Holden Caulfield Character Analysis

In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is a rather unique character. He has several complications with other characters that he runs into, and does not seem that he is able to relate to anyone. However, Holden has a younger sister named Phoebe, and he seems to connect with her in a way that he does not with anyone else. She is only ten years old, so she and Holden both have a childlike mind. On the other hand, Phoebe seems to have a positive outlook on life while Holden sees most things in a negative light. Another contrast between them is that Phoebe puts in effort at school, and Holden is clearly not concerned his performance at school.

    Holden Caulfield, the main character in J.D. Salinger's novel, The Catcher In The Rye, feels that he needs to protect people around him, because he failed to protect his brother Allie from death. Holden feels that he has to care for those close to him. He watches over Jane, Phoebe, and even Mrs. Murrow when he meets her on the train. Holden tries to shield these people from distress. He does not want to fail anyone else.

The relationship between Holden and Phoebe forms a major theme that the novel aims to deliver. The fact that he is having this conversation with Phoebe, a child who is anything but simple and innocent, reveals the oversimplification of his worldview. Holden himself realizes this to a degree when he acknowledges that his idea is “crazy”, yet he cannot come up with anything more pragmatic; he has trouble seeing the world in any other way. His “catcher in the rye” fantasy reflects his innocence, his belief in pure, uncorrupted youth, and his desire to protect that spirit. On the other hand, it represents his extreme disconnection from reality and his naïve view of the world. Phoebe exposes to Holden a living embodiment of childhood. And it is a scene with her where she exposes to Holden the illogical nature of his supervisory actions, indicating that his desire to preserve her innocence will only halt her own inevitable development. Phoebe is the Greek word for “protector of children” (Bloom 2009, p185). Within the novel she is Holden’s protector. She comforts him, provides him with financial security, and protects him from getting in trouble with their mother. Reiff describes this reversal of roles between Holden and Phoebe as “Now, instead of saving the world by protecting the children, Holden wants to reject the world and shut himself off from evil by becoming a ‘deaf-mute’ in the West. It is Phoebe who rescues him from this total withdrawal” (Reiff 2008, p71). Phoebe forces Holden to view her as a human—living and progressing— rather than as a forever preserved child, and it is this humanization that causes Holden to accept her eventual progression into

He complains throughout The Catcher in the Rye about his rough childhood, yet his constant complaining helps the reader discern as to why he acts out the way he does. Holden starts off the story explaining what the reader is reading. He explains how he resents his brother D.B. since D.B. is actually doing something with his life (Salinger 3-4). Also, Holden seems to have this attitude of not caring, and the reader can tell that it most likely is from his childhood because every school he goes to he eventually flunks out or is kicked out. When he goes to talk to Mr. Spencer, he does not seem to care what his parents will think about failing another school (12-13). Holden also acts out and does not think of the consequences of his actions. While preparing to leave Pencey, Holden starts teasing Stradlater and does not stop. This results in the two getting into a fight. Holden is severely hurt because of his actions, which shows how he acts out on various occasions (57-58). He leaves Pencey and sets himself up at a hotel. While there, Holden gets into an argument with Maurice. Holden makes Maurice mad, and Maurice pins Holden on the

From a number of plays, novels, and short stories, there is always a sort of display of different sides of human nature. To every human heart, there are two sides to the same coin, there is a good side, and there is an darker side, that's not exactly evil, but it isn't exactly good either. Even though all humans see each other, and label them generally as either good or evil, they aren't exactly just one or the others. There are human beings portrayed as being "not good" but are genuinely pure at heart, and on the other hand, there are human beings that appear to be good-natured on the outside, but are unrighteous and malignant on the outside. Humans aren't also essentially strong or weak either; they are susceptible to subliminal elements

Younger siblings are commonly looked at as inexperienced , immature , and annoying . In the Catcher of The Rye , a novel by J.D Salinger , Holden Caulfield , the main character , challenges that stereotype when he describes Phoebe Caulfield , his ten year old younger sister. After getting kicked out of Pencey Prep , Holden Caulfield goes to New York . While in New York Holden gives a tour of the world through his lenses. He often describes everyone as phony and fake.

