Analysis : The Catcher In The Rye

Trauma is the emotional response of a person to a disturbing or shocking event. The trauma affects people in different ways such as in denial, anger, or depression. In the novel Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caulfield goes through the traumatic event of his younger brother dying of leukemia. As a result, we see him distancing himself from the people he loves. Holden, like many others, goes through life without realizing how much his trauma affects him.

The coming of age phase in a young person’s life is a transitional phase which prompts the idea of individualism, decision making, acceptance, moral challenges, disappointment, and individual needs. These years are essential for the overall learning and growing-up part of someone’s life. Coming of age characteristics transpired in the novel The Catcher in the Rye and The Absolutely True Diary of a part-time Indian pertain to, but do not exclude, the acceptance of the complexities and “grayness” of the world, confrontation with the adult world, and the individual needs and desires vs. external pressures/expectations/norms. In both novels, young boys are faced with tough choices that will later help them in the overall transition from

The lost of innocence can totally change the way people view the world. A person who illustrates this can be found in J.D. Salinger’s novel, the Catcher in the Rye. The story happened during the 1950s, in a small town in Pennsylvania called Agerstown. A teenage boy named Holden, who witnesses the death of his older brother Allie when he was only 13 years old. Then consequently, he blames himself all his life for the death of Allie. As time went by he starts to search for a sense of innocence that was lost in the beginning of the novel. Throughout the course of the novel, the author conveys that Holden is continually stuck in between childhood and adulthood. The author uses Holden’s struggle to convey that in reality often times people who

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

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel written by J.D. Salinger that occurs around the 1950s. The story’s protagonist and narrator is Holden Caulfield, a seventeen year old white male, who journeys to various places as he mourns over the death of his little brother, Allie. As a white male in a capitalist society, he has tremendous amounts of privileges that allow him to get. However, as the novel progresses, Holden describes his society as a place where honored human qualities are suppressed and capitalist ideals are embraced. Throughout the novel, we see that capitalism, “the social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned”, destroys the overall society for Holden and his generation (Rand).

As Holden, states he is not ‘applying myself at all’. Since Holden has no energy to start applying himself to his schoolwork he flunked out of it. This cuts him off from his peers and any sort of socialization or friendship he managed. His forced departure from school acts as a catalyst, starting to unravel his life. Holden's depression forces him out of school, while also segregating him from his peers. Leaving him completely alone in the world. As Holden flees his school, he gets into new york all alone in the middle of the night and this occurs, “The first thing I did when I got off at Penn Station, I went into this phone booth. I felt like giving somebody a buzz … but as soon as I was inside, I couldn't think of anybody to call up. My brother D.B. was in Hollywood. My kid sister Phoebe… was out.”(Salinger 66) Holden doesn't have any good relationships with anybody outside of his family, his first thought upon finding himself alone was to call his siblings. After he decides against it, he can't think of anyone to call. this shows holden is unable to for relationships with anybody his own age. The root of his relationship issues, is his lack of energy, which stems from his

Along with this, Phoebe and Holden have an unbreakable much like Holden’s relationship with Allie. Holden knows he can count on Phoebe to be there for him, and he will be there for her and that shapes their

The first song that I chose is called Teenager by Chemical Romance this music resembles when Holden got kick out of many schools especially Pencey Prep. One of the lyric says “ They’re going to clean up your looks with the lies in the books.” This lyric resembles to Holden when he says Pencey is suppose to be about making boys into splendid and clear- thinking young men. He said there were no one like that.

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 says,” You'd like her. I mean if you tell old Phoebe something, she knows exactly what the hell you're talking about. I mean you can even take her anywhere with you. If you take her to a lousy movie, for instance, she knows it's a lousy movie. If you take her to a pretty good movie, she knows it's a pretty good movie”. Holden considered his little sister smart, even though she was so young. At ten years old, skinny Phoebe was one of the few people Holden felt a connection with. Holden basically tried to find Allie in Phoebe and thus tried to protect and love her in every way possible. Holden’s obsession with Phoebe is an example of his isolation and extreme loneliness. The one person he wanted to connect with on several occasions was much younger, and was out of reach. Regarding Phoebe as a living copy of all that he loved in Allie, he was comforted by Phoebe’s jauntiness and vitality; he yearned to protect her from the ugliness he perceived in the world around them. Phoebe is perhaps the only reminder that Holden still had the capacity to

Not only does Holden feel great affection for Phoebe, Phoebe feels great affection for Holden as well. It isn't too hard to understand that she and Holden are especially close since one of their brothers is dead and the other lives miles from their home. It is also surprising on how quickly Phoebe realizes that Holden came home earlier than expected. It is obvious that Phoebe is much more mature and articulate for her age to realize something like that so quickly. It is as if she is Holden's older sister instead of the younger one.

Holden interprets people's action differently because according to him, they have different motives. Holden seems to think that all his surrounding is phony because it's not to his expectation. The only thing that he considers worth of value is a child's innocence. Holden has a significant attachment to his little sister and the warm memories they shared together. It’s probably the only thing that keeps him from carrying out his thoughts and keeps him from losing his mind.

When the reader looks back at Holden’s history they can make assumptions as to why Holden wants things to stay the way they are. The general assumption would be because Holden is very distant to people who are dear to him. He mentions his younger sister, Phoebe frequently but cannot connect with her in any way due to Holden’s enrollment in a relatively distant school. Holden also recalls his two brothers, Allie and D.B., whom he is exiled from in result of Allie’s tragic fate and D.B.’s migration to California. The death of Holden’s favorite person, Allie, results ultimately in the unstable mental condition that controls Holden. Holden’s fascination with children and their mentalities is driven from Holden’s mourning of Allie’s death. While Holden tries to resist changing, he is identifying himself with Allie. Critic, Hermit Vanderbilt, agrees that, “Obviously despairing at the cosmic injustice of such an early death, Holden falls into a schizophrenic disorder interested in keeping him from growing up and keeping the role of Allie alive.” (Vanderbilt 299). In addition to the laments of personal loss, Holden also desires a stagnancy of time because of his fear of losing his moral purity. This is shown when Holden speaks about how his older brother, D.B., has lost his moral standards in the pursuit of fame. Holden feels D.B. has strayed far from his truly respectable writing when D.B. “sold himself out” to the expectations of Hollywood. Holden refers to D.B. as a

"To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him" (Buddha). The Catcher In the Rye is J.D. Salinger’s masterpiece, which depicts the painful and lonely life of Holden Caulfield. Holden is a 16 year old kid living in the early 1950s United States, however he is not by any means your typical American teenager. Holden’s hair is mostly grey however he has an attitude comparable to that of an immature pre-teen. Both his attitude and actions signify his delayed coming of adolescence a theme which reverberates throughout the entire novel.

Most readers can agree that Holden is very critical of others and tends to push people away, but why is that? Holden isolates himself from others so he can never be friends with anybody else except his sister and dead brother. Holden picks at adults flaws and his most iconic line is to call them “phony”, but the only adults he liked were nuns. Every other true friend he has had were related to him and were children. By pushing others away, Holden seeks out his own loneliness and depression to only be left alone with his thoughts. At the beginning of chapter nine when Holden was departing from the train station, he had the sudden urge to call someone. “The first thing I did when I got off at Penn Station, I went into this phone booth. I felt like giving somebody a buzz […] but as soon as I was inside, I couldn’t think of anybody to call up. […] So I ended up not calling anybody.” (34-35). Through isolation and estrangement, Holden metaphorically digs his own grave and is the cause of his own desolation.