In J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield possesses many different character traits that make him an intriguing character. Irresponsibility and loneliness are two of his biggest characteristics, but throughout the novel, Holden shows that he can be desperate.
Holden’s irresponsibility is apparent from the very beginning of the novel. He is clearly not on top of his grades and has been kicked out of multiple schools due to his poor efforts. In chapter one, Holden talks to his English teacher, Mr. Spencer, to explain what had been going on. Holden is well aware that the news of his latest exit won’t bode well with his already annoyed parents. “Well…they’ll be pretty irritated about it,” I said. They really will. This is about …show more content…
Whether it is the fact that Holden doesn’t have many friends, or that he lost his brother, Allie, Holden never ceases to have an overwhelming sense of loneliness. Holden mentions that his brother was very close to him, and it’s apparent throughout the novel that Caulfield has never quite accepted that his brother had died. In his final days at Pencey Prep, Holden had an increasingly bad relationship with his dorm-mates. He found that he was frequently being used, and came to the point where he left the school for good. Throughout the book, Holden turns to several things to try to cope with his lonesomeness. While in New York, Holden on a few occasions goes to bars, where he becomes intoxicated. In addition to this, Holden calls a stripper named Sunny to his apartment one night, and ends up getting beat up by an elevator operator. Feeling desperate, Holden goes to another of his past teachers, Mr. Antolini, for advice on what to do next with his life. After a short while with him, Holden senses Antolini is making advances on him, and he leaves. As it turns out, the only saving grace to Caulfield’s loneliness is the presence of his sister Pheobe, with whom he meets up with towards the end of the …show more content…
To cope with his loneliness, on many occasions he is quite gregarious. In addition to hiring a hooker, Holden meets up with an old friend named Luce. The two discuss sex, something Holden wants to know more about. Holden doesn’t shy away from questions, and eventually annoys Luce to the point that he doesn’t want to discuss it anymore. It is clear from the book that Caulfield is desperate to have a companion or friend he can look up to. When in New York, Holden conjures up enough courage to ask a girl he likes, Sally Hayes, on a date. The two go to a theatre production, but it ends up going horribly wrong after Holden suggests the two should run away into the sunset, and becomes angry. This is a good indicator of how desperate Holden is to feel accepted by someone else. He claims people are “phonies,” and isn’t afraid to voice his opinion. Holden’s interesting personality makes it hard for him to be liked by the outside community. At one point in the Novel, Holden even goes as far as saying he’d rather die than live the live he was going through; he doesn’t care anymore. “Anyway, I’m sort of glad they’ve got the atomic bomb invented. If there’s ever another war, im going to sit right the hell on top of it. I’ll volunteer for it, I swear to God I will” (183). While Holden’s extroverted nature may have helped him in some situations, it also portrayed him in a negative way, as he could be perceived as