Why Is Holden Caulfield Important In Catcher In The Rye

When Holden was younger, his brother died of Leukemia. Even though Holden was older than his brother, he idolized him because he was a sensitive, intelligent, and lovely kid. However there is a deeper meaning to the adulation. Holden venerated Allie because he was young and innocent, furthermore, he was not perverted by the world of sex and adults. The allegory of Allie is critical to the novel because it gradually becomes clear that Allie’s demise was one of the most distressing experiences of Holden’s life and plays a key role in his current

Nice guys finish last. It’s a saying that for some people may be true. But in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger; the main character, Holden, seems to have a little different experience. In the beginning of the book, Holden seems to care about no one but himself. He gets kicked out of school and doesn’t really think it is important to inform his parents because he is scared of what his father might do or say.

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

The death of Holden’s brother also take a significant toll on him and his innocence. The death of his brother sparks off the road to the loss of Holden’s innocence, and Holden starts realizing the phoniness in people. Holden labels everyone who is “corrupted” and not pure to themselves as phonies. Holden depicts almost everyone as fake and not true to themselves, except Allie and Phoebe. When describing Allie Holden says “it wasn’t just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest …. God, he was a nice kid, though”. In Holden’s eyes Allie represents innocence and this confuses Holden because how can something so innocent die so young? Another death that changed Holden is James Castle a boy that committed

Allie's death triggered Holden's depression and contributes to his dream of protecting children. Phoebe will unavoidably enter the adult world, Holden worries he can not save her. Holden's perfectly

This demonstrates the recklessness of youth theme, as Holden does not think farther ahead into the future, but chooses to live in the present and deal with the consequences of his actions later. In addition, his actions show that Allie’s death had a serious impact on his mental health, as his parents were going to have him psychoanalyzed. Allie’s death was the Cataracts from Heaven archetype, because it destroyed Holden’s Golden Age and changed his world completely. This also leads to many other problems for Holden as he struggles with his mental and emotional problems while navigating his way to adulthood. As the book progresses, so does Holden’s mental issues. He begins to think illogically and imagines terrifying things happening to him. Not only does his actions reflect his issues, but a close look at his thoughts also confirm his growing insanity. When Holden was walking, he notes, “Every time I came to the end of a road I get the feeling that I’d never get to the other side of the street… Then I started doing something else. Every time I’d get to the end of a block I’d make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I’d say to him, ‘Allie, don’t let me disappear. Allie, don’t let me disappear. Allie,

J. D. Salinger, in his novel, “Catcher in the Rye,” reveals how Holden’s life and relationships are affected by the death of his brother. Holden’s brother, Allie, died on July 18, 1946 from leukemia. Before Allie died, the relationship between two were inseparable. Being the younger brother, Allie wanted to be like Holden. Holden often reminiscences times when Allie wanted to spend time with him. “I remember once, the summer I was around twelve, teeing off and all, and having a hunch that if I turned around all of a sudden, I’d see Allie. So I did, and sure enough, he was sitting on his bike outside the fence.” (explain).

    Holden Caulfield, the main character in J.D. Salinger's novel, The Catcher In The Rye, feels that he needs to protect people around him, because he failed to protect his brother Allie from death. Holden feels that he has to care for those close to him. He watches over Jane, Phoebe, and even Mrs. Murrow when he meets her on the train. Holden tries to shield these people from distress. He does not want to fail anyone else.

J.D. Salinger 's "The Catcher in the Rye" portrays a troubled teen in New York City. Over the few days the novel depicts, the boy displays his critical and unhealthy mindset. Eventually he has a mental breakdown. Through psychoanalysis of Holden Caulfield, one may suggest that Allie 's death, social development, and an identity crisis are large contributing factors in Holden 's mental breakdown.

Holden wants to guard the genuine qualities Phoebe still acquires considering she's still a little girl. Basically, as long as Phoebe does not get unsheltered into the adult world where Holden describes as being filled with phonies, she will remain pure and naïve, just as Allie did since he never got the chance. This may be because he never got to spend as much time as he wanted with Allie and he mourns Allies death constantly throughout the book. So to compensate the void he has in his heart, he does not want to end up losing Phoebe as well to the world of adult

     Holden becomes reluctant to change because of Allie’s death. The loss of Allie was a great change in Holden’s

Holden's problems can be traced back to the loss of his baby brother. Holden thought Allie was the smartest and brightest Claufield. Allie never appears in the novel only discussed briefly throughout. It is easy to see that Holden misses Allie and that the death causes Holden to lose the ability to love with ease. When Holden is being pushed by Phoebe to express one thing he like in the world he states Allie(Salinger 92). This expresses the true pain Holden feels. He wants nothing more then to speak to Allie. The loss of Allie is what truly spurs Holden's sadness and emotional

Holden’s connection with his little brother Allie was very special to him. This is evident in the way he talks about Allie. He holds Allie up to these great expectations, saying “You’d have liked him” (Salinger, 1945-6, p.33) and convincing you how great he was and how intelligent and special he was. You are now able to connect and sympathise for Holden, because he has told you all about the things that mean most to him, and you can’t help but feel a little sorry for him.

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

| This quote is important because it informs the reader that Holden had a younger brother named Allie but