Holden fears the possibility that he may spend the rest of his life as an outsider looking in. Although Holden attempts to change his social position, his mindset is out of place, preventing him from relating to how a normal individual would feel. Therefore, Holden struggles immensely in terms of making lasting connections with others, mainly because he cannot see eye to eye with them. “He focuses on the danger and potential death instead of love and a personal relationship” (Edwards).…
Holden Caulfield is a 16 year old boy, who is can be childish at times and skeptical of the world around him, however, this is because of his hard and troubling past that lead him to become who he is now. Holden has a unique way of looking at things, he thinks that practically anyone and anything can be phony, always saying things like ‘I found it phony,’ or ‘they were being phony’ and even, ‘it was all phony as hell’. He seems to use a lot of the same words over and over again, this could be “partly because [Holden] has lousy vocabulary and partly because [he] acts quite young for his age” (J.D.Salinger, 9). Even though, Holden is “six foot two and a half and [he] has gray hair,” it’s easy to mistake him for a 23 years old sometimes (9).…
Throughout this novel, Holden’s innocence is portrayed with the use of sexual experiences, use of language as well as adult desires. In this whole novel, Holden is suffering from the harsh reality of growing up. He is stuck in between being young enough to enjoy life as a child, but having…
Holden's characteristic is confusing, he acts irresponsible and impulsive but sometimes he takes responsibility. In the beginning he talks about how he was the manager of the fencing team but forgets the equipment’s on the subway. Then in Mr. Spencer’s house he takes responsibility for his failure and actions. These two behaviors of Holden is contradicting and shows his struggle of not knowing what is right and what is acceptable by the society. Mr. Spencer advices Holden to take life as a game and play by the rules, to which Holden comments that life is only a game to those of the winning side.…
“‘How would you know you weren’t being a phony? The trouble is, you wouldn’t.’” (190). This messed up view is one reason why it’s so hard for Holden to grow up. He has come to the false conclusion that once people change and hit adulthood, they become phony and superficial.…
One of the biggest traits of a mature person is their ability to accept change, which Holden clearly lacks. Holden has to realize that unlike at museums not 'everything always stayed right where it was." (Chapter 16)…
Holden tried hard to mask his feelings and be deceitful in attempting to do so. This came to affect all of his relationships with friends and the family that didn’t fully understand him and his…
Holden’s fear of becoming an adult causes him to have an obsession with preserving youth and the innocence that comes with it. Holden uses what he describes as “Phoniness” to show his true fear of becoming an adult. Phoniness describes the one-dimensional mindset and lies of adulthood, as in lots of things are a lie, but only looking at it from one point of view makes it seem real. Holden feels all adults are phony, and by avoiding adulthood, he doesn’t have a chance of being a phony.…
Judging people is something we human beings should not do to each other, but Holden on the other hand, judges, and criticizes people in his own way. For example, when he left Pencey, he had a lot of friends there, but he keep criticizes them for all their faults, but whenever Holden does something wrong he never criticizes himself. When he left while everyone was leaving, he was just about to cry but instead he screamed to the top of his lungs, “ Sleep tight, ya morons!” This is when he’s trying to convince himself that he’s not sad for leaving and that also he didn’t “need”…
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, it is clear that the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, struggles to deal with a myriad of issues that weigh heavy on his mental health. Salinger utilizes cynical narration to display the difficulty Holden has blending in with a world full of “phonies” as he calls them. As the story progresses Holden’s imagination and fantasies stray further and further away from reality, to the point where he even longs to live in solitude in a cabin in the woods. Holden is also hanging on and outlining the saddest and most saddening aspects of his surroundings and the situation he is in. It is clear that Holden’s rough and unruly attitude stem from his emotional problems caused by a collection of events from his childhood.…
The Catcher In The Rye by J.D Salinger tells a story about a troubled teenager named, Holden Caulfield, who struggles with the fact that everyone has to change and grow up. Holden Caulfield has changed his perspectives in a few areas throughout the novel. He struggles with change, growing up, and expressing his feelings to other people. From the beginning of the novel, Holden isolates himself from society by ignoring helpful advice and holding on to his desire that everything in the world must remain unchanged. In the second chapter of the novel, Holden intentionally ignores Mr. Spencer’s advice, “life is a game, boy.…
The author Salinger, makes Holden Caulfield this obnoxious, bad mouthing, cynic teenager. “...I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies.” (Salinger p 13). In the novel Catcher in the Rye, Holden goes through many obstacles and is trying to find himself. But during his exploration,we realize that Holden is growing up and is becoming a man.…
And instead of acknowledging that adult hood scares him. He invents a fantasy that adulthood is a world of hollowness and hypocrisy and the world his sister lives in -childhood is a world of innocence, curiosity and honesty. Holden explains that adults are inevitable phonies, and the worst part of it is, they can’t see their own phoniness. Phoniness stands as a symbol of everything that’s wrong in the world he is forced to be in. It provides him an excuse to withdraw into his judgemental…
Catcher in the Rye Holden finds himself wanting to save kids from growing up. Holden knows what it is like in the grown-up world because he lost his innocence early as a child.…
The point of a child is to prepare oneself for adulthood by learning valuable life lessons. The point of adulthood is to be the best person the community and their family calls them to be. But in The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger Holden wants to be an adult but wants to keep the good childhood memories thinking that that image will be these people forever as a frozen image. Holden is the main character in the novel and he has gone through tough times but one thing he does is refer to his favorite people with nothing but good memories of them putting them in a box witch to him are seen as “perfect people”. Early in the novel, he tells us a memory he has of his younger brother Allie saying “My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s…