Literary Analysis Essay: The Catcher In The Rye

But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game” (8). Holden does not understand Spencer’s metaphor. Holden believes that life can only be a game if people are given advantages. From his point of view, he is one of the unlucky ones, but in reality he is on the side with the hot-shots, because he is given many advantages that others are not. Salinger emphasizes Holden’s immaturity in a very subtle way by having Holden’s authority figures always calling him “boy”. Both Mr. Spencer and Mr. Antolini call Holden “boy”. Of Spencer, Holden says, “I wished to hell he’d stop calling me ‘boy’ all the time” (12) and then later on, Antolini tells Holden, “You’re a very, very strange boy” (193). Both Mr. Spencer and Mr. Antolini recognize and acknowledge Holden’s immature behaviour in calling him “boy”. This only stresses the fact that Holden cannot seem to realize he is acting more like a child than a teenager. Holden’s red hunting hat is a very important symbol in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden uses this hat as a way to hide from society. He says, “That hat I bought had earlaps in it, and I put them on–I didn’t give a damn how I looked. Nobody was around anyway” (53). Holden thinks that wearing his red hunting hat makes him an individual, but in reality, he will only wear it when no one is around to judge him. It is his immaturity that makes him believe that he is being unique,

Adolescence plays a major role in a teenager’s mind and how it affects the young, especially Holden, a boy who struggles with the limbo between adulthood and childhood. Holden is struggling with adolescence due to his failure in school and how his stubbornness and ignorance plays a major role in his personality. Also his struggle to protect the innocence of others and that of his teenage creates Holden’s journey in the novel. Salinger’s use of symbolism such as Holden constantly worrying about the ducks in the frozen lake, the red hunting hat, and the need to protect the innocence of his surroundings as the Catcher in the Rye to disclose how Holden is stuck between adulthood and childhood.

The novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is a narrative which examines the growing process of Holden Caulfield, a rebellious, sardonic teenager. Initially, Holden is portrayed as a rash, somewhat physiologically disturbed adolescent rebelling in the face of society. However throughout the novel he undergoes a noticeable psychological change. Holden’s transformation through his experience in New York examines the nature of maturation and protection of the innocent. These themes are developed by the extensive use of symbolism. Through Salinger’s use of symbolism, Holden’s progression can be traced from his rash cynical outlook to his compassion and responsibility demonstrated at the end of the novel. Holden’s hunting hat, the character of

In the Tribes of Palos Verdes and The Catcher In the Rye, both Jim and Holden struggle to find mental stability in their lives. J.D. Salinger expresses one of Holden's weaknesses in the statement,"I'm just going through a phase right now. Everybody goes through phases and all, don't they?"(15). When someone has a issue they often can’t say they have that problem and blame another reason for it. For Holden in The Catcher In the Rye, he blames his struggles on the phase he is going through.

In J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s digression about Alec “something” shows his hatred for the phoniness of the world, especially the awful fantasies that occur in movies. The digression begins with Holden complaining about a movie he saw at a Christmas program. The movie is about a duke named Alec “something” who loses his memory when fighting in the war. Alec comes home without knowing of his position as a duke, or that he is engaged. Alec ends up falling in love with a woman on the bus who is carrying the same copy of Oliver Twist as him. It is ironic that the couple is carrying Oliver Twist because this book relates to Holden’s life in many ways. After Alec falls in love, his previous fiancée shows up and tells him about his position as a

Holden is terrified that he will have to face complicated issues varying from sex, to intimacy, to facing death, as he matures into an adult. Although he is constantly trying to remain in his childhood, he strives to fit in as part of what he sees as the adult world by creating plans to run away to a cabin or work out West on a ranch on his own, which would require a mature and independent mindset. He also attempts to fit in by ordering drinks at the bar, smoking cigarettes, and attempting to start conversations about sex with Luce. His mind proves to be pulling in quite compelling directions because although he is yearning to fit in as an adult, he is stuck on trying to preserve the innocence of children and society.

