Essay on The Catcher In The Rye

Holden Caufield emphasizes on the loss of innocence in children. He feels that once they lose their innocence, they will soon turn into phonies like everyone else. The loss of innocence is very common in the development in human existence. It is caused by many factors. Past a certain age, children are either forced or led unintentionally into a pathway of corruption. A child is also known to lose their innocence by desires, fantasies, and attention. But once they lose their innocence, they tend to desire to go back and pretend to be young again. In the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden discusses the importance of innocence in children's lives. He feels that once a child loses his/her innocence, he/she will soon be leaded to a

Holden Caulfield is an insane person in a sane world. What is insanity? Insanity is when you’re in a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior or social interaction. This state is mental illness. Insanity is when you do things in deranged or outrageous ways that could frighten people, or make people feel uncomfortable when around you. It’s when you do things out of the ordinary; yet feel as if they are ordinary. Insanity could come about when you’re depressed, or after a traumatic event, and sometimes even by keeping all your feelings bottled up inside of yourself. Sane people are sensible, reliable, well-adjusted and practice sound judgment. It’s behavior that is expected in a society. By these

During the novel Holden lies to cover up his real feelings or as an excuse to not tell the truth. In Chapter 3 Holden says, “I’m the most terrific liar…” he continues by saying how frequently he lies to get himself out of trouble (Salinger, 2010:17). After Holden is expelled he decides to leave Pency and life it up for three days in New York because he cannot stay longer. Holden cannot go home sooner because he’s not feel like telling the truth to his parents (Salinger, 2010: 54). Holden choses to do the wrong thing because it is easier than to stay at Pency till Wednesday or to face his parents. Holden is contradictory he says, “I’m quite illiterate but I read a lot.” (Salinger, 2010:19). One cannot be illiterate if you read a lot. Holden is even more contradictory when he speaks of Allie in heaven but admitted that he is an atheist (Salinger, 2010:107). It is clear that Holden’s words and actions are contradictory when he says that the movies are phony but attends the movies a few times during the three days (Salinger, 2010:30).Holden’s character is riddled with dishonesty, wrong choices, and contradictions and true to an

To begin, Holden Caulfield is a character who tries to act tough and know what he is doing at all times. However,

Holden’s attitude toward life in general is perplexed. He pretends to be an adult by drinking heavily, yet he complains like a child. Holden's thoughts aren't what an average sixteen year old boy would think about. He describes death in a peculiar way and he pretends to be injured often yet he hasn’t been in that position before. He is a bit violent and sexual for a kid his age. He lies about his age to certain people he meets. He tries to lose his virginity to a prostitute but he doesn’t go through with it. Holden isn’t a straightforward guy because he shys away with his lies. In other words, Holden tries to act like an adult at times, but he is actually extremely terrified of the adult life.

A lot of change can happen over the course of a book. During a normal life a lot of problems can occur. It is necessary for the person to develop or change somehow, so that the problems can be fixed. If the problem is with a person, then it is necessary to dissolve any and all physical or emotional bonds with that individual. At the beginning of the story, Holden is very judgmental, and does not pay attention to the consequences of his actions. However, at the end of the story, Holden has emotions and finally sees the complexity of the world around him. He is experiencing loss of innocence because he is turning into an adult. There are major changes to an individual when they are changing from an

who are insecure, and, above all, people who are “phony.” Holden carries this penchant for

Holden Caulfield: Holden is a 16 year-old boy who moves from school to school after being expelled from each school. Throughout the story, he mourns over the death of his brother Allie. Holden has a basic teenager personality. He is sarcastic and very judgmental. He calls people “phony” because they try to pretend to be someone they are not.

