Catcher In The Rye Settings

The whole book is set as a flashback of Holden's past year. When he starts narrating the story, he mentions that he got "pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy". This says that Holden has had a tough year, with a breakdown, he is in some kind of place where he's taking it easy. His previous diction/word choice gives us hints that he might actually be in a mental hospital(words like madman). He describes the place as 'crumby' and also says that his brother, D.B., visits him every weekend. And, at the very end of the book, last chapter (26), Holden says, "...this one psychoanalyst guy they have here, keeps asking me if I'm going to apply myself when I go back to school next September." 'Psychoanalysis' is, according to FreeDictionary, " The method of

Holden’s immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is physically mature, he acts more like a child. “All of a sudden I

Holden has all of these traits. In the novel, nearly every time Holden gets depressed, he turns to alcohol. At Ernie’s night club he got served alcohol even though he was a minor. He even got drunk at the Wicker Bar. He used alcohol to escape the sadness in his life, which many killers were known to do as well. Holden also grew up lonely. He lost motivation to do well in school, which got him kicked out of Quincy High, losing his friends. His brother is also dead which may contribute to his feeling of loneliness. Holden always fantasizes about saving all the children from growing up, being their ‘Catcher in the Rye’. If somebody were to get in the way of his fantasy, he might have killed them. Holden is also socially awkward, loving children but hating adults, calling them ‘phonies’. He only has a few friends throughout the novel. He gets very angry with his friends, like when Stradlater goes out with Holden’s ex-girlfriend, Jane, whom he still has feelings for. This made him leave Quincy three days early while he travelled to Manhattan. “I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by.” said Holden (Page 4). Finally, Holden has some sexually stressful moments in the novel, like when he hired a hooker to come upstairs into his room. He wanted to do it, but when she got into the room, he

One could say that Holden had a drinking problem. In the text it stated “I kept sitting there getting drunk and waiting for old Tina and Janine to come out and do their stuff, but they weren't there.” It seems as if he doesn't know how to control the way he acts that much because when he was at the bar he was asking weird questions like “How's your sex life?” So drinking for him is definitely not a good idea.

In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger tells a story of a young boy, Holden, who never quite understood his stance on life. Throughout the novel, Holden struggles to adapt to the inevitable transition into adulthood, often worrying more about others than himself. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger uses connotative diction, repetition, and specific diction to convey Holden’s struggle of accepting life changes that led him to becoming mentally unstable.            To start off, Salinger illustrates Holden’s nature by using connotative diction.

On page 61, in chapter 8, Holden just got in the taxi and heading to his hotel. He says in a desperate way, “would you care for a cocktail.” The diction choices can infer that his maturity level is higher than the people in his age group. The author has purposely crafted the narrator in this way to show that he had no other option but to grow up fast. He continues to develop as a character, on page 68, in chapter 9, Holden thinks to himself, “I didn’t care much i was too depressed to care whether I had a good view or not.” The reader can infer that the main character is starting to reveal his true self. The author craft in this way to make the reader have sympathy for the narrator. On page 68, in chapter 10, Holden thinks to himself, “ I danced with them all - the whole three of them-one at a time.”The diction choices can infer that the narrator treats the three women like trash by fooling around with them and have no respect for them. The author has purposely crafted in this way to show that he is isolated from the world because he has not been interacting with others in such a long time. On page 87, in chapter 11, the narrator flashback to his childhood, “anyway, I was telling you about that afternoon Jane and I came close to necking.”The diction choices can infer that he starts to reveal the other side of himself, the real him is someone who actually cares about people who he loves.

Instead of dealing with his problems Holden drank. This negatively affects him. Instead of getting help with his emotions he would drink them away so he would feel less. Drinking is seen persistently throughout the novel. Some may think that Holden has a severe drinking problem, which he does. A majority of his money is spent on alcohol at the bars he goes to. Holden is a minor and it is illegal for him to drink (57). Holden feels as if he is older when he drinks and likes the feeling because he does not want to be seen as one of the “phony” guys that he often speaks about throughout the novel. One night he gets so drunk he just does not know what is going on. It feels good for him. It is often mentioned that Holden drank when he had nothing else to do. He would stay out late because he wasn’t tired and had nothing else to do, and he was lonely. Holden feels a need to be drunk whenever he is around the “jerky preps” (85). He says “I can’t sit in a corny place like this cold sober” (70). He feels as if they are phony and he is unlike them. He often feels like getting out of the bars, but doesn’t because he doesn’t want to leave to become lonely. “I felt like getting out of the place. It was too depressing” (80).

