Holden Caulfield Teenager

Holden enjoys certain aspects of adulthood. Holden likes to smoke, drink and have sex. These are all new aspects of adulthood that many children do not face. Holden is going through a transition stage in his life where he is figuring out who he is, and what he likes as a young adult while still grasping onto safer feelings aspects of childhood. Holden smokes cigarettes when he feels lonely. On page 97, Holden says, “I’d probably go down to the can and sneak a cigarette and watch myself getting tough in the mirror.” In this quotation, Holden implies that he is by himself and feels isolated from everyone because he says he would get tough in the mirror. This is the time that Holden chooses to smoke because he feels safer and isolated from everyone else. This quotation also suggests that Holden smokes to feel older because it is something he knows adults do even though he is not sure yet how to be an

Holden gets drunk multiple times in the book and he smokes quit a bit. Keep in mind, Holden is 16 years old and the drinking age limit is 18 back in this time. He gets away with drinking illegally. His smoking is legal, but is not a good influence on sophomores in high school. This book makes it seem like it is okay to do illegal things and to smoke. Smoking is unhealthy and no one should do it. Drinking illegally isn’t okay and could lead to bad things. This is also making it seem like it’s easy to get away with undeage drinking.

Holden hates phonies, yet he partakes in their many interactions to fit into what he imagines all adult like. I agree with Holden’s view point, everyone has a facade they put on in order to make people see how funny they are, or how smart they are. The adults going out for cigarettes is a sign of maturity that Holden attempts to emulate, but to no avail his attempts are futile as he is forever on the cusp between polarizing ideas of both innocence and maturity.

Before he became hospitalized, Holden continuously drank and smoked with no sleep for several days in a row and almost seemed to be meandering around the city of New York. He became more and more delirious as the weekend went along because he was attempting to alleviate the pain and because of his “disgust for the ‘phoniness’ of the adult world that he is about to enter” (J.D. Salinger Biography internet). The only sort of peace he received happened when his little sister Phoebe was with him. Her innocence and youth gave Holden this

As one of the readers, I were able to vision a teenager Holden Caulfield’s life in the novel The Cather in the Rye. When Holden was a teenager he was one of the people, who hated anyone who acted phony, but actually he realized he was the same. The same means acting Phony. After witnessing his younger brother, Allie, death from leukemia, he still had remorse of him in his mind through his life. When Phoebe asked Holden about what Holden likes, he said he likes Allie, even though he passed away. “Just because somebody’s dead, you don’t just stop liking them, for God’s sake-especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that’re alive and all.”(p.92), part of a conversation with Old Phoebe. When we look in deeper

One reason that shows that Holden is insane and childish is the quote “I smoked a couple cigarettes…” (Salinger page 98). This shows that Holden is insane because when you smoke cigarettes that may be a sign that he doesn’t care. So, if he has a problem, he either is “smoking away” his problem or not caring about it

Holden’s struggle with school is a universal experience for teenagers. Students struggle to maintain great grades and stay connected with social aspect as well. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden gets kicked out of 4 schools and at his most recent school Pencey, he failed 4 out of 5 classes Holden does not have many more options for schools and as a result is struggling. Many teenagers can relate with Holden because 20% of high school students never graduate and over 1.2 million teens drop out of high school per year just like Holden. More studies show that 49% of students reported feeling a great deal of stress on a daily basis. When students have no more motivation it causes their grades to dramatically drop and the stress to pile on. Holden

In the book “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist, Holden gets kicked out of his school,Pencey Prep, for poor grades. He causes trouble with the kids at Pencey Prep and decides to leave and stay at a hotel in New York where he causes even more trouble. People dispute over Holden's maturity or lack there of in the book. Some people view Holden's actions and thoughts to be justifiably mature. However others refuse to make excuses for his behavior and see his behavior as what it it, immature. Holden above all else demonstrates immaturity in the book “The Catcher in the Rye.”

