Pessimistic Attitude In Catcher In The Rye

The novel, “The Catcher in the Rye” involves an older teenager named Holden who surrounds himself with his pessimistic emotions, gradually affecting him in tense situations. Often, he refuses to comprehend situations which ends miserably for him. A major role for his reckless actions are caused by his fearful feelings that he has not suppressed, “Contaminated he is, of course, by vulgarity, lust, lies, temptations, recklessness, and cynicism” (Peterson 1). Throughout the novel, his unfavorable emotions were represented as well as the negative outcome of his situations. In that moment of time, his thoughts affect his actions as a result of becoming further depressed than he already happens to be. If he was able to analyze the situation and think logically, he would avoid multiple situations without feeling pessimistic about his choices.

Holden seems to struggle with depression. In many places throughout the novel, Holden describes to us his deep sadness. A lot of times his depression is unpredictable and triggered by tense situations. In one situation while he was explaining his feelings about the Elkton Hills headmaster’s phony and rather boring conversations with well-built and

As humans we sometimes seek isolation rather than human interaction for fear of being overwhelmed emotionally. For some people, comfort comes with the knowledge that alone, they are the masters of their own emotions, free from the pain of the world's occasional bitterness and sting. In the coming-of-age tale "Catcher in the Rye," J.D. Salinger explores this phenomenon through the voice of the narrator, Holden Caulfield. Although Holden possesses a voice of intelligence, sensitivity and insight he is also bitter with the hypocrisy and ugliness that he perceives in the world around him. The vividness with which he expresses his discontent is seen manifested in the criticisms that Holden aims at various characters throughout the story. As the

The Catcher in the Rye fixates upon the fragile mental state of jaded sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield. Ever since the death of his brother Allie, Holden has been expelled from every school he’s ever attended and has become increasingly cynical of human nature, condemning everyone he meets for their phoniness. He lacks the ability to identify his own feelings and prefers the word “depressed” to describe every negative emotion, hoping to take away the word’s severity with his overuse of it. At sixteen, Holden is realizing that it is time for him to become an adult, and while he attempts to do adult activities once he is on his own, he ultimately resists the pull of adulthood and equates aging with losing one’s innocence; he wishes to preserve

A disparate situation is presented to readers in The Catcher in the Rye. Early in the novel, Holden expresses the reason for his difficulties in school as his being: “always surrounded by phonies.”(Salinger 13) Holden is correct; he is completely incapable of relating to his peers. However he takes no time to consider potential solutions to his problem. During his conversation with Mr. Spencer, Holden communicates that he deals with his troubles by simply quitting; putting minimal effort into academics and socialization. Since Holden never addresses his emotions directly, he fails to realize

It is important to realize in the book, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden has experienced his fair share of trauma. From skipping school and smoking cigarettes, to sleeping with prostitutes, Holden tries to cope with his feelings of pain. His main source of coping throughout this book was his use of insults and judging others. Holden is using these to try and make himself feel like just another teenage boy, but the reality he struggles with his mental health. The author is clearly trying to help readers understand the thoughts of a depressed individual Holden experienced his fair share of traumatic events.

During the book, Holden can always find something “phoney” about any situation. Holden pretty much believes that the adult world is phoney even though he wants to participate in adult behaviors. He also does not seem to not care about any school activities. For example, at the annual football game at Penecy Prep against Saxon Hill he stood on the hill because he did not care about any of it and he only wanted to see his history teacher who knew he was being kicked out. Holden also never seems excited about anything and can always find the downside to everything. On his date with Sally Hayes he mentions every little annoying thing she does even though he wanted to go on the date with her. A lack of enthusiasm is a tell tale sign of depression in teens according to Mental Health

Holden got kicked out of Pencey Prep boarding school and he doesn't even regret it because he mentions the place is full of “phonies”. He acts mature for his age only because he is very tall and doesn't affiliate himself with many people his age. Holden attempts to fit in with older people by flirting with older women, smoking cigarettes, having many drinks, and criticizing everything that surrounds him. His actions are absolutely mesmerizing because it is as if he has no care in this world. Likewise, he also seems to not worry about how his future will turn out. In this quote Mr. Spencer asks Holden if he even feels some concern for his future, “‘Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure, Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess'" (Salinger 17). It seems as though that Holden doesn't have a distinct answer for anything. He is always unsure of what he is being asked by his teacher. Mr.Spencer shows concern for his future and is trying to teach him a valuable lesson. He wants to get him to realize that without putting in the effort, he will not achieve this dream. Holden never puts in any thought about his future. If he were to do so, he would not be failing subjects and getting thrown out of

