“ I kept picturing myself catching him In the act, and how I’d smash his head on the stone steps till he was good and goddam bloody” (Salinger). One one would assume this came from a violent person, a person with problems controlling their anger but no, it comes from 17 year old Holden Caulfield who just wants to be loved for once in his life. When we first meet Holden we see the dilemma that he goes through throughout the entire book. He goes on this journey, both mentally and physically, and it starts when he leaves his ‘phony” school Pencey Prep. Throughout this struggle we see Holden’s true form and how it's affected him. In Catcher In The Rye, Holden struggles to embody safety, love and esteem based on Maslow’s “ A Theory Of Human Motivation”
…show more content…
Holden struggles with embodying the idea of love, demonstrates that he didn’t have a caring environment growing up so when people did try to love him he didn't welcome it and pushed them away. So on the rare occasion when Holden did show some sort of affection it ended up disastrous for him. “I don’t feel very much like myself. I’ll pay you and all, but do you mind very much if we don’t do it?{...}He snapped his finger very hard on my pajamas. Then he smacked me. All I felt was this terrific punch in my stomach” (Salinger). Holden calls a prostitute to his hotel but not to have sex but to talk. He seeks companionship and calls her because he knows she's guaranteed to come. This ended negatively for Holden when he gets into an altercation with the pimp. This is just one of the many times where showing affection has gone awry for Holden. Holden once didn’t let his younger brother Allie accompany
Holden struggles with embodying the idea of love, demonstrates that he didn’t have a caring environment growing up so when people did try to love him he didn't welcome it and pushed them away. So on the rare occasion when Holden did show some sort of affection it ended up disastrous for him. “I don’t feel very much like myself. I’ll pay you and all, but do you mind very much if we don’t do it?{...}He snapped his finger very hard on my pajamas. Then he smacked me. All I felt was this terrific punch in my stomach” (Salinger). Holden calls a prostitute to his hotel but not to have sex but to talk. He seeks companionship and calls her because he knows she's guaranteed to come. This ended negatively for Holden when he gets into an altercation with the pimp. This is just one of the many times where showing affection has gone awry for Holden. Holden once didn’t let his younger brother Allie accompany