The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is about a young boy named Holden Caulfield. Holden is struggling with coping with his brothers death and also is very angry at the world which gets him into multiple conflicts. Salinger shows throughout the book that dreams can be good and bad and that Holden appears to be morally superior to other he has been acquainted to in his life. When Holden runs away from his fourth school he encounters many people that try to take advantage of him. Some of these people include Maurice who is a pimp and Sunny who is a prostitute. Although Holden's dream to be the “catcher in the rye” is commendable, he is better off giving up his dream.
Holden's desire to protect innocence shows his moral superiority. …show more content…
When Stradlater returns from his date with Jane, he avoids giving Holden a clear answer of what they do. When Holden becomes upset, he says, “‘What’d you do?’ I said. ‘Give her the time in Ed Banky’s goddam car?’ My voice was shaking something awful” to which Stradlater responds “What a thing to say. Want me to wash your mouth out with soap?”. Holden continues to pester Stradlater and say “Did you?” and Stradlater says “That’s a professional secret, buddy” (56). Holden realizes Stradlater is corrupt and makes the assumption that he has assaulted Jane. Similar to Holden's interaction with Maurice, his hatred of corruption and attempt to stop it gets him in bad situations. Holden feels strongly about good things and people becoming corrupted and that makes him have negative feelings towards most things in his life. Since he can not enjoy anything because he views the world as a negative place, he makes his life miserable. While Holden is sitting down with Sally, he begins to rant about materialism and superficiality. He says, “‘Take cars,’ I said. I said it in a very quiet voice. ‘Take most people, they’re crazy about cars. They worry if they get a little scratch on them, and they’re always talking about how many miles they get to a gallon, and if they get a brand-new car already they start thinking about trading it in for one that’s even newer. I don’t even like old cars” (169-170). Holden is spending his time with …show more content…
While Holden is at Phoebe's school dropping a note off for her, he runs into vulgar graffiti on the wall for a second time, and says, “I went down by a different staircase, and I saw another “Fuck you” on the wall. I tried to rub it off with my hand again, but this one was scratched on, with a knife or something. It wouldn’t come off. It’s hopeless, anyway. If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn’t rub off half the “Fuck you” signs in the world. It’s impossible” (262). This reaction is very different from the first time he sees obscene graffiti in Phoebe's school. His first reaction is very angry and violent; he actually fantasizes about committing murder with his bare hands. At the second graffiti, he is not angry anymore and he is not stressing out because he realizes these are things that he can not control therefore, a weight is lifted off of his shoulders. Later at the end of the story, Holden says, “A lot of people, especially this one psychoanalyst guy they have here, keeps asking me if I’m going to apply myself when I go back to school next September” (276). The fact that Holden is seeing a psychoanalyst means that he is getting help. This means that Holden is able to admit his problems, which means he is much more likely to solve them. Even though Holden needs help, the help he is getting will make him more independent in the future. In addition, returning to
Holden's desire to protect innocence shows his moral superiority. …show more content…
When Stradlater returns from his date with Jane, he avoids giving Holden a clear answer of what they do. When Holden becomes upset, he says, “‘What’d you do?’ I said. ‘Give her the time in Ed Banky’s goddam car?’ My voice was shaking something awful” to which Stradlater responds “What a thing to say. Want me to wash your mouth out with soap?”. Holden continues to pester Stradlater and say “Did you?” and Stradlater says “That’s a professional secret, buddy” (56). Holden realizes Stradlater is corrupt and makes the assumption that he has assaulted Jane. Similar to Holden's interaction with Maurice, his hatred of corruption and attempt to stop it gets him in bad situations. Holden feels strongly about good things and people becoming corrupted and that makes him have negative feelings towards most things in his life. Since he can not enjoy anything because he views the world as a negative place, he makes his life miserable. While Holden is sitting down with Sally, he begins to rant about materialism and superficiality. He says, “‘Take cars,’ I said. I said it in a very quiet voice. ‘Take most people, they’re crazy about cars. They worry if they get a little scratch on them, and they’re always talking about how many miles they get to a gallon, and if they get a brand-new car already they start thinking about trading it in for one that’s even newer. I don’t even like old cars” (169-170). Holden is spending his time with …show more content…
While Holden is at Phoebe's school dropping a note off for her, he runs into vulgar graffiti on the wall for a second time, and says, “I went down by a different staircase, and I saw another “Fuck you” on the wall. I tried to rub it off with my hand again, but this one was scratched on, with a knife or something. It wouldn’t come off. It’s hopeless, anyway. If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn’t rub off half the “Fuck you” signs in the world. It’s impossible” (262). This reaction is very different from the first time he sees obscene graffiti in Phoebe's school. His first reaction is very angry and violent; he actually fantasizes about committing murder with his bare hands. At the second graffiti, he is not angry anymore and he is not stressing out because he realizes these are things that he can not control therefore, a weight is lifted off of his shoulders. Later at the end of the story, Holden says, “A lot of people, especially this one psychoanalyst guy they have here, keeps asking me if I’m going to apply myself when I go back to school next September” (276). The fact that Holden is seeing a psychoanalyst means that he is getting help. This means that Holden is able to admit his problems, which means he is much more likely to solve them. Even though Holden needs help, the help he is getting will make him more independent in the future. In addition, returning to