Teenage adolescence is one the toughest transitions for a human to go through. It's the moment in our lives where we experience change both physically and mentally and emotionally. It is the transition between childhood and adulthood, the period where teens struggle to find their identify in life. It's also the point in which our minds have developed, eyes wide open to all the negative things that surround the world – and in the world Holden Caulfield lives in, he has expressed himself they only way he feels comfortable and the only way he knows how – rebelliously. Respectfully, Holden Caulfield differs from what a normal teenage boy appears to be but he does show emotions and characteristics that categorizes him as an “average teenager.” He’s portrayed as an adolescent teenage boy who is constantly struggling to find is identity in a world that he doesn't seem to fit in with. Holden actions and the way he expresses himself is very relatable to the modern day teenager. Whether it's through his sexually related encounters or his strive for independence.

This self-destructive behavior is a result of not only his pride in viewing others as phonies, but his overall hypocrisy. One example can be seen in his actions in Chapter 10. While Holden had previously talked about the importance of youth and innocence, and is a character that is proud of that aspect, Holden disregards his own philosophy in Chapter 10 as he tries to appear older in order to order a drink at the bar. As he describes his gray hair and aspects that make him look mature, Holden’s hypocrisy can be seen strongly, as he would be acting in a “phony” way. Another prime example of this can be seen in Chapters 11 and 12. While Holden condemns the people in the bar as “perverts”, he himself later seeks out a woman to have sex with, and eventually has to settle for a prostitute. This, once again, shows that Holden does not adhere to his own philosophy of “phoniness”, which causes self-destructive hypocrisy in his actions. Holden’s lust for love creates another example of just this in Chapter 15. While he had previously criticized characters like Stradlater for being a phony who cares too much about dating, he himself goes to great heights to have Sally go on a date with him. This last act of hypocrisy shows that Holden himself is a phony, and that his worldview is flawed. Holden Caulfield does not adhere to his own philosophy of what “phoniness” is, as he makes exceptions for himself. This

Holden Caulfield’s personality and mannerisms are that of the average teenager. He is sporadically sullen, lonely, misanthropic, confused, horny, angry, and anxious. He struggles with his coming of age like any other sixteen year old boy. He is enthralled by the trappings of adulthood: drinking, smoking, the idea of sex, and physical independence. And yet, his struggles are also so unlike the typical youth. Holden is haunted by trauma from a young age from the death of his younger brother Allie and the suicide of a classmate. He is prone to wild, crazed behavior which he sometimes refers to as “horsing around” as well as bouts of depression, anger, and strange, frenzied euphoria. Naturally these characteristics are frowned upon within the confines of the conservative era of the 1940s, making Holden unlikeable to many, whether they are strangers or friends.

Holden Caulfield is a contradiction. In the things that he says and he does, he is always contradicting himself. He hates phonies more than anything, but he lies all the time and pretends to be someone else when he meets new people. For example, early in the book he says, “I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot” (p. 24). The biggest contradiction in Holden's life is the fact that more than anything

Who is Holden Caulfield? That is a very hard question to answer. In J.D. Salinger’s the Catcher in the Rye, Holden is a complex adolescent whose traits are much deeper than what he shows others. Deep down he is a good person who cares about others, but seeing how others are, makes him indecisive because he is still battling to find himself and decipher right from wrong. Knowing this, the reader finds that he is also very confused. Even though he can seem very negative and resistant towards people,he actually really cares about these people deep down, and even admits to missing them when he thinks about them. Holden deals with his conflicts within himself searching for the truth in a society full of phonies and falsity. He is the all- critic of the world surrounding him but at the same time an adolescent stuck between childhood and adulthood. Holden makes himself the outsider by blocking out the world. From his criticism it gives him a justification of why growing up is a bad thing and that all it does is make you a fake, a fraud, a phony. The outside world can give a misconception of how one should act or how things ought to be,

Holden Caulfield is like many modern teenagers. Holden is a teenage boy from the 1950’s, which is obviously a lot more different than teenager from today's age. He does not like to admit it, but even though he acts very smart and sophisticated on the inside, he is really just a sixteen year old boy who gets confused about a lot of different teenage things.

I’ve known Michael since second grade that’s 11 years a pretty long time to get to know someone. I remember the first day in Ms Holden’s class when I started talking to Michael next to the bookshelf’s on our second floor classroom and since that day we slowly moved up the height of this building and have remained amazing friends ever since.