...Catcher in the Rye: FLE In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield expresses his love of innocence as he sees it in others, in numerous ways. He demonstrates this through the way he talks about others and the way he acts around them. We learn that Holden lost his own innocence at an early age after his “perverty” (193) encounter with Mr. Antolini. Because of this, he cherishes, and wants to protect innocence in others. This is really a reflection of his desire to be innocent himself. Allie is a paragon of innocence to Holden. I know he’s dead! Don’t you think I know that? I can still like him, though, can’t I? Just because somebody’s dead, you don’t just stop liking them, for God’s sake–especially if they were a thousand times nicer than the people you know that’re alive and all (171). Innocence is lost in adulthood. Since Allie never becomes an adult, he is for Holden the epitome of innocence, consequently, Holden’s love for him is very deep. Holden’s memories of Allie will always be of an innocent Allie. Holden says that he will not stop liking Allie just because he is dead. The other people he talks about are the adults that Holden sees around him. He does not like any of them because they are phony, and have lost their innocence. Mr. Spencer is one person in the book who definitely has lost his innocence, but Holden does not dislike him. Although Holden says he likes Mr. Spencer, he does imply that Mr. Spencer is a phony. There are other...
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...Caulfield's “Catcher in the Rye” Fantasy Growing up, we have all experienced a particular desire to achieve something; an ambitious state of mind that gives us meaning to life. Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, has a primary ambition - to become the Catcher in the Rye – the protector of the young and innocent, as stated in his conversation with Phoebe (Salinger, 191). Completely imaginary and a hopeless fantasy, this passage underscores what is prevalent throughout the novel - the issue of Holden's black and white perspective on the dark, phony world of adulthood juxtaposed with the light, innocent, world of childhood. The important passage contributes to Holden's clinical depression as a result of his beloved brother's death, therefore his cynical view of adulthood, and his anxiety about growing up, resulting in the overall angst and alienation palpable throughout the novel, leading to his eventual catharsis. Holden's imagery of “catching” children playing in a field of rye before they fall off a cliff is unrealistic, misheard from a little boy, and it serves merely as an escape route from what he fears most about adulthood – the change and overwhelming complexity. Holden wants everything to be easily understandable and eternally fixed, similar to the Eskimos and Indians in the museum. Opposed to acknowledging that adulthood scares and mystifies him, Holden instead invents a fantasy – that childhood is an idyllic field of rye, while adulthood, like...
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...Alexandra Small AP Language & Compositon The Catcher in the Rye and Impulse both have similarities between their narrators and characters. Impulse is a very powerful book with mature subject matters, but even so, it related very well to The Catcher in the Rye. The three characters in Impulse are all admitted into the Aspen Springs psychiatric hospital for all wanting to end their lives with different motives. Holden can relate to the three characters and mostly their lives before the psychiatric hospital. Through quotes, texts, songs and pictures The Catcher in the Rye and Impulse play out and compliment each other through similarities. In slide one, Tony and Holden are compared through their anger and outburst after losing a loved one. Tony, a character in Impulse was dating an older man named Philip. Philip became very sick and passed away. The only way for Tony to feel better was to turn to pills. He was hospitalized for trying to overdose and was put into the psychiatric hospital. Holden goes through a struggle when his brother Allie dies. When Allie died, Holden broke all the windows in his garage and had to be hospitalized. Holden ends up regretting this because he was still hospitalized during Allie’s funeral and couldn’t attend it. While Philip was alive he sent Tony a baseball glove and a ball for his birthday. This compares to The Catcher in the Rye because Allie had a baseball glove and he would write poems in green ink all over the glove...
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...The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, depicts an excerpt from Holden’s life during which multiple boarding schools expel Holden, the narrator. After the headmaster of Pencey, one of these boarding schools, kicks him out, Holden tries to figure out what he wants to do with his life. After considering a plethora of possibilities, Holden decides to become the “catcher in the rye” because of his fixation with the museum at the park as well as the curse words written on the wall at his sister’s elementary school. Holden plans include nonsensical, impossible things such as catching children after they jump from a cliff. Specifically, Holden envisions himself standing on the edge of a cliff in a rye field and “catch[ing]...
