Holden Caulfield Tradlater Research Paper

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger consists of numerous characters, but Holden Caulfield and Ward Stradlater are a pair of noticeably contrasting ones. They were roommates at Holden’s old school, Pencey Prep; however, the two characters had a somewhat unstable relationship. Holden and Stradlater differ greatly in their physical aspects. They are almost polar opposites in their personalities. Also, the two characters’ views and their amounts of ambition in life are very unalike from each other’s. Overall, the similarities between Holden and Stradlater are few to none. Although the reader is briefly informed of Stradlater’s looks, one can conclude that they are very contrasting from Holden’s physical traits. Stradlater is described as handsome with a fit body and broad shoulders. Holden said, “He was pretty handsome, too-I’ll admit it” (Salinger 27). Holden describes himself as tall and skinny with greyish hair. At the start of the novel, he stated “...I’m six foot two and a half and I have grey hair” (9). Holden refers to his own looks in a negative way, but he describes Stradlater’s more positively. Stradlater’s physical aspects match the average teenager, while Holden’s are …show more content…
Holden is antisocial and doesn’t have many friends. At one point in the novel, he mentioned wanting to pretend to be a mute: “I thought what I’d do was, I’d pretend I was one of those deaf mutes” (198-199). On the other hand, Stradlater is popular and a school jock. Stradlater is also very self-absorbed and “madly in love with himself” (27), while Holden is insecure and self conscious. Holden constantly judged others to deflect the judgment off of himself. For instance, he judged Mr. Spencer because he didn’t enjoy the things he was saying about him (12-15). Stradlater is referred to as a messy, secret slob, whilst Holden didn’t have many belongings, and he disliked others if they were