Holden Caulfield
In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the character Holden has peculiar behavioral tendencies. Holden is an emotionally damaged teenager who struggles to cope with the death of his younger brother Allie. Holden has many personal oddities that prevent him from conforming to a society of phonies to whom he cannot relate. It becomes increasingly evident that Holden, far from being pragmatic, has clouded justice as he rides an emotional roller coaster of mood fluctuations during his brief stay in New York after being expelled from boarding school. Thus, it is clear that his wide array of personal flaws, including his cynical, depressive, and unreasonable attitude and thoughts are rooted in underlying emotional problems. Holden …show more content…
Although his perception is sometimes reasonable towards people who are conspicuously phony, such as Marty who overtly lies about catching a glimpse of a movie star, his negativity and scathing criticism of others often extends beyond the realm of reason. Holden lacks friendships because he forms opinions about people before he gets to know them. He looks for negative reasons to not befriend people because he does not want to open himself up. Holden claims he left Pencey Prep because he “was surrounded by phonies. That’s all. They were coming in the goddam window” (17). Holden did not choose to leave Pencey Prep he was expelled. Holden did not make any effort to create friendships with the boys at Pencey Prep because he labeled them as phonies. Holden does not have any true friendships because he cannot get past his judgments of people; he is lonely and an outcast. When Holden gets off the train at Penn Station he “felt like giving somebody a buzz […] but as soon as [he] was inside, [he] couldn’t think of anybody to call up. […] So [Holden] ended up not calling anybody. [Holden] came out of the booth, after about twenty minutes or so” (66). Many of these people that Holden contemplates calling have let him down and are phonies, while the rest have not yet disappointed him but he is afraid to give them the chance to. Holden prevents himself from creating friendships by making harsh generalizations and judgments about
In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the character Holden has peculiar behavioral tendencies. Holden is an emotionally damaged teenager who struggles to cope with the death of his younger brother Allie. Holden has many personal oddities that prevent him from conforming to a society of phonies to whom he cannot relate. It becomes increasingly evident that Holden, far from being pragmatic, has clouded justice as he rides an emotional roller coaster of mood fluctuations during his brief stay in New York after being expelled from boarding school. Thus, it is clear that his wide array of personal flaws, including his cynical, depressive, and unreasonable attitude and thoughts are rooted in underlying emotional problems. Holden …show more content…
Although his perception is sometimes reasonable towards people who are conspicuously phony, such as Marty who overtly lies about catching a glimpse of a movie star, his negativity and scathing criticism of others often extends beyond the realm of reason. Holden lacks friendships because he forms opinions about people before he gets to know them. He looks for negative reasons to not befriend people because he does not want to open himself up. Holden claims he left Pencey Prep because he “was surrounded by phonies. That’s all. They were coming in the goddam window” (17). Holden did not choose to leave Pencey Prep he was expelled. Holden did not make any effort to create friendships with the boys at Pencey Prep because he labeled them as phonies. Holden does not have any true friendships because he cannot get past his judgments of people; he is lonely and an outcast. When Holden gets off the train at Penn Station he “felt like giving somebody a buzz […] but as soon as [he] was inside, [he] couldn’t think of anybody to call up. […] So [Holden] ended up not calling anybody. [Holden] came out of the booth, after about twenty minutes or so” (66). Many of these people that Holden contemplates calling have let him down and are phonies, while the rest have not yet disappointed him but he is afraid to give them the chance to. Holden prevents himself from creating friendships by making harsh generalizations and judgments about