...105). The plot is Holden’s quest for sympathy for his physical condition and for a place of peaceful refuge. Holden is denied this sympathy and refuge, therefore he breaks down (Alsen 7). In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden’s three important rejections lead to his breakdown. The blonde girl, Sally Hayes, and Carl Luce are three of the many important rejections in the novel. The blonde girl rejects Holden, and this is the beginning of his breakdown. The blonde girl is sitting next to Holden in the Lavender Room at the hotel he is staying at in New York. Holden buys her a drink because he thinks that she is good looking. Holden also asks her to dance. While they were dancing she exclaims, “I and my girl friends saw Peter Lorre last night. The movie actor. In person. He was buyin’ newspaper. He’s cute” (Salinger 71). The blonde girl is obviously looking for movie stars, not conversation. Holden calls her a moron and calls it a dumb remark. He is obviously annoyed and upset. Therefore, he feels as if he has been rejected. The fact that she isn’t interested in him depresses Holden so much that he makes up an excuse so he can leave. Seng explains, “He would prefer a world that is honest, sincere, simple” (Seng 106). Holden doesn’t think the blonde has these qualities. He can’t take it anymore. He sais: “If somebody, some girl in an awful-looking hat for instance, comes all the way to New York- from Seattle, Washington for god’s sake-...
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...In J.D. Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye and Barbara Gowdy's The White Bone, both authors present the issue of corrupted youth in similar ways; through some days of their main characters Holden and Mud. Salinger and Gowdy tell the stories of youth suffering from the loss of their innocence in similar ways but both uniquely saddening. In the novels the main characters are forced to mature far too early in their lives, causing loss of innocence and harm to their older selves. Sadly, Holden and Mud endure the absence of parents, the expectation that they engage in sexual activity and the death of loved ones at such young ages. Throughout the novels, both Holden and Mud do not have the support of their parents which is a major part of a child’s development.. Holden is such a wild kid his parents are unsure of how to deal with his issues as a result Holden is sent and kicked out of four boarding schools. He believes he can get out of punishment by moving; “I’ll be away...Colorado on this ranch.” (Salinger, 166). When a parent is never around during a child's youth, the child must attempt to raise themselves and lose the ability to be childish. Holden plans to get out of the bad decisions he made because of lack of good parental figures by doing something he deems as mature. Another choice Holden seems to think is mature is his smoking habits, even when he does not really want to smoke he does just to smoke.When Holden can’t sleep he drinks or he smokes; “It tasted lousy… two packs...
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... Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the Catcher in the Rye as a teen struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily connect him to a typical teenager today. The book was written many years ago, however, it is still relevant today. Holden's actions and thoughts are those that most teenagers can relate with. The desire to be independent and the confusion about “finding oneself” are issues that almost all teens face. Even though it seems the advancement of technology has “connected” us to people like never before, it has actually created a sense of loneliness rather than connectedness. Throughout the whole book, Holden is surrounded by people, yet he always feels “sad” and “lonesome.” “The first thing I did when I got off at Penn Station, I went into this phone booth. I felt like giving somebody a buzz. I left my bags right outside the booth so that I could watch them, but as soon as I was inside, I couldn't think of anybody to call up. My brother D.B. was in Hollywood. My kid sister Phoebe goes to bed around nine o'clock-so I couldn't call her up. She wouldn't've cared if I'd woke her up, but the trouble was, she wouldn't've been the one that answered the phone. My parents would be the ones. So that was out. Then I thought of giving Jane Gallagher's mother a buzz, and find out when Jane's vacation started, but I didn't feel like it. Besides, it was pretty late to call up. Then I thought of calling this girl I used to go around with quite frequently...
