Macbeth vs Holden

Holden's younger sister Phoebe, is also in need of Holden's protection. He must protect her because he failed to protect his brother Allie from death. Holden feels that it is his responsibility to protect Phoebe from whatever may put her in danger, even himself: "I was glad. All of a sudden I wanted her to cry till her eyes practically dropped out. I almost hated her. I think I hated her most because she wouldn't be in that play any more if she went away with me." (207) He does not want Phoebe to turn out like himself. He wants

Holden’s deep depression arose from Allie’s death, and at Holden’s lowest moments, he starts to think about Allie. His depression started when Holden “broke all the goddamn windows with [his] fist” (39). Holden is unable to properly grieve for his brother leaving him in bitter depression with the lingering memories of Allie to bring him comfort. At the park, Holden’s contemplation on his own death leads him back to thoughts about Allie at the cemetery. Holden recalls the feeling of guilt he felt when he had to leave Allie at the cemetery so eventually he stopped going. Allie brings Holden back to reality at the park making him go see Phoebe and eventually Allie’s death reminds Holden of why he can’t leave Phoebe. The pain Holden constantly feels because of Allie’s death drags him deeper into depression, but also gives him some comfort in his toughest times. Holden’s contrast of emotions about Allie portrays his inability to stop thinking about Allie and to accept that Allie is gone.

The death of Holden’s brother also take a significant toll on him and his innocence. The death of his brother sparks off the road to the loss of Holden’s innocence, and Holden starts realizing the phoniness in people. Holden labels everyone who is “corrupted” and not pure to themselves as phonies. Holden depicts almost everyone as fake and not true to themselves, except Allie and Phoebe. When describing Allie Holden says “it wasn’t just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest …. God, he was a nice kid, though”. In Holden’s eyes Allie represents innocence and this confuses Holden because how can something so innocent die so young? Another death that changed Holden is James Castle a boy that committed

One of the few people Holden actually cares about is his sister Phoebe. Throughout his journey, he always thinks and talks about her a lot. He cares for her so much

Holden also has a sister, he fears that one day he will lose her too. Holden was very close with his siblings before Allie’s death. He now is afraid he will lose his connection with Phoebe because she is the only one that is able to deal with him and his raving. Everyone else leaves him when he tries to communicate to them how he feels. Phoebe is a symbol to Holden of how innocent his childhood was, and how he wishes that he could have it back. When Holden and Phoebe are on the Merry go round Holden realizes that Phoebe will always come back, such as how she keeps coming back on the ride. This makes Holden happy because she is the

This results in his inability to make lasting connections. He says that he doesn’t “feel it” when trying to call Jane in order to protect himself from growing closer to her. Holden does not want to go through the pain of losing another person he loves so he instead alienates himself to avoid the sorrow he felt when he lost Allie. Phoebe, Holden’s younger sister, is another example of someone Holden tries to distance himself from. Although we do see Holden try to reach out to his sister, there is a moment in which he tries to create a distance from her.

Even though Holden is disturbed and mentally unstable he does demonstrate healthy psychological traits such as the way that he speaks of his younger sister Phoebe. Holden cares deeply for his sister and always speaks very highly of her. Holden is able to acquire a caring, loving relationship with

When Holden arrives, he finds Phoebe sleeping in D.B.’s room. "Holden!" she said right away. She put her arms around my neck and all. She's very affectionate. I mean she's quite affectionate, for a child. Sometimes she's even too affectionate. I sort of gave her a kiss”(161). When Holden arrives at his home for the first time since he left Pencey, he is tightly embraced by Phoebe, who is very happy to see him. Phoebe is the only person who loves Holden unconditionally. Phoebe is able to love Holden even when he makes poor decisions. Here we see how important to she is to him and he is to her. In this situation, Phoebe is very affectionate towards Holden because they love and appreciate each other would be when she sees her child after a long time. Phoebe and Holdens conversation changes very rapidly, from catching up to a deep, confrontational conversation lead by Phoebe. "You don't like anything that's happening." It made me even more depressed when she said that. "Yes I do. Yes I

