Catcher In The Rye Character Analysis: Holden Caulfield

Although Holden has qualms about Jane being with Stradlater, he lets go of his worries because he knows that Jane is not the type of girl to have “the time” with Stradlater.

Holden says, “It was against my principles and all, but I was feeling so depressed I didn’t even think”(96). Holden’s depression blurred his personal moral compass and beliefs, and turns him into someone he is not by requesting the prostitute. He becomes a critic of a societal fault, to an embodiment of the

In his room, Holden is visited by his next door neighbor, Robert Ackley, who is annoying and dirty, and his roommate Stradlater, who Holden isn’t too fond of. Holden hears that Stradlater is going on a date with Jane Gallagher, a girl Holden used to date and

In the beginning, Holden’s date seems to be going well until Holden shares his fantasy with Sally to, “ drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont,” with her to escape what is happening in the real world because he cannot accept what is happening to him (71). After sharing his fantasy with Sally, his date becomes worse because Sally denies the

In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield’s life is composed of a great amount of contempt; he perceives society through pessimistic lenses, continuously dismissing its ways. Trying to veer off his path to adulthood, Holden often holds people accountable for their “phony” ways. He aims to “save” the children from such an outcome that he makes it his responsibility. The pivotal moment of which he transcends to maturity occurs is when he witnesses the children reach for the gold ring. Rather than blindly believing that he can save the children from sinking into the “evils” of the world and maintain their innocence, he ultimately decides to let them make their own decisions and grow up.

The setting is in Holden’s dorm room in Ossenburger Hall, relatively after he left the Spencer’s! Holden is sitting in the room reading a book when Ackley barged in. Ackley is delineated as having bad hygiene and committing discourteous, whim areal actions. Ackley incessantly asks Holden irritating questions and then starts trimming hi fingernails over the carpet. Stradlater, another one of Holden’s roommates enters the room. Ackley obviously does not like Stradlater and goes back to his room. Stradlater asked Holden to write an English composition because he had a date that is preventing him from completing it. Come to find out, Holden knows the girl who Stradlater is taking on a date, Jane Gallagher. Holden brings up a memory involving him and Jane which

     Throughout “The Catcher in the Rye”, Holden Caufield longs for intimacy with other human beings. One of Holden’s main problems is that he sees childhood as the ideal state of being. He thinks that all adults are phonies.

My outlook on life will constantly change but I agree with the fact that we need to accept the life of Holden Caulfield. He won’t be a child forever and we won’t either. Granted, we don’t know what becomes of him and his life, it makes us question what we want from ourselves and who we want to be. But we do know that he grew up, e veryone does. Holden was scared of tarnishing his innocence and many of us are too. But as we get older our feelings and opinions change, it’s going to happen. As the reader we are “flattered to be confided in” by

Later on Holden recalls when he was attending Pencey College how his gloves were stolen by some crook. He continues describing the situation of confrontation hypothetically, at first with assertion and authority. Eventually he admits to himself, “Only, I wouldn’t have the guts to do it. I’d just stand there, trying to look tough” (Salinger P. 99). Holden goes on to describe to the reader his unaware fear of confrontation and violence, hinting at a dread of vulnerability and a closed off persona, another clear sign of Major Depressive Disorder. When Holden was a younger boy he knew a girl named Jane Gallagher whom he was childhood friends with, they often even held hands and had an emotional bond. Ever since he heard about Stradlator (his old roommate) taking her out on a date he’d been thinking of calling her up. Finally on page 130 he calls her up and her mother picks up. Startled, she hangs up and admits he should’ve asked for Jane, “But I didn’t feel like it. You really have to be in the mood for that stuff” (Salinger P. 130). His inability to feel motivated to make an effort for somebody he once loved shows his social-isolation.

Holden’s date with Sally Hayes exhibited his difficulty at cooperating with others. At first he gives us a dire impression of Sally, “I wasn’t too crazy about her, but I’d known her for years.” (p. 105) Later, he wants to marry Sally and says he is in love with her. The biggest mystery of all when it comes to women is with Jane Gallagher. Constantly mentioning Jane, Holden recalls playing checkers with her before he got sent to boarding school. When his roommate, Stradlater, has a date with Jane, Holden asks him a peculiar question, “Did you ask her if she still keeps all her kings in the back row?” (p. 42) Holden, jealous of Stradlater’s date with Jane, longs to see Jane but never has the courage to call her. Interactions with other people especially women perplex and overwhelm Holden. He therefore resorts to isolation, illustrating a characteristic of his mental state.

In J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caufield, describes in detail the parts of his life and his environment that bother him the most. He faces these problems with a kind of naivety that prevents him from fully understanding why it is that he is so depressed. His life revolves around his problems, and he seems helpless in evading them. Among others, Holden finds himself facing the issues of acceptance of death, growing up, and his own self-destructiveness.

Holden and Stradlater’s conversation explained Holden’s morals toward women. He tries to say hello to Jane, however he is too scared to. Holden is a passivity coward to express his genuine feelings for this girl. He clearly loves and admire Jean a lot, but he got mad about Jean has a date with his roommate, Stradlater, so he turns around and finds a

Holden's childhood friend, Jane Gallagher, also needs protection. She is vulnerable because of her childhood. "` Her mother and father were divorced. Her mother was married again to some boozehound... [He would] run around the goddamn house, naked, with Jane around and all.'" (32) Holden was afraid that Jane's stepfather abused her. "I asked her on the way, if Mr. Cudahy- that was the boozehound's name- had ever tried to get wise with her." (79) Even though Holden likes Jane, he does not try to take advantage of her because she needs the safety of their friendship. Holden is angry with Stradlater because he threatened Jane, and could have harmed her.

Everyone in the society can have some influences in any way, negatively or positively. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden encounters many people throughout his journey. These relationships he has influence his view of the world, allowing him to mature from someone who dislikes the shallow cruel world to understanding this is how life is. This development is shown through "phonies" he meets throughout the novel, his brother Allie, and his sister Phoebe.

However, he admits that while the couple’s actions are “crumby” (Salinger 81) and crude, he is still aroused and “wouldn’t mind” (Salinger 81) doing it, especially to a girl he is attracted to. While Holden wants to preserve his innocence by not thinking about sex at all, he agrees that he is a “sex maniac” (Salinger 81), and is a fiend about losing his virginity. Holden even goes as far as to make rules for himself. On page 82, he recounts, “I made a rule that I was going to quit horsing around with girls that, deep down, gave me a pain in the ass. I broke it, though, the same week I made it-the same night, as a matter of fact” (Salinger). He is slowly losing his innocence, and while he hates to admit it, Holden’s constant thoughts about sexuality is a sign of adulthood. To him, one should only have sex with someone they truly love. Holden is almost proud of himself for having such a morally correct view of sex. This is why he is so riled when he discovers that Stradlater had sex with Jane Gallagher. Holden realized that Jane barely knew Stradlater and felt that he, if anyone, should be dating Jane. His increasing thoughts on sexuality and loss of a conventional or shielded view of sex show that his loss of innocence is apparent.