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...Hollow Man In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield believes that almost everyone he comes in contact with is a “phony”. About the only two people that Holden does not consider phonies are his sister, Phoebe, and his dead brother Allie. Virtually everyone else fits this label, including himself. The root of Holden’s pessimistic outlook on life and people is the fact that he is invisible. Although Holden is a phony himself, he has a negative view of society because he wants to connect with someone and he’s chronically depressed. Holden claims that most of the people he call phonies are phonies because they act a different way, or sort of put on a front, when they’re around certain people. This makes Holden a complete hypocrite in every aspect because he does this many times throughout the book. For example Holden states, “I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life” (Salinger 19). Lying presents a false image or false information; therefore, he is the epitome of a phony when he lies, which is quite often. Holden lies about things that are completely unnecessary to lie about. For instance, when he is on the train with Ernest Morrow’s mother he tells her that he is the janitor of Pencey prep and that her son is an extremely likable and pleasant kid, when in reality he’s just a student there and Ernest is a terrible person. Holden may not realize it, but whenever he lies or changes his mind about someone, he is the one being fake, not them. The biggest...
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... It was another perfect Friday evening, everyone was out at the movies, playing football, or hanging out with their friends, but there Holden was, stuck in his room on yet another weekend with nothing to do. What a great start to the weekend. In Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger presents the idea that to alienate oneself, although it helps to preserve previous relationships, is often not beneficial to one’s mental well-being. This is shown throughout the book as Holden isolates himself in order to maintain an unchanged relationship and reputation, but this only causes himself harm. Holden keeps to himself in order to prevent jeopardizing his relationships with certain people. In the book, Jane Gallagher is waiting outside for Stradlater to get ready for their date. Holden mentions that he knows her quite well and should “go down and say hi,” but he then follows that up with, “I don’t feel like it.” Holden doesn’t want to say hello, so he can preserve his relationship with Jane and not jeopardize any feelings she might’ve had for him. By doing this, Holden increases his self dependability as he is unable to find a consistent relationship with someone. During the the most important football game of the year that everyone at the school goes to, Holden decided to watch from “way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill,” while the rest of his classmates were in the stands. It’s apparent that Holden spends most of his time alone, and has a difficult time trying to meet someone at...
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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 Catcher in the Rye could be interpreted many different ways. JD Salinger, the author, could have written this story for one main purpose or for many different purposes, but in my opinion, Salinger wrote this story in order to show the reader that some teenagers avoid adulthood because they are not quite ready for the responsibility. Not only are they not ready because they are young and still do ignorant things, but also because their brain is not fully developed. In Richard Knox’s “The Teen Brain: It’s Just Not Grown Up Yet,” he informs the reader that the frontal lobes of the brain are not fully connected in adolescence. The frontal lobes are a crucial part of the brain because it differentiates between what is a good idea and what is a bad idea. Since the frontal lobes control decision making, and the frontal lobes in adolescence are not connected which forces decision making to be sluggish, then that is why teenagers make poor choices. This is what seems to be the problem with Holden Caulfield, the narrator of the novel. Holden does not make the smartest decision multiple times throughout the story. Because of the frontal lobe disconnection in Holden’s brain caused him to attack Stradlater, almost have sex with a prostitute, and to not care about school. Holden makes a poor choice in attacking Stradlater. The reason for attacking him was out of pure jealousy. Stradlater would not tell Holden how his date went with Jane, after Holden wrote a paper for him that he did...
