. Holden talks about how he hates pretty much everyone, women, phonies, and even cliques, he hates that society is run by adults and he HATES adults. He…
J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is about a young Holden Caulfield’s growth into maturity. Caulfield begins the novel as an inexperienced boarding school student attending Pencey Prep, a private boarding school located in Pennsylvania, who is struggling academically and socially. After getting kicked out of yet another boarding school, Caulfield travels to New York City before going home. After staying in New York for the time period between when he got kicked out and when he can return home Caulfield learns the struggles of living in the adult world. As he experiences New York, it opens his eyes to the painfulness of growing up and he wants to escape it. A major theme in this story is keeping innocence, which is portrayed through Caulfield’s theory about the catcher in the rye, his need to protect his sister, and the red hunting hat.…