Holden Caulfield and Phoebe Caulfield are siblings in the novel The Catcher in the Rye. Being siblings, they have many similarities as well as differences. Holden is the main character in the novel, and the narrator of the story. Holden is writing from a mental hospital about his experience, “around last Christmas just before I got run down.” (Salinger, 1) He writes about his journey from Pencey Prep School, in Agerstown, Pennsylvania, to his home in New York City. Along the way he encounters many different important people to the story, one of the most important characters he encounters along the way is his sister Phoebe who teaches Holden what it means to be mature.

Characters are often labeled as being the antagonists and the protagonists, but there are also another group of characters that are known as the sympathetic characters. They are those who are caring and compassionate. These characteristics exist in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J. D. Salinger. This novel is about a young man named Holden Caulfield, who sets out on a three day journey in which he is challenged by his inner depression and angst. Finally, on the last day of his adventure, Holden arose with the help of his sister, Phoebe Caulfield.

In the novel, “The Catcher in the Rye,” there are two characters that have many similarities but also differences. One difference that plays a key role in the novel is that Holden does not live at home, while Phoebe does. This plays a key role in the novel because this is mainly what the novel is about. At the beginning of the novel, Holden is in a mental hospital and basically goes crazy. Also, something Holden took very hard was the death of his brother, Allie. Phoebe did not take the death of Allie as hard as Holden did. Phoebe was young when Allie died so she didn’t really know what was going on, but Holden didn’t believe it when his brother died. He kept thinking over and over in his head that Allie was not actually dead. “I’d make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I’d say to him

During the novel Catcher in the Rye, the reader finds out that characters Holden Caulfield and Phoebe Caulfield share many things in common and are different in many ways. As siblings, their overall appearance shows a resemblance of one another, but they have many physical traits that differ. Another thing that comes to mind is each character's personalities. There are one or two ways that the characters act like each, but for the most part, they lack similarities within their personalities. Lastly, when comparing the two characters we see how they perceive things in the novel. This is where the characters are most different from one another. In the novel Catcher in the Rye Holden and Phoebe possess similar qualities and different traits with one another in personality, physical appearance, and how they perceive things.

In [What novel?] the novel, Holden Caulfield is a teenager who was just expelled [Based on the first and last chapter, you should have been able to tell that this is a flashback. Holden is in a mental institution working with a “psychoanalyst guy they have here” (213) and plans to “go home next month” (1).] from school for failing in his academics and as he decides one night to leave the school, he leaves running into many situations where it is shown that he despises the adulthood yet has already taken interest in things like alcohol, cigarettes, and sex. He seems to be sarcastic and careless in the novel with his remarks but with these kind of characteristics is also a boy who relates to teenagers all over the world in ways such as rebelling

In “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield is a nervous and unhappy dropout. After being kicked out of his prestigious high school, he goes to New York City and roams the streets for three days searching for both innocence and adulthood. While he holds a hatred for “phonies”, people he sees as fakes or cheats, he himself can be portrayed as a phony.

My outlook on life will constantly change but I agree with the fact that we need to accept the life of Holden Caulfield. He won’t be a child forever and we won’t either. Granted, we don’t know what becomes of him and his life, it makes us question what we want from ourselves and who we want to be. But we do know that he grew up, e veryone does. Holden was scared of tarnishing his innocence and many of us are too. But as we get older our feelings and opinions change, it’s going to happen. As the reader we are “flattered to be confided in” by

Holden and Phoebe are brother and sister in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Holden has this problem, where he wants to protect kids from losing their innocence. He is attached to a lot of little kids. But him and Phoebe are different for that story. Holden wants to protect her innocence, she knows how to handle Holden, and they have a connection that he doesn’t have with his older brother D.B., but he had one with Allie who passed away. Phoebe just has the innocence that Holden doesn’t have.

In Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger creates a unique narration through the way Holden speaks. In The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger reveals the inner Holden Caufield through the style of Salinger's writing. Salinger writes the book as if Holden Caulfield speaks directly through the reader, like a kid telling a story to his friends. Like with most conversations, there is more to infer from not only the speaker says, but also how the speaker says it. In the book, readers can infer that Holden is much more than a cynical kid. In reality, he is "too affectionate" and "very emotional" (76), much like his little sister Phoebe.