The great Dr. Seuss once said “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”. J.D. Salinger’s character Holden struggles with this. Holden spends most of the novel alone wandering the streets of New York, trying to fit in. Holden is a very judgemental character. He does not get to know someone before he makes a decision if he likes them; which he almost always does not. He claims that his own alienation is caused by society. His downfall is not the cause of society; but his own. The story Catcher in The Rye by J.D. Salinger, and the articles, “Arrested Psychological Development and Age Regression” by David Hosier and “The Peter Pan Syndrome” by Marty Nemko reveal how the character Holden is responsible for his own alienation because of his
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Throughout the story, Holden is very hesitant to get to know somebody. He judges them first without getting to know them for who they are. Later on in the story, Holden is at ‘The Wicker Bar’. Holden repeatedly says how all of the people in the bar are phonies but stays. He complains, “If you sat around there long enough and heard all the phonies applauding and all, you gotta hate everybody in the world, I swear you did.” (Salinger, 157). Holden judges everyone in the whole bar for applauding the musician. By saying that the people applauding makes him hate everyone in the world shows how judgemental and negative he is. Holden causes his own alienation because instead of clapping along with everybody else, he judges them for applauding and finding joy in the music. Holden is also very judgemental when he was in the hotel. Holden decides to go to a lower class hotel because he did not want to run into anybody he knew. He continues to observe the other guests out of his window. He claims, “I saw one guy, very distinguished looking guy with only his shorts on, do something you wouldn’t believe if I told you. First he put his suitcase on the bed. Then he took out all these womens clothes and put them on.” (Salinger 69). Holden’s judgement is shown greatly here. It was his idea to go to that hotel. Holden thinks that he is better than everybody else but the fact of the matter is that he put himself into that situation …show more content…
His alienation was not a result of society, but was caused by himself. Holden had many opportunities to be engaged with his peers but he turns them down. He isolates himself because he judges people too hard and thinks he is better than them. As a result, he alienates himself. Society should not be to blame for Holden’s downfall because he did it to
Throughout the story, Holden is very hesitant to get to know somebody. He judges them first without getting to know them for who they are. Later on in the story, Holden is at ‘The Wicker Bar’. Holden repeatedly says how all of the people in the bar are phonies but stays. He complains, “If you sat around there long enough and heard all the phonies applauding and all, you gotta hate everybody in the world, I swear you did.” (Salinger, 157). Holden judges everyone in the whole bar for applauding the musician. By saying that the people applauding makes him hate everyone in the world shows how judgemental and negative he is. Holden causes his own alienation because instead of clapping along with everybody else, he judges them for applauding and finding joy in the music. Holden is also very judgemental when he was in the hotel. Holden decides to go to a lower class hotel because he did not want to run into anybody he knew. He continues to observe the other guests out of his window. He claims, “I saw one guy, very distinguished looking guy with only his shorts on, do something you wouldn’t believe if I told you. First he put his suitcase on the bed. Then he took out all these womens clothes and put them on.” (Salinger 69). Holden’s judgement is shown greatly here. It was his idea to go to that hotel. Holden thinks that he is better than everybody else but the fact of the matter is that he put himself into that situation …show more content…
His alienation was not a result of society, but was caused by himself. Holden had many opportunities to be engaged with his peers but he turns them down. He isolates himself because he judges people too hard and thinks he is better than them. As a result, he alienates himself. Society should not be to blame for Holden’s downfall because he did it to