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...How does Salinger present Holden’s attitude to ‘childhood’ and ‘growing up’ in your three chosen extracts? [Draft Essay] ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ was written by J.D. Salinger and published in 1951. Throughout the novel a number of different themes and issues are addressed, however in this essay I will focus on ‘childhood’ and ‘growing up’ and how Holden feels about them. The theme I shall be focussing on is addressed several times in the novel but I shall only focus on three times the theme is referred to. A significant point where Holden has an unusually positive outlook related to the theme is in chapter 12. Holden is taking a cab; it was “a vomity kind of” cab that he gets if he goes “anywhere late at night.” It is clear that Holden is being his usual cynical and negative self, indicated by the word choice of the adjective “vomity”. He thought that the cab was so disgusting that it could cause him to vomit. This is a vulgar term typical of Holden’s vocabulary which generally shows his blunt and rude point of view. His mood did not improve when he noticed “a bunch of hoodlumy-guys and their dates, all of them laughing like hyenas at something you could bet wasn’t funny.” Sallinger has adapted a noun, ‘hoodlums’ to be an adjective. It reflects that Holden thinks that the people he is seeing are nothing but petty gangsters or ruffians that are of no importance; this is an example of when Holden judges people and believes he is better than them. Furthermore, the use of the simile...
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...all experience change, and end up on the better side. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is a story of a young boy Holden Caulfield, who experiences depression but overcomes change throughout the book. Pleasantville, directed by Gary Ross, the story of a “perfect” T.V. show that all the characters wish to live in, and they all experience change by trying to achieve color. The Catcher in the Rye and Pleasantville both show that change can be hard, but is for the good. Although most people fear change for the worst, Change is for the better. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden, the main character,...
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...The Catcher In The Rye was an interesting read. This coming-of-age novel by J.D. Salinger was copyrighted in 1945, 1946, 1951, and renewed in 1979. This book kept me hooked in through all 234 pages. The story begins with Holden Caulfield explaining how Pencey Prep is the fourth school he has been kicked out of. He describes that he failed every class except for English. While everybody else in the boarding school is watching the football game, Holden decides to go see his former history teacher Mr. Spencer to say goodbye and also because Mr. Spencer sent Holden a note to see him before he left town. The visit starts out nice, but Holden cuts the meeting short when the conversation gets too serious. Mr. Spencer starts to lecture Holden about...
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...In The Catcher In the Rye by J D Salinger Holden Caulfield struggles with the idea of growing up. At the beginning, it is revealed that he flunked out of school because he didn’t apply himself. He often refers to adults as phonies and prefers children over adults. He seems to act childish and immature. He leaves school and goes to new york city. There, he learns to be independent through loneliness and real world problems. Although Holden is scared of adulthood, he learns to accept the reality of growing up through his experiences. One of the ways Holden avoids adulthood is with his red hunting hat. His red hunting hat symbolizes protection from the cruelty of adulthood. Holden sneaks home to visit Phoebe but his visit is cut short when his...
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...The viewpoint of this class having a new name "American Identities and Experience" the reading that this course should continue to read is Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Sallinger. It would be great fit for the Fall 2019 syllabus because the book itself explains the title of the course. The main character from the book Holden, is an American who trying to find his identities by learning and living through his experiences. Holden is considered the universal teenager living in America who is going through trouble and issues as young person. The time era he is living in the late 1940's is already a civilized life if Holden would have been living in the 1800's the "go west young man" phrase would have been applied to him. It would have encouraged him...
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...Throughout history, authors have tried to convey the emotions felt by characters facing the transition from adolescence to adulthood. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger communicates the conflicting emotions present during Holden Caulfield's journey into adulthood, reflected by his cynical attitude towards the adult world and his idealistic perspective of the innocence of youth. One of the prevalent themes of Holden's journey to adulthood is his cynical attitude toward the adult world. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden says, "You ought to go to a boy's school sometime. Try it sometime. It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddamn Cadillac someday, and you have to keep...
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...The novels the Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger and the perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky are both coming of age novels. The Catcher in the Rye is set around the 1950s and is narrated by sixteen year old Holden Caulfield. Holden is very judgemental, especially when it comes to people he has categorized as phony. The perk of being a wallflower is set in the 90s and is narrated by Charlie who is a freshman in high school. Charlie is quiet, keeps to himself, and does not enjoy being the center of attention. As most adolescents attempt to find their place in the world they often find mentors to help guide them through conflict. Both Holden and Charlie search for the meaning of their lives, go through conflict, and find someone to help guide them. Both novels are coming of age books because the main characters search for meaning in their life. Holden has trouble staying in one place for too long, for example he has been expelled from four schools. This is because he is constantly searching for his perfect world that has no phonies. While he is trying to find a place with no phonies or adults he says: I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. (Salinger 173) Holden is describing to his sister Phoebe...