Some might say it’s the teen’s fault for not trying hard enough or not caring, but in fact it can be the teacher’s fault. “The poorest teacher I had was algebra teacher from (name of school removed) High School. She never helped students that needed the extra help. She would just point and laugh at us if we didn’t know the answer. Sometimes she would throw rocks at me cause I used to comb my hair funny and because of that my feelings were hurt. I start listening to depeche mode music by myself in they dark (student drew an unhappy face at the end of the story)” (Gibson). This is an example of teachers not doing their job correctly. They should be encouraging kids to do well and not demoralizing them. Holden was also looked down upon. As from his teacher’s point of view, “ ..letter from your headmaster, to the effect that you were making absolutely no effort at all” (Salinger 205). He should’ve told Holden ways he could do better instead of expressing his opinion. His teacher believes he does not care about school, since he is a teenager and it is his nature to have other priorities. Contradictory, students in Holden’s time and now blame it on the teachers not being well behaved, not because they are involved with other activities. They both rebel because they’re not giving clear help and guidance. Students go through a time in their life where they explore new realms and want to become adults. They care

Spencer told him that. Holden’s explanation of why he is passing one class only is typical as a teenager. Salinger’s message in this quote is dedicated to teachers. Salinger wants to send a message out there to teachers that teenagers are more pressured when they receive lectures from their teachers rather than a word of advice. Teenagers suffer because of school constantly. Teenagers have a hard time processing and learning new things everyday. Teenagers are more stressed out when they have to take tests that determines the grade they get. Holden’s struggles in school demonstrates the kind of problems real teenagers are facing.

References to sex, drugs, and alcohol are prevalent in the novel, as they play a significant role in the main character’s life. Holden uses drugs and alcohol as an escape from the problems he encounters while at Pencey and in New York, worsening as his depression and loneliness intensify. Aware of his issues, but refusing to acknowledge them, Holden reflects that “I sat at that goddamn bar till around 1 o’clock or so, getting drunk as a bastard. I could hardly see straight,” (Salinger 166). Holden also states that he “must've smoked around two packs since [he] left Pencey,” (Salinger 112). With the previous lessons upheld, exposure to the use of these products is not a substantial enough force that would drive teens to engage in said activities. Beginning at a young age, children learn in school how to say no to drug and alcohol use and what to do when faced with a situation in which they are available. Furthermore, older children learn how to be safe if engaging in sex through sex education classes in school; in fact, “23 percent of sex education in public schools” teach abstinence-only sex education (Livni). In The Catcher in the Rye, sexual references are limited and portrayed with a negative connotation when Holden says, “sex is something I really understand too hot,” (Salinger 70). Most of Holden’s acquaintances do not have the same ideology, showing readers that it is not degrading to go against societal normalities. Seeing how Holden handles situations with drugs,

Holden depends on alcohol and cigarettes. According to A Teenagers Nutritional Needs, “Adolescents are hungry all the time… especially boys.” As Holden is an adolescent he should be eating most of the time but he doesn't. Holden mentions that he was supposed to be on a diet consisting of starches to gain weight but he isn't on the diet (Salinger 107). Since teenagers require more energy than adults they are encouraged to eat starch, Holden just depends on alcohol. He doesn't eat healthily and he is on the road to self destruction due to his overuse of alcohol. He's been in New York for quite some time now, but it is hardly stated that he eats, Holden drinks and smokes more than he eats food. Holden should be more aware of his health. He knows that he should be on a diet, he acknowledges that he is skinny (Salinger 107) but yet he refuses to eat. His decision to survive on alcohol may cost him his life if he isn't careful. He might collapse from the lack of nutrients in the body with no one around to make certain that he is okay. Holden is depressed due to past encounters he’s had and his depression causes him to lose his appetite which leads to bad decision making. Should Holden continues farther down this road to self- destruction, it will be difficult to get him back which will lead to his ultimate

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).

In this search for his right of passage into adulthood,Holden is constantly trying to keep prove himself. Holden is 17 years old, and he is not really a child anymore and tries to gain validation from strangers and himself by drinking and smoking. In the early chapters of the book Holden acts immature, but as the journey progresses so does Holden. He comes to make rational decisions as his trip goes on as demonstrated by Salinger when Holden calls Sally and asks her out on a real date; it is considerably less callow than when he called Faith in the middle of the night in hopes of getting drinks and then having sex. Holden starts to learn and grow into his age. Notice that Holden only drinks in public and never in privacy. He looks to others for recognition that he can take alcohol like a man. When he smokes in the room with Stradlater and

Holden comes from a privileged background and his family sends him to the best school.Holden has flunked out of three schools, so this gives me the impression that he really doesn’t care. As the story goes on, the author lets us get to Holden a little better by the way he acts with other people. I discovered that he hates phony people, and he is a depressed person.He seems like he’s on the verge of committing suicide. So he decides to go home to see Phoebe, he starts to realize that she should have her brother in her life.Her insisting him to go to the zoo with her helped him decided to be that brother, but he had to make a lot of life changing choices to be that person.