The character Holden Caulfieeld in the novel ” Catcher in the Rye “ covers his true feelings by giving the audience and the characters in the story the impression that he doesn’t care when in actuality , he cares deeply about every aspect he has been through in the chapters. He provides very nonchalant , terse , and swearing responses to almost every conversation he’s in . For example “godamm movies “ or “very big deal “ as a symbol of his unconcerned attitude . The author Salinger used diction to convey the decptive mood of the protaganist to mask most of his most hurtful moments . Caulfield’s displays a defense mechanism to shield his true emotions by showinging signals of non chalant actions too surecure his ego and superego .

“I felt like giving somebody a buzz. I left my bags right outside the booth so that I could watch them, but as soon as I was inside, I couldn’t think of anybody to call up” (Salinger 54). In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield’s isolation is rarely so evident. Holden is disillusioned with the narrow expectations in place during the 1950’s, which seem to have no place for sincere, honest connections. Holden’s loneliness and estrangement are incited by several factors, most notably his brother Allie’s death, but also his own nature as a sensitive, individualistic young man. This estrangement affects Holden himself by hindering his ability to create relationships and plan for the future; while it affects others by leading his loved ones to feel helpless about him.

In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher is the Rye, the protagonist Holden Caufield’s point of view reveals how he does not mature from the beginning to the end of the book. Holden goes through many stressful events during the weekend, but instead of coming out more mature, he proves to be violent and irresponsible as the story goes on. Holden’s violent mind is revealed towards the beginning of the book as he gets into an altercation with a roommate he is somewhat jealous of. In the book, it states, “All I know is I got up from my bed, like I was down to the can or something, and then I tried to sock him, with all my might” (Salinger 49).

In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caulfield’s life is affected by an inability to connect with others and an intense fear of sexuality. Many readers may infer that Holden has a fear of adulthood and sexuality because he is unable to move past his younger brother Allie’s death. While Holden’s fear and rejection of sexuality may be linked to his inability to move on, Holden’s deeply negative reactions to hints of intimacy may stem from a deeper cause: an unresolved, unwanted sexual event in his past.

J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye was a phenomenal book about Holden who is our main protagonist. Throughout his interactions in the novel, Holden Caulfield did not meet his expectations of astonishing encounters instead Holden was disappointed and rejected by the people he would meet. It can be argued throughout the story, as his confrontations with children are more subtle than those with adults. What could have been a graceful experience ended up being childish and absurd as Sally stated after concluding meeting up with Holden and offering to take her home “If you think I’d let you take me home, you’re mad” (174).

To add to the positive side of Holden, he does have a capability of caring for other people. Firstly, Holden has a deep love for children and preserving their innocence, to the point that he tells his little sister Phoebe, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff…I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be” (224, 225). He wishes to keep children from falling off the cliff of innocence into the real world, and he even does this in a small way by rubbing off a profane message on a wall of the school Phoebe attends. As well as children, Holden has a deep affection for his fellow family members. Throughout the

Though Holden Caulfield is consistently seeking human contact and compassion, he barely gets any due to his self alienation. Part of this is because of his harsh judgement and his feeling of superiority to other people. He constantly talks about others as if he is too good to talk to any of them, further isolating himself. When Holden first goes to Mr. Spencer 's, his history teacher’s, house, he talks about him with a lack of sympathy, saying “you wondered what the heck he was still living for.” (6) He clearly doubts that Mr. Spencer’s life is not worth living for at times, even though he has not lived with Mr. Spencer or experienced life the way he has, which expresses Holden 's judgemental nature. He tells the reader about how Mr. Spencer “was pretty depressing” (7). By calling Mr. Spencer "depressing", Holden is taking pity on him, which is usually what someone of a higher figure does to someone of lower level (i.e. a parent to their child, a teacher to their student). In this