Holden Caulfield Essay Example
Everyone has their own problems. Some have more problems than others. Some people have many problems, and then there is Holden Caulfield. J.D. Salinger in The Catcher in the Rye, shows Holden as someone who has a great amount of problems. Holden’s little brother Allie died when he was young, and Holden has been kicked out of multiple schools. Holden is hypocritical throughout the book in various ways, showing that he is very confused. Holden says one thing but does the other various times in the book. Holden is like no other person, he ran away from home after being kicked out of his third school, and is a failure many times throughout the book. Holden is confused about what to do in life and he is confused when it comes to school. Despite the fact that he will be getting no education, he has no friends to help him because his relationship skills show he’s confused as well. Holden is very hypocritical about his own behavior presenting the image of him being confused. An example of this is when he buys the red hunting hat. He says he bought the hat because it was so brightly colored and he knew it would stand out. However, he always makes a point of taking it off when he goes outside. He tries to present an image of self-confidence and indifference to the opinions of others, but his actions clearly show that he is very self-conscious. “…but it was freezing cold and I took my red hunting hat out of my pocket and put it on, I didn’t give a damn how I looked". Holden says here that he does not care what he looks like .However, “I took my old hunting hat out of my pocket while I walked and put it on. I knew I wouldn’t meet anybody that knew me, and it was pretty damp out” Holden shows that he will only put it on when no one is around. Nevertheless, Holden’s judgmental attitude toward sex can also be seen as hypocritical. Holden criticizes people who are overtly sexual, and he deeply fears that exposure to sex is extremely dangerous to innocence. Holden values