While Holden tries to grow up he can never commit. Holden loves the idea of being forever innocent. To him adults are just kids that have lost all of their innocence. Because of Holden’s exposure to the death of his brother he feels like he didn't have the opportunities that other children get, which makes it that much harder for him. He hints at his idea of innocence by saying, "That's one nice thing about carrousels, they always play the same songs." (231).

Society is never perfect, there has never been one that has. Countless problems come from every society, some less than others. There is always good when there is bad, and what is bad to some may seem good to others. In the 1950’s many things deemed socially acceptable are not in today's standards. Even so, the author realized what was wrong with his society and used Holden and his experiences to reveal the problems occurring in everyday life and how disgusting they seemed to someone from a different point of view.. The Catcher in the Rye has a focus on addressing the problems of the culture in the society of the 1950’s, using examples of women, children, and people in general.

Marshall Gillette Mr. Pelster English 2 9 December 2016 The Inevitable Every person, at some point in their life, has to grow up. Eventually everybody learns to deal with the fact that they have to grow up. In The Catcher in the Rye , J.D. Salinger creates multiple images of how Holden, the main character, can’t deal with the reality of growing up, which ends up spiraling his life out of control. Life is all about learning to deal with changes, a skill that Holden has yet to learn.

As American society becomes more diverse with immigrants coming from far away lands, different cultures are being introduced into the ever growing melting pot of America. Due to this melting pot and realization that America is made up of many, not one, young adult protagonists have become more diverse in American literature. This diversity in young adult protagonists includes race, gender, class, and sexuality. However, despite the identities these protagonists are associated with, they all have the same inner conflict, knowing where one truly belongs. The inner conflict of fitting in and trying to belong to someone or something has been, and should be continued to be written about since many teenagers struggle with their personality and identity.

In J.d. Salinger’s novel the Catcher In the Rye there are many events that occur that can be interpreted differently. The different interpretations that can be interpreted could be the scenes about Jane’s stepdad, Holden’s childhood, Mr. Antolini, James Castle’s suicide, Holden’s sexuality and the ending of the book. When Stradlater tells Holden who his date is he gets really excited and anxious.

J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield was a student at Pencey Prep, a private school. Holden had a fight with his roommate, Stradlater. Holden then decides to leave school early two days to be exact to explore New York before going back home to his family.

Through his loneliness he has developed hatred towards adulthood, hence finds his transition so harsh. Holden always isolates himself from people, in general. He believes that he can ignore the phonies and stay pure and innocent like a kid, he will never have to step through maturity through his isolation. However, his loneliness has also caused a negative impact on his life, loneliness led him to being so self-absorbed that he does not realize that, growing up is not bad as it may seem. In the beginning of the book when we are first introduced to Ackley, Holden is ignoring him, “‘Hi,’ I said, but I didn’t look up from my book.” (20) The main and only reason Holden became lonely was when Allie passed away. After Allie’s death, Holden realizes that once you grow up there are so many problems you encounter. So, why not stay as a child. Since, kids are known to be carefree about what’s going around in the world. Hence, loneliness plays a major role in Holden’s life, which keeps him from stepping through his growth and experiencing the outside

Between Holdens smoking and drinking addictions and his sexual fantasies, he needs to learn to enjoy the little things in life. J.D Salinger uses those motifs to symbolize that Holden is trying to grow up too fast, and is wishing his childhood away without thinking of the consequences of his actions. You need to cherish the memories while they

Approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18, experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. It is hard for mentally healthy people to know what it feels like getting flashbacks of the things you don’t want to remember It is hard for mentally healthy people to know what it feels like to let go of the past but the past continues to hold on to you. It is hard for mentally healthy people to know what it feels like to be inside a body that wants you to live, but with a mind that wants you to die. People with mental illnesses go through these experiences and everyday they’re stuck with their illness and for some of these people, it never goes away. The main character of Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, is a realistic