“People who ask our advice almost never take it. Yet we should never refuse to give it, upon request, for it often helps us to see our own way more clearly,” (Brendan Francais). Advice, no matter how times it is ignored, it is still useful as a guide for our self growth. An example of a person who does not take advice would be Holden Caulfield from the novel Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield narrates the novel, Catcher in The Rye from a mental hospital in Southern California. He narrates his life after failing out of his school, Pencey Preparation. Along the way Holden took advice from many people, but never executes it. “If” is a poem from Rudyard Kipling to his “son” to teach him how to be a man. Much like how Holden ignores the advice …show more content…
Kipling tells his “son” that if he is confident in himself then he will become a “man” . In Catcher in the Rye we only get to know Holden from when he is expelled from Pencey Preparation to when he is narrating the novel while residing in a mental hospital. Holden gives the readers a glimpse of his lack of confidence when he mentions, “My brother D.B’s a writer and all, and my brother Allie, the one that died, that I told you about, was a wizard. I’m the only really dumb one” (Salinger 67). Holden calls himself, the “dumb one”, after describing the positive attributes of his siblings and what makes them special. This lack of confidence is evident based on the harsh and uncalled for scorn Holden gives himself, after what was perceived at first to the reader as him being positive. Holden's lack of confidence is caused by Allie's death, which ultimately leads Holden to have a mental breakdown.At Pencey Preparation he also shows his lack of confidence in himself. Holden declares, "Aah, go back to sleep. I'm not gonna join one anyway. The kind of luck I have, I'd probably join one with all the wrong kind of monks in it. All stupid bastards. Or just bastards." (Salinger 50). Holden has a lack of reliance in his ideas. Holden doubt's that he would even be able to locate a monastery without ‘jerks’ in it. Holden does not have confidence in his ability to judge character. Afterwards, Holden experiences self-doubt again. Holden confesses, “I thought of giving old Jane a buzz, to see if she was home yet and all, but I wasn't in the mood.” (Salinger 104). Holden, whenever the topic of getting in touch with Jane is brought up, says he's ‘not in the mood’. By analyzing this text readers can see that Holden's confidence is low when it comes to contacting Jane, someone he really cares about, opposed to contacting someone like Sally. The lack of confidence and self-doubt expressed by Holden makes