Essay On Holden Caulfield's Existential Trials And Tribulations

The Existential Trials and Tribulations of Holden Caulfield Comparatively, Holden Caulfield is easily one of the most iconic literary figures of one of the most controversial and enduring novels of our time. Obviously for good reason, Catcher in the Rye evokes every reader to question what is the point of the novel and therefore by extension why was this point made. To fathom this you have to delve deeper into the question “For what is Holden Caulfield's eternal struggle?” Namely, a struggle is defined as by the Oxford-English dictionary as to “Make forceful or violent efforts to get free of restraint or constriction.” Throughout the novel, Holden Caulfield has endeavored to ignore numerous aspect of his life, such as the inevitability of adolescence, the bleak outcome of his expectations, refusal to accept his reality and above all his own existence. Just as every great narcissist, Holden rebels against the very system he acquainted himself …show more content…
Concedingly the “carousel scene” at the end of the novel is endearing and Holden does have an epiphany of a sort. Most definitely it was not a typical “happy ending.” In the scene Holden realizes that maturity is inevitable, the fact that Holden did not get on the ride alludes Holden has accepted that he is not a child anymore but can relish in the feeling of it every now and then. In other words the ending is not a “happily ever after” moment, the bittersweet undertones feels more of a surrender than of triumph. Decidedly so, the epiphany does not mean Holden is going to get better, or is going to apply himself. Quite contrary actually, at the end of the novel, we are led to believe Holden was telling a Psychiatrist of his trials and tribulations after being hospitalized. You can presume Holden had a mental breakdown sometime after the carousel scene and perhaps tried to take his own