The depiction of Thomas More in A Man for all Seasons written by Robert Bolt and Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger is unconventionally heroic. Thomas More exemplifying an existential hero and Holden Caulfield an anti-hero. Thomas More and Holden Caulfield’s heroism will be proven by referring to the characteristics of the different heroic types as well More and Holden’s actions and discourse.
To begin with one should examine what precisely the idea of heroic and hero embodies. According to Bryan II (1982:139) in his book, Who decides? for one to be heroic one must be virtuoso and fearless. It is to push back the frontline and overthrow the adversaries. To be the front-runner of a revolution and to conquer the
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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
In a way though it would be safe to say that Holden is one of the biggest phonies in the book for example such as when he first arrives at the Edmont Hotel and sees a couple squirting water at each other faces. Though Holden says he is probably the most normal person in the hotel full of perverts he then does a phony act when he becomes of a hypocrite of what he just says and gets turned on by what he sees. He also goes as far to try and get lucky with Faith Cavendish. This is not the only time he goes back on his word when he does the same acts he accuses other people being phony for. Phoniness becomes a large theme in the novel and is one of Holden’s biggest problems not only because of the people he meets but also because he is one of the biggest phonies in the
He hides under a visage of a cool ‘bad boy’ trope, seeing the world through a heavy filter- to him, anyone who's anyone is a phony, a liar, or just plain bad, despite him judging many things he later goes on to do himself. Over the course of the book we come to see Holden has built an opinion of the world that shields him from the pains and complexities of life. The author displays Holden’s traits quite prominently, especially through his use of language; he writes as Holden speaks- vulgar, rambling, and easily derailed, jumping from idea to idea infinitely
Holden is literally about to crash. Near the beginning and the end of the novel, Holden cant keep himself in the same school for very long, mostly because he never applies himself in his classes, for example holden says in the book: “they kicked me out. I wasn’t supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself at all”,(4) holden is obviously aware of his flunking and still doing nothing about his failures within the classes he has taken. Many times in the novel we see Holden lie multiple times throughout the book. At one point in the book Holden even realizes he is a compulsive liar claiming "I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life"(16) Holden almost seems proud of himself for being such a great liar.
In chapter 7, the themes and motifs of lying/ deception, the plight of mental health, protection, isolation, and relationship/ interaction with others are overarching. Holden is a compulsive liar who tends to lie to protect himself from judgement of others and he also lies as a means of a comfort mechanism. For example, he lies to Ackley about what the fight was about between himself and Stradlater. He claims [he] was defending [his] goddam honor.” The reason he
And so, Holden left school planning to spend some time on his own in New York City, where he lives. On the train to New York, Holden meets a mother of his fellow Pencey student. Though he thinks that this student is a complete “bastard”, he tells a woman made-up stories about her son. He lied to the woman. But lying to others is also a kind of phoniness, right? A type of deception that indicates insensitivity or even cruelty. Holden proves that he is just guilty of phoniness as the people he criticizes.
Imagine a person constantly lying to get through the world, lying to themselves just to keep themselves in a relatively good state of mind. But they don’t always realize it. Throughout the novel Catcher in the Rye, Holden, the narrator if the story, is one of those people. Holden will often believe that what he says is honest, but as the story progresses, readers can tell that not all that he mentions is all true. In J.D.Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s lies are to protect himself and others and keep himself out the wrong because he is worried about his own survival.
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
Holden doesn't always lie for a reason sometimes he just is bored and alone so he says stuff to people to make them pay more attention to him“They kept asking me if I was sure I could afford it and all. I told them I had quite a bit of money with me.”{Fitzgerald 59} Holden really didn't have a reason to lie to the nuns , he was trying to be nice to give and help them because they were the only people who actually listened but he still ended up lying to them. Holden even says himself he doesnt really have reasons to lie he just lies to do it “Im the most teffric liar you ever saw , in your life”{Fitzgerald 16}. He cant stop lying he just does it because he's bored.
One must have the courage to face their fears and not regret their decision in the future. In the movie, Jamal breaks into a mystery man’s house, starting an amazing friendship between both men. They push each other to face their own fears, to go into the real world, and make sure that they make the right decisions for the future. Seeing how courageous they are inspires others in different ways. The mystery man turns out to be an intelligent famous author, and Jamal hides his talents, such as writing.
In The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, Holden lies a lot for many reasons. Holden will lie to anyone in order to hide his past from others and create a ‘new him’, gain pitty, and entertainment. He lies to complete strangers, friends, family members, and even the person who is closest to, his sister, Phoebe. Holden hopes to create a new version of himself when he lies. He uses lying to feel good about himself and to cover up that he is depressed and sad about his brothers death. Holden considers himself a professional lier and finds himself constantly lying.
A hero is something that society has formed an idea about the characteristic it should posses from history. Through the stories told from the past a hero is developed through their qualities and characteristics they value. When one views a hero from a different culture they can form an opinion on what matters to that culture. One will notice that through all these different heroes that they all share common features. In ancient Hebrew culture Moses represents a hero and for ancient Greek culture Odysseus represents heroic figures.
moral respect when he is very nice to a kid who really has no friends
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,
This is going to get a bit personal, but I feel as if I can relate to Holden. He is a fantastic liar and also very good at hiding his feelings. Holden and I have that in common. Throughout the book, he continues on frequently complaining how certain actions or events depress him. Although I do not get depressed about nearly as much as him, I do get sad often. It is actually fairly easy to lie and conceal your feelings from other people. In the book, it did not seem like anyone ever realized how perturbed Holden truly was. He was exceptionally good at faking. So am I; there is always a smile on my face and half the time it is completely fake. Holden had so much hate bottled up and in my experience it is particularly helpful to talk everything
Although there are essentially two Holdens, there are still traits that remain the same. Throughout the story, Holden feels the need to explain and justify himself, as though people don’t believe him. Holden tells the story