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...Values Through Sympathy Empathy and sympathy are the feelings that make us human, the feelings that can reveal our true values. Holden Caulfield, from J.D. Salinger’s Catcher In The Rye, seems like the type of guy that wouldn’t be able to feel sympathy. He has many faults, like depression, excessive lying, suicidal thoughts, and more, that could interfere with compassion. He also tends to cover up his emotions to not convey any true feelings. However, this is not the case. There are many instances of Holden showing compassion and pity which show his foremost value, which is his longing for a better society. Through Holden’s instances of sympathy for Ackley, Sunny the prostitute, and the nuns, J.D. Salinger symbolizes Holden’s true desire of a harmonious, non-corrupt society. Holden’s commiseration for Ackley exhibits Holden’s disappointments with the degenerate civilization for teasing and making fun of Ackley’s differences and for the phoniness of only including “cool” people in their affairs. Ackley definitely is a black sheep in the herd of Pencey Preparatory School. He’s anti-social, anti-hygiene, and even anti-manners. Due to all of these, he gets made fun of and excluded relentlessly. Although Holden joins society in pointing out Ackley’s social and hygienic complications, he also feels quite bad for him. Holden points out that “his teeth were always mossy-looking, and his ears were always dirty as hell” (Salinger 26). Holden also talks about Ackley’s “lousy manners” (Salinger...
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...What is family? According to the New York Times family are the people who are a part of your daily life or part of your household members have loving and caring toward you. Holden is part of the Caulfield family filled with Mom, Dad, Phoebe (sister), D.B (brother) and his dead brother Allie. Salinger leads us through a few days in Holden’s head, giving us insight on all of Holden’s thoughts and ideas. Salinger writes and describes Holden so that it is easy to get a good image of who he is. Throughout the novel, he talks about family and how it has affected him. Every part of his memory shows how much he cares, loves and supports them. J.D Salinger through the novel, The Cather in the Rye, was trying to teach his readers that family is an inextricable part of you. Family is a complex part of yourself because you are positive about families and support of who they are. When Holden was writing on Stradlater composition book he said, “Any ways that’s what I wrote on Stradlater composition book about. Old Allie’s baseball mitt.” (Pg.39). When someone tells you to write for them the easiest thing you would like to write about is your family because there is nothing greater or closer to young from the beginning than your family. Therefore Holden was writing positively about his younger brother on very positive descriptive writing. Holden is positive about his family more than anything because they are part of the family. This shows J.D Salinger is teaching us positive audited to family...
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...There are various problems teenagers struggle with that some adults have all but forgotten. Such as the struggle of keeping grades up, getting along with parents, the constant fear of never properly fitting in, or the fear of being alone forever, sometimes even the loss of someone close to oneself. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye is considered as the voice to communicate teenage hardships for over 50 years. The Catcher in the Rye has been looked at by over five decades as the ultimate example of a teenage voice for pain and suffering, through the unique use of symbols found throughout the book. A symbol that Salinger uses throughout the entirety of the novel is The Museum of Natural History. Main character Holden Caulfield remembers visiting the Museum in elementary school. And one of his fondest memories is that “ the best thing...in that Museum was that everything always stayed right where it was”. (Page121-122) It seems as though Holden Caulfield really enjoys the fact that nothing ever changes at the Museum of Natural History. Although what Holden Caulfield is really trying to say is that he enjoys when things are reliable. When things never change he never has to worry about having to prepare for something new and unexpected. Another memory that Holden Caulfield remembers very vividly about the museum is “ he was the only one in the tomb… it was nice and peaceful. Then, all of the sudden I saw on the wall another ‘F#ck you’”. (Page 204) Holden Caulfield...
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...“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 his peers give him, Holden does not follow Kipling’s advice -- advice that Kipling has gave to his ‘son’, which Holden in the book does not take is to look at the big picture, to have patience, and to have confidence in himself. Much like a child, Holden does not look at the big picture like Rudyard Kipling “advises”. Kipling “advises” his “son” to look at the big picture and that will make him a man. Holden shirks to think about what will happen if he got kicked out of Pencey Preparation. Holden recalls, “They gave me frequent warnings to start applying myself-especially around midterms, when my parents came up for a conference with old-Thurmer—but...
