Who Is Holden Caulfield Contradiction

Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D Salinger is a classic novel that is not only controversial but contains relatable characters such as Holden Caulfield. Holden is a 16 year old boy who has gone through so much pain and hurt throughout his life that he has given up in school and during the novel you start to see that he has given up at life itself as well. Holden struggles with depression, unhealthy drinking habits and with failing out of school. These three struggles are very relatable to teenagers these days. In the following paragraphs I will show you the connection between teenagers these days and Holden and the the similarities that make him such a relatable character. Holden is an ideal and universal representation of teenagers.

The death of Holden’s brother Allie at a young age adds to Holden’s negativity as well as stopping Holden from accepting inevitable change. Allie dies immaturely of leukemia. “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it” (p. 39). Holden is in the hospital because he broke his fist, and he was unable to attend Allie’s funeral. Holden has trouble accepting Allie’s death because he never said goodbye to Allie. His relationship with Allie is similar to his maturity. Just as Holden is unable to accept his brother’s death, Holden is not able to accept that

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 was about Holden, who admires in children attributes that he struggles to find in adults to talk to him and he is undergoing treatment in a mental hospital. Holden Caulfield,who is 16 year old teenager went to three schools, but fails four of his five subjects only passed English he also struggles with the fact that everyone has to grow up. In the novel, Holden tells the reader through a few days of his life, in which he flaunts his hostile environments. Throughout the book,

Holden Caulfield feels alone, unloved, and he has little self-esteem. He does not know who he wants to be and where he wants to go in life. Throughout the novel, Holden is wandering from place to place, causing himself a lot of trouble on the way. He does not know where he is going, and eventually decides to move out west. He decided this because he does not seem to like anybody. They all bring him down. However, his biggest adversary is himself. One day he read an article and he states “It [The article] made me feel worse….your face, your eyes, if your hormones were in good shape, and I didn’t look that way at all. I looked exactly like the guy with lousy hormones” (Salinger 215). This shows that Holden not only feels upset about his appearance, but it also shows the influence other people make on his life. He compares himself to them. Earlier in the novel he clearly tore himself down. He stated that his nine-year-old sister is smarter than him. He also stated that he is “not good in bed”. Finally, he is comparing himself to the social standards that we have for people. Throughout the novel he is trying to find his self-worth. He finally decides to be who he wants to be and to stay

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

            Holden is quite skilled at citing exactly what is wrong with other people.  However he never acknowledges his own faults.  He was sure the entire world was out of step with him.  As Alan Stewart explains, ?Holden seemed to divide the world into two groups.  He was in one group, along with a few other people such as his little sister, Phoebe, and

This quote says much about Holden as a character and his efforts to be somewhat of a “bad boy” who has little apprehension regarding his future (removal from school, failing academically, and even admitting this to his parents.) 2. (p.9) “I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life.” This quote contradicts all of Holden's comments, regarding phony people because he himself is even not trustworthy.

A young adolescent going through the stages of puberty without knowing where he’s heading or doing, deranged in a world that he perceives he doesn’t correspond to, and surrounded by bunch of people he calls ”phonies”. These are one of many descriptions Holden Caulfield has, the questionable hero and main character from the book “The Catcher in the Rye” written by J.D Salinger (1951). The book “The Catcher in the Rye”, wholly narrated by Holden Caulfield, in its very matchless and comical style of expressing himself, is about Holden and all the inconveniences he has had through his existence. Holden has been expelled from several schools in the past due to his lack of good grades; the most recent one was a private school in Pennsylvania called “ Pencey prep”, because of failing four classes.

Holden is deathly afraid of conforming, growing up, and having to assimilate into the phony adult world. As a result he comes off as hypocritical as he is the most prominent phony in the novel. He constantly lies, refuses to connect with others and overlooks his own pain, letting it deeply impact his life. Holden is a compulsive liar; he does not have one honest conversation with anyone except his sister and Jane for the duration of the novel. When he is on the train with Mrs. Morrow, for instance, he claims his name is Rudolf Schmidt and preaches about what an amazing guy her son is, even though he is “the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey, in the whole crumby history of the school.” (61) This shows that Holden falls victim to the same social conventions as everyone else. He says exactly what Mrs. Morrow wants to hear, despite the fact that he

Throughout the novel Holden is rejected and exploited by the society around him. As he is conflicted with himself to find a purpose in life he constantly tries to connect with a superficial society. The ongoing failure and fake personas he meets adds to his depression and cynicism. But instead of facing the problems by growing up and to move on Holden uses this negativity and isolation to protect him. Holden tries show that he is better than everybody else as this is the little stability he has left. When in reality Holden is just scared of the interaction of people because they just submerge him with complications he doesn 't know not yet how to deal with. Holden not being be able to cope with the idea of growing up adds to his loneliness which is the core of his pain. When his encounters first interaction in the novel, Holden Caulfield is an uncaring outcast who sees no motivation in life. As he says to Mr. Spencer, he feels trapped on “the other side of life” (Salinger). Holden constant attempt to fit into society is hidden because of his detachment to people. His only stability right now is to search for his own individuality and to face adulthood himself. That is why

This symbolizes him holding on to his past, not wanting things to change. As Holden meets with all of his old friends, he claims many of them to have become phonies. All of his friends have grown up, and Holden is left behind, and still acts like a child. "[Holden's] central dilemma is that he wants to retain a child's innocence" (Bloom 22). As everyone around changes he just wants to stay the same, young and sheltered.

The Catcher in the Rye is narrated by Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy who has just flunked out of his third private boarding school. Unwilling to remain at school until the end of the term, Holden runs away to New York City. He does not contact his parents, who live there, but instead drifts around the city for two days. The bulk of the novel is an account, at once hilariously funny and tragically moving, of Holden's adventures in Manhattan. These include disillusioning encounters with two nuns, a suave ex-schoolmate, a prostitute named Sunny, and a sympathetic former teacher who may be homosexual. Finally, drawn by his affection for his ten-year-old sister, Phoebe, Holden abandons his spree and returns home.

He wants to shelter kids from progressing into the phony adult world. He says in the novel how he wants to be the “catcher in the rye.” The catcher’s job is to catch kids before they fall over a cliff into the phony adult world of time and death. This is used on the cover of the book for the title. He is scared of time and death because he was traumatized by his younger brother Allie’s death from leukemia. You see this when Holden still holds his brothers baseball glove close to his heart. Remembering the days Allie was still alive and well. Part of Holden’s collapse is due to his inability to come to terms with his death. He is also upset by the profanity written on Phoebe’s school and how it threatens the innocence of the

Holden is a profoundly negative person, he is constantly judging other people, calling them ‘phonies’ and criticising them. For instance when he says “I was surrounded by phonies.” of his time at Elkton Hills. (CITR, 14) Throughout the novel, Holden repeatedly behaves immature and makes irresponsible and destructive decisions, even if he knows it is the wrong thing to