One can see this because he clearly states in the dialogue that he felt like jumping out the window. Holden’s mental state of mind can literally visualizes his own suicide and how and where it would take place. This quote represents the extent of Holden’s depression and loneliness and how much of it consumes him.

Yet another issue Holden endures throughout this novel is loneliness . There are many reasons that he is very lonely all throughout the novel. The biggest reason he doesn't talk to anybody is because he is afraid he is going to get hurt emotionally. For example he is scared to call Jane and is scared to let her in his heart because he doesn't want to loose another person he loves, like his deceased brother Allie. Another example of his loneliness is when he meets the prostitute in the hotel. Holden knows that he can have the comfort of another human for a little while, but he doesn't want to do anything with her because he knows she will just leave after they are done having sex. In a way he is looking for something that will last longer, like a relationship, but he is too scared of being hurt . Although, “loneliness is difficult to fess up

I was too drunk I guess. Holden’s emotional pain is so much that physical discomfort of pain no longer affects him. “About a gallon of water was dripping down my neck, getting all over my collar and tie and all, but I didn’t give a damn. I was too drunk to give a damn.” (152) Even though Holden was extremely drunk his depression still managed to show through. When it comes to severe depression it is often the case that one simply does not care anymore. Even though Holden thinks the reason he does not care is because of him being drunk in fact it is because he is so depressed that he no longer has the energy to care. Blaming his careless attitude on his drunkenness is a way for Holden to deny the fact that he is depressed. Holden’s depression is becoming so intense that he can no longer function.old Sally Hayes a buzz.” (150) Jane Gallagher is a girl that Holden is actually attracted to compared to ally Hayes who he always ends up resorting to. Having to call Jane would mean that Holden would have to confront his feelings and thoughts. For him confront his thoughts would mean that he would also have to open up room for his depression to enter his

Vicki Reutter interviewed many teens that have depression and said that they experienced feelings such as sadness and loneliness. In the novel there are several times Holden expresses how sad and lonely he is. In the text it states, “I got up and went over and looked out

He looks at the world in a different way feeling that everyone is a phony accept for himself. Throughout the story Holden is overcritical making comments about everyone’s outward appearance refuses to look beyond that. “I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life “ (page 22) Holden states showing that he is a great liar and has got good at it therefore anything he says is not true . Secondly for someone to be in a mental hospital for a nervous break down is not completely

Holden is not physically wounded, but he is emotionally wounded. He feels as if he is the only person at the bar who is drink their sorrows away. He even reveals how he put present a false depiction of who he truly is because he states that he must conceal is wounds, meaning he wants to appear stronger than he is in real life. Ironically, he is in fact wounded greatly, and he feels alone and desperate. He reveals these feelings when he says, “I was crying and all. I don’t know why, but I was. I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome” (p. 169). Holden knows he is hurting, but can attempts to create a false fantasy situation in which he is not

Holden’s story begins at Pencey, it is Holden’s fourth school; he has already failed out of three others. At Pencey, he has failed four out of five of his classes and is expelled for not trying in any of those classes. Instead of holden going straight home, he decided to go out on the town for a total of three days. “ What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of goodbye. I mean I’ve left schools and other places I didn’t even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don’t care if it’s a sad goodbye or a bad goodbye, but when

Though Holden is at an age where he should be an adult he is childlike in his mentality because of his social influences. Sex, cigarettes, alcohol, and an immature advisor are among the external adultlike experiences Holden has had. Sex should be “regard[ed] as both a physical and spiritual experience” (Salinger, 190). Holden believes this and anytime he has had a close to a sexual experience he always stops when a girl says no. “If you want to know the truth, [he is] a virgin” (Salinger, 120).