Sometimes, traumatic events in a young person’s life can force them to grow up faster than others. For Holden Caulfield, however, innocence and childhood is something to be cherished, since the world of adults is filled with “phonies” and people he doesn’t agree with. After the death of his little brother Allie, Holden struggles to retain his childish nature while growing into an adult. J. D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is a unique coming-of-age story that presents a theme of childhood innocence and explores the hardships of growing up through Holden’s character development and cynical narration.
Holden Caulfield suffered a traumatic event when he was only thirteen years old, causing him to fall into a deep depression and altering …show more content…
The readers are unsure of who Holden is speaking to. They are prompted to believe the listener is only a doctor or therapist, and therefore not very close to Holden. However, Holden insists whoever he is speaking to would like Allie. Holden also calls Allie “intelligent,” an interesting choice of words for a child. Society tends to see children as naive, impressionable, and ignorant, but to Holden, children like Allie and his sister Phoebe are intelligent, despite the fact that they haven’t even entered middle school. Furthermore, when describing Allie, Holden says, “He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody” (50). There is a little bit of irony that comes with this statement. Holden is depicted as a rude, cynical teenager as well as a pathological liar, however he greatly admires Allie’s kindness. Not only that, but he seems to praise every child on their inherent kindness, never once calling a kid mean throughout the entirety of the novel. Holden’s love for children and unconditional admiration for his brother is what makes his death so tragic. Holden’s admiration for Allie is prevalent while he is at Pencey as well, …show more content…
This is shown when Holden’s roommate, Stradlater, asks him to write a descriptive composition about a room or something similar, but Holden instead writes about the old baseball mitt he carries around that used to belong to Allie. Holden makes it clear he enjoys reminiscing about Allie this way, saying, “I happened to have it with me, in my suitcase, so I got it out and copied down the poems that were written on it… I sort of liked writing about it” (51). Here, Holden writes about what he’s passionate for. He writes the composition more for himself than he is for Stradlater. Moreover, Holden’s reaction to Allie’s death is extreme; he punches windows until his knuckles bleed. He describes the scene in vague detail, saying, “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage… I slept in the garage the night he died and I broke all the goddamn windows with my fists… My hand still hurts me every once in a while, when it rains and all” (50). This part of Holden’s life marks the beginning of his depression. This is made clear by the reference to the pain in his hand. This is not only a reference to his physical injury, but a symbol of his mental trauma.
Holden Caulfield suffered a traumatic event when he was only thirteen years old, causing him to fall into a deep depression and altering …show more content…
The readers are unsure of who Holden is speaking to. They are prompted to believe the listener is only a doctor or therapist, and therefore not very close to Holden. However, Holden insists whoever he is speaking to would like Allie. Holden also calls Allie “intelligent,” an interesting choice of words for a child. Society tends to see children as naive, impressionable, and ignorant, but to Holden, children like Allie and his sister Phoebe are intelligent, despite the fact that they haven’t even entered middle school. Furthermore, when describing Allie, Holden says, “He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody” (50). There is a little bit of irony that comes with this statement. Holden is depicted as a rude, cynical teenager as well as a pathological liar, however he greatly admires Allie’s kindness. Not only that, but he seems to praise every child on their inherent kindness, never once calling a kid mean throughout the entirety of the novel. Holden’s love for children and unconditional admiration for his brother is what makes his death so tragic. Holden’s admiration for Allie is prevalent while he is at Pencey as well, …show more content…
This is shown when Holden’s roommate, Stradlater, asks him to write a descriptive composition about a room or something similar, but Holden instead writes about the old baseball mitt he carries around that used to belong to Allie. Holden makes it clear he enjoys reminiscing about Allie this way, saying, “I happened to have it with me, in my suitcase, so I got it out and copied down the poems that were written on it… I sort of liked writing about it” (51). Here, Holden writes about what he’s passionate for. He writes the composition more for himself than he is for Stradlater. Moreover, Holden’s reaction to Allie’s death is extreme; he punches windows until his knuckles bleed. He describes the scene in vague detail, saying, “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage… I slept in the garage the night he died and I broke all the goddamn windows with my fists… My hand still hurts me every once in a while, when it rains and all” (50). This part of Holden’s life marks the beginning of his depression. This is made clear by the reference to the pain in his hand. This is not only a reference to his physical injury, but a symbol of his mental trauma.