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...Catcher in the Rye Essay Innocence Themes in literary works are recurring, unifying subjects or ideas, motifs that allow us to understand more deeply the characters and their world. In The Catcher in the Rye, the major themes reflect the values and motivations of the characters. Some of these themes are outlined in the following sections. As its title indicates, the dominating theme of The Catcher in the Rye is the protection of innocence, especially of children. For most of the book, Holden sees this as a primary virtue. It is very closely related to his struggle against growing up. Holden's enemy is the adult world and the cruelty and artificiality that it entails. The people he admires all represent or protect innocence. He thinks of Jane Gallagher, for example, not as a maturing young woman but as the girl with whom he used to play checkers. He goes out of his way to tell us that he and Jane had no sexual relationship. Quite sweetly, they usually just held hands. Holden comforted Jane when she was distressed, and it bothers him that Jane may have been subjected to sexual advances from her drunken stepfather or from her date, Holden's roommate, Stradlater. Holden's secret goal is to be "the catcher in the rye." In this metaphor, he envisions a field of rye standing by a dangerous cliff. Children play in the field with joy and abandon. If they should come too close to the edge of the cliff, however, Holden is there to catch them. His attitude seems to shift near the end...
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...Throughout most of the novel, Holden Caulfield's cynicism and eccentric thoughts reflect his alienation and his depressed attitude toward the world. His central goal was to resist the process of maturing into an adult, he feared change, and was overwhelmed by the complexity of nearing adulthood. However, J.D. Salinger wrote The Catcher in the Rye as a Bildungsroman in which Holden reaches maturity through interaction with his sister, Phoebe, in order to show that the maturation process is a time for taking risks and not being afraid to fall down and get back up. Through discussion, Phoebe tries to enter deep into Holden's thoughts to reveal his true desire in life. She gets him to describe his fantasy of an ideal childhood and of his role...
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...Catcher in the Rye: the Naivety of Childhood Summary: Discusses J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye." Describes main character Holden Caulfield's fixation on childhood. Details how he struggles through teenage life because he cannot accept the responsibilities that come with growing up. In the novel, "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D Salinger, the main character, Holden, is a teenager who refuses to grow up because he is naively fixated on childhood. Throughout the novel, Holden struggles through teenage life because he cannot accept the given responsibilities that come with growing up. Holden is obsessed with childhood because he chooses to be wedged between a world of the innocence of children and the complex world of adulthood. Holden deities his two younger siblings as if they're candidates for sainthood because of his fixation. Holden is a teenager who refuses to grow up because he is afraid of gaining the responsibilities that come with it. So, Holden struggles hard to stay childish. For example, throughout the book, he does not want to take responsibility to communicate with others that may want to help him. He refuses to go home and confront his parents and face the consequences. Along with this, he also pulls the childish silent treatment toward his parents; because that's the only knife he has to hurt them: ."..she wouldn't've been the ones that answered the phone. My parents would be the ones. So that was out." (pg. 59) He is afraid to talk to people close to him because...
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...Ena Mišković Leonarda Lovrović Modern English Practice 1 15 January 2013 J. D. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is a novel written by the American author Jerome David Salinger. From its first publishing the novel has arose a lot of controversy. Salinger wrote his novel in the first person, addressing the readers in its very beginning, so the readers have a feeling that he speaks directly to them. Furthermore, sequences follow the exact thought processes of the main character, which brings him, as well as the complete novel, even more close to the readers. The story takes place mostly in New York in December 1949, just before the Christmas holidays. The plot follows a seventeen-year-old boy protagonist Holden Caulfield who retells several days in his life, giving his personal opinion of the society that surrounds him after being expelled from the third school in a row. The novel is presented as his own monologue written in a subjective style, which reflects the teenage colloquial speech of that period of time. A drop-out Holden has attracted a wide audience of adolescent readers, yet gained many negative critiques due to his rebellious way of thinking and acting, and his common use of street language; he expresses himself in slang, in a very witty manner, also using curses and swearwords quite often. However, the Catcher in the Rye has experienced a great success, and has been translated into many languages. It was and still is very influential book...
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