Holden never going to Allie’s funeral gives us insight into why Holden is still holding onto Allie. After Allie’s death, Holden still went through experiences that caused his BPD, neglect and separation. During the time following Allie’s death, Holden’s family was in great grieving, making Holden feel isolated and not getting the attention he needed to fully grow mentally as a child (“National Allegiance on Mental Health”). Holden also expresses twice, that his mother is still grieving over Allie’s death by stating his mother, “still isn’t over my brother Allie yet” (Salinger 155). Holden is also never close to anyone. He meets with his family a limited amount of time throughout the year, and is kicked out of schools, giving him no permanent guidance in his life. Holden constantly describes his expulsion as, getting “the ax” (107). He shows a continuous changing in guardians, because of his attachment to both Mr. Spencer and Mr. Antolini, both old school teachers from schools he flunked out of. He also dealt with the separation from D.B. his other brother, who moved to Hollywood, Holden seems to be very inspired by him throughout the novel, but is mad that he left (1).

Holden and Phoebe share a lot of the same experiences because they are family. They both experienced the loss of their brother Allie, who died of leukemia. Holden describes Allie as the “most intelligent member of the family... also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody.” (Salinger, 38) However, Holden takes Allie’s death much harder than Phoebe does. Holden grieves and even cries over Allie, even though Allie had died a whole three years ago in the story. It is also what made Holden begin to go mad, but seems to have little effect on Phoebe all these years later. Holden even says that “they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don’t blame them. I really don’t. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the

Holden also has several redeeming qualities that keep him from being the rouge that many censors and critics wanted to label him in the fifties. As mentioned previously, Holden feels deeply for others and spends much of his time trying to understand them. For example, he admits to being a virgin and attributes this to the concern he has for the girls he is with; "he feels he would be taking advantage of their weakness if he had relations with them. " (Lettis, 6) "They tell me to stop, so I stop. I always wish I hadn't, after I take them home, but I take them home anyway." (Salinger, 121) He is also brutally honest, a quality children possess and adults seem to lose as they age. Holden dislikes things he

Holden’s connection with his little brother Allie was very special to him. This is evident in the way he talks about Allie. He holds Allie up to these great expectations, saying “You’d have liked him” (Salinger, 1945-6, p.33) and convincing you how great he was and how intelligent and special he was. You are now able to connect and sympathise for Holden, because he has told you all about the things that mean most to him, and you can’t help but feel a little sorry for him.

After Holden arrives in New York and takes a cab to his hotel, he "damn near gave my kid sister Phoebe a buzz, though. I certainly felt like talking to her on the phone. Somebody with sense and all," (66). Holden wants to talk to Phoebe as he has been isolated from her and feels because she is someone who he has a strong connection with, that she will make him less depressed shown by him saying that she had sense. Also while Holden is in his hotel room in New York, after his prostitute leaves, he "felt depressed," then he began "talking, sort of out loud, to Allie," (98). Allie's death made Holden isolated form someone who was close to him. Him attempting to talk to Allie shows how his loneliness and depression was caused by his isolation because he wants to try to reconnect with Allie to end his loneliness. While on his way to a bar from the hotel, Holden describes New York as making him feel "lonesome and depressed" and how he wished "[he] could go home and shoot the bull with old Phoebe," (81). Holden feels lonely and depressed in New York because of his isolation from Phoebe, someone he loves. This is proved by how he describes that he wishes he could go home and talk with her for a while. After getting to New York, Holden's feelings still follow him as he feels lonely and depressed thinking about Phoebe and wanting to see

Jerome David Salinger’s only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is based on the life events shaping main character, Holden Caulfield, into the troubled teen that is telling the story in 1950. The theme of the story is one of emotional disconnection felt by the alienated teenagers of this time period. The quote, “ I didn’t know anyone there that was splendid and clear thinking and all” (Salinger 4) sets the tone that Holden cannot find a connection with anyone around him and that he is on a lonely endeavor in pursuit of identity, acceptance and legitimacy. The trials and failures that Holden faces on his journey to find himself in total shed light on Holden’s archenemy, himself.

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel written by J. D. Salinger in 1951. The protagonist Holden Caulfield tells us of an episode in his life where he finds himself utterly troubled and lost. The odd thing about Holden is that he seemingly has a “good life” nevertheless he is severely negative about almost all of his surroundings, mostly of the people he surrounds himself with, in addition to those he meets along his way. This essay will discuss why Holden Caulfield can be seen as a ‘rebel without a cause’. OK