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...The protagonist of the book was Holden Caulfield, who when we first meet him, is preparing to move out of the prep school that he is currently attending. He has failed out of many preparatory schools such as Pencey, the school that he was attending. He takes a bus to New York City, where he lives. However, he is to embarrassed to return home and checks into the Edmont hotel for a few days. Caulfield goes downstairs to the Lavender Room, the Edmont's bar and nightclub but the waiter realizes that he is a minor and refuses to serve him. After leaving the bar, he continuously has flashbacks of a girl that he used to know, named Jane Gallagher, whom his roommate was messing around with the night that he left. He goes to Ernie's Piano Bar in Greenwich Villiage, and runs into one of his brother's former girlfriends. She invites him to sit with her and her date, but after a little while he lies about having to go and meet someone and walks back to the Edmont, feeling a bit depressed. Walking into the hotel, he is offered a prostitute for $5, and he agrees for her to meet him up in his room. He ends up not accepting the service after she claims that he has to pay twice what he was told, and when he refuses, he gets punched and she steals the $5 from his wallet. The next day, he wakes up and calls an old friend, Sally Hayes, whom he used to date. They plan to go to a mid day play on broadway. He talks with some nuns about Shakespeare, and ends up giving them $10. He goes to look for his...
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...An idea of individualism was not exactly prominent in 1950’s America. If you didn’t fit into social norms you were not going to fit in. Holden in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is one of those people that did not fit into the society of the time period and had to suffer because of this. Holden’s red hunting hat in J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye is used to symbolize Holden’s individuality and true self that Holden only shows in isolation. This red hunting hat is significant in showing Holden’s self-confidence throughout his four day trek. Holden is only really able to express and show his true self in solitary because of the protection it offers from the world. An example of this is when Holden gives this cherished item to his sister, Phoebe. Holden says,” She didn’t want to take it, but I made her”(Salinger XXXX). The reason that Holden is so adamant about the acceptance of the hat by Phoebe is because he sees it as a form of protection of the world. It almost acts as a passing of the torch from Holden to Phoebe. He knows how difficult and scary adulthood can be and is trying to offer a way out of that burden to Phoebe. Another example of this is a way that Salinger was able to not so discreetly point out this point to the audience. Holden says, “My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection”(Salinger XXXX). This is a brilliant writing choice by Salanger. It is completely like holden to not make a ruckus of how he feels. This is a more literal...
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...How does one become a grown-up? Is it something you are told to do, or must you learn for yourself how to mature? ‘’It’s time to be a grown up. Too late, you’re out of time. Be a grown-up’’ The first part last is a book written by Angela Johnson. The novel explores the life of Bobby, a young teenager who must take on the responsibility of becoming a father along side of his girlfriend Nia. There are three examples of symbolism in the book. The first example is a red balloon representing the childhood that Bobby is leaving behind. The second sign is the painting Bobby makes showing that he does not know who he is as a person yet, and the final example is the basketball he owns representing that he is still immature. All of these symbols in some way will show if Bobby has come of age by the end of the book....
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...John Connolly said, “For in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be.” The author shows that there is no escaping juvenility nor adulthood, because it will always linger within one, demonstrating the oblivion of boyhood and being an adult. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, a teenager named Holden is in constant conflict with adulthood and childhood. He quits school and runs away to hopefully mold himself into an adult. As Holden wanders through the city of phonies, he embarks new experiences, changing his way of thinking. Holden craves to become an adult, but his childhood pulls him back, which constantly deprives him of growing up. Salinger uses Holden to show the limbo between adulthood and childhood through the symbolism of the red hunting hat, the prostitute, and the museum. Salinger uses the red hunting hat to symbolize Holden's conflict with childhood and adulthood. As a child to a young adult, he puts on his hat to seek comfort when distressed from the outside world or feels anxious. Holden states, "I pulled the peak of my red hunting hat around to the front all of a sudden, for a change. I was getting all nervous all of a sudden. I'm quite a nervous guy." ( ). This quote shows Holden wearing the hat because he was becoming nervous. The red hunting hat represents his childhood, which is what he is holding on to. The hat is his protection from the outside world. Holden grabs the hat unconsciously...
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