Holden Caulfield Satire

People need to read Catcher in the Rye at least once before they die. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is a book that takes the reader inside the head of Holden Caulfield, a depressed sixteen-year-old, who enters a strange series of adventures in New York City. Holden writes his story from a mental hospital in California, about how he was expelled from a fancy prep school, his experiences after spending a few days in NYC. The book has had critical success since its publication in 1951, selling sixty-five million total copies, after a splendid review from the New York Times. Catcher in the Rye is a great novel because of its subtle symbolism, amazing portrayal of Holden Caulfield and ends on a higher note than most people realize.

Throughout the novel, Holden attempts to find the true from of himself as he struggles with the social interactions around him. Due to the struggle and confusion that arouses from it,

The Catcher in the Rye is one of J. D. Salinger's world-famous books about the disgruntled youth. Holden Caulfield is the main character and he is a seventeen- year-old dropout who has just been kicked out of his fourth school. Navigating his way through the challenges of growing up, Holden separates the “phony” aspects of society, and the “phonies” themselves. Some of these “phony” people in his life are the headmaster whose friendliness depends on the wealth of the parents, and his roommate who scores with girls using sickly-sweet affection. This book deals with the complex issues of identity, belonging, connection, and alienation. Holden senses these feelings most of the time and is guilty about many things in

J.D Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye has been a hit on the shelves since its publication in 1951. It tells the story of Holden Caulfield, a lost adolescent who journeys to find his place in the

For decades, Salinger has been an influence on contemporary authors who strive to question, challenge, and emulate the struggles of a society. Holden Caulfield is an interesting character that slowly falls into the world of insanity as we follow his story when he leaves his Boarding School. Salinger’s writing makes you question what our world is really like and how each generation may view his/her own world. Being caught up in Holden’s story is like a roller-coaster because he is constantly thinking of ways to proceed with his life. There are moments where we catch glimpses of his true insanity and moments were your heart catches. The Catcher in the Rye is a classic that will appease to almost anyone. Plus, come on, it was/is banned in many

J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye presents a look into the mind of Holden Caulfield, a popular literary icon numerous teenagers have rightfully found themselves relating to at some point. While the familiar emotions of Holden were welcoming for me, his anecdotes and witty remarks proved entertaining as well. The story chronicles Holden’s exploration through New York post-expulsion, with his point of view influenced by his growing alienation with the world. He represents that growing sense of unease at growing up and facing a reality that is not always pretty, and, in his case, a need to save children from having to face that reality. I personally admired the fact that he was not just an angry teenager in the world as stereotypes suggest.

The New York City setting is overwhelming to Holden because it is full of adults who have somewhere they need to be or something they have to do, and the adult world is something that scares Holden as well as mostly every teenager out there. Holden thinks a lot about his parents and what they would think about the mistakes Holden is making. Holden also tries to step into the adult world but in the wrong way: he thinks about sex, he drinks and takes drugs, and makes decisions on his own but this only causes more trouble in Holden’s life. This leads to the theme of teen angst and alienation from the adult world in the novel, which in turn leads to the connection between readers and Holden; a connection that makes the novel an enduring story. The Catcher in The Rye is a great enduring tale of a young teen going through the hardships of becoming an adult, but there is also Song of Solomon which portrays how it was growing up during racial segregation in the 1960’s.

If Holden is to truly breakout of his suffering, he must open himself up. And though it will ultimately lead to pain when he misses them, the greater pain lies in Holden completely walling himself off from others. To finalize, Holden’s discovery of

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is a timeless novel, bringing up the controversial truth of mental health and the manners in which society's norm impacts us as individuals. Immediately when reading the book it becomes clear that Holden Caulfield is damaged, but who in this world isn’t? The reader becomes aware of Holden’s traumas as he struggles to clearly define and label them. Holden’s embodiment of an average teenager, is a refreshingly clear explanation of teenage angst. He bounces back, memory to memory, recalling different things as the reader experiences his breakdown.

However, once you begin to read the story and get to know Holden you understand him and also understand why he acted the way he did. Many teenagers today have similar issues that Holden experienced during the story. After I read the story it makes me want to watch my children closely and make sure I have that one on one relationship with them so that they are not afraid to grow up and be adults. The Catcher in the Rye story is one that I will always be ready to talk about and discuss with friends or even

Like many other young people approaching adulthood, Holden Caulfield is nervous. Holden is in a difficult place in his life, and struggles with the idea of becoming an adult. In by J.D. Salinger, the author is able to descriptively portray Holden’s concerns about his future. Salinger through his unique writing style and language is able to relate his novel to the reader, and hint at a larger theme in the book. The authors main point in the book is that Holden is deathly afraid of losing the innocence and safety of childhood, and venturing out to the cold and harsh adult world.

Unfortunately, Holden quickly realizes his values discord with those of society’s, causing him to falsely believe the adult world is “full of phonies” (185). Unwilling to associate himself with this phoniness, Holden isolates himself from the adult world; he continues to cling onto his waning childhood. Allie's death instills in Holden a pessimistic attitude toward life, and he uses his contempt for society a means to justify his alienation.

The language and point of view has adolescence speak for itself; all of Holden’s erratic emotions come and go without limit. In one moment he can be considering calling his sister, and in the next he’s giving a review on the French movie, The Baker’s Wife. The Catcher in the Rye is realistically, but unpredictably, written as things come and go in one’s head. The novel itself is a look into the mind of a deteriorating teen and all honest emotions that come along with it. Burger mentions that Salinger “tells the story well … under the special difficulties … of Holden’s first-person narrative,” and I wholeheartedly agree.

The book shows how the misunderstanding of one struggling teen adolescent can affect their very outlook on life. To many people Holden is negative, rude, depressed, etc. But once you try to put yourself in his shoes you realize that Holden is seeing how the world really is and he is showing that yes there are negative parts in life but there are also positive parts in life as well and how he knows why things happen for a reason from his brother Allie dying of Leukemia to seeing his loving kid-sister Phoebe. To me the book has it’s rough spots and it’s great spots, I like how the book starts out in first person when Holden says, “I’m not going to tell you my whole goddamn biography or anything.” this gives you a quick first look at Holden’s true character and how he speaks his mind with everyone. The book also has some bad parts such as when Holden starts to digress like when he mentions his brother Allie, his sister Phoebe, or his brother D. B. it starts to bore me when he goes into extraordinary detail about something that doesn’t need to be covered that much. Overall I really enjoyed the book and the story

The characters were very diverse, personalized, and complimented Holden’s personality well. Unfortunately this book used profanity quite a bit. Although swear words can sometimes be used to make a defining statement, most if not all profanity used was unnecessary and repetitive. J.D. Salinger did a great job with making Holden’s inner thoughts resound with the reader. Even though Caulfield’s comments appeared more driven and profound than a normal person’s, most people have felt and thought similar things and emotions that were expressed by Holden. The writing and style of this book were very good; however, the plot and story itself wasn’t interesting and exciting, but rather seemed to go on and on. Also, even though Holden is constantly complaining about what is happening around him, he never openly discusses his feelings or expresses what he feels about events. This antagonistic view on the world, where nothing is ever functioning as it should, was enough to drive you crazy. Perhaps this is a device J.D. Salinger used to personalize and connect with the reader more. No wonder Holden Caulfield was admitted to a mental hospital near the end of the book. A lot of Holden’s troubles can be directly attributed to his young age and immaturity. At the tender age of 16, it comes across as being that Holden has been subjected to the worst of the world and hasn’t been able to view the happy and wonderful things that humanity has