Why Is Holden Caulfield A Dynamic Character In Catcher In The Rye

Improved Essays
The Dynamic of Holden Caulfield
People change. It is just the way they are. That is also the case in “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger. Holden, the main character, undergoes a huge change that is obvious throughout the novel. Holden goes through a series of unfortunate events as he learns his lessons the hard way. From the beginning to the end, Holden finds motivation, happiness, and realizes that he has to let go of innocence. Holden is certainly a dynamic character based on the way his outlook on life changed throughout the novel.
Holden makes a 180 degree turnaround by the end of the book by finding motivation to succeed in school. By the second page of the book, it can be seen what type of person Holden is. Holden states that,
…show more content…
Before Holden lost his own innocence, he wanted to prevent other children from losing theirs too. His life goal was to catch kids when they were about to fall, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they 're running and they don 't look where they 're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That 's all I do all day. I 'd just be the catcher in the rye and all”(Salinger 173). Holden was determined to save every last child from experiencing a “fall.” The fall represents the loss of innocence. Holden desperately holds on to the last bit of innocence he has and wants everyone else to because Allie was innocent and he died before he lost it, therefore he wants to be like Allie. There were many symbols representing holden’s own fall throughout the book. Holden is constantly falling during the book. He slipped on ice, on peanut shells, on a suitcase, and while ice skating. But the most important fall was when he passed out and fell when he was waiting for Phoebe at the museum, “I mean I could’ve killed myself when I hit the floor, but all I did was sort of land on my side. It was a funny thing, though. I felt better after I passed out”(Salinger 205). This last fall symbolizes Holden’s loss of innocence and transition into adulthood because he said that he felt better after he got up. Immediately after, Holden shows that he is actually a changed person when he says, “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them”(Salinger 211). When Holden watches Phoebe ride the carrousel and grab for the ring, he finally realizes that children need to lose their innocence at some point and it is useless for him to try and stop it. The book

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    To detail how Holden’s mindset works, J.D. Salinger incorporates Holden’s dream job into the story to help the reader further understand why Holden ventures this far to become the preserver of the possession he holds the closest, the innocence of the youth. Holden returns to his home earlier than he plans because he is has been removed from Pencey Prep, and he goes to see Phoebe in his older brother’s room. He tells Phoebe, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all…What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff… I 'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it 's crazy, but that 's the only thing I 'd really like to be” (Salinger 173). Holden realizes what his goal in life is, and he explains to his little sister that he wants to be the person to look out for all the kids who are too naïve to look out for themselves and Holden wants to secure their innocence.…

    • 2253 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel The Catcher in the Rye authored by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is a teenager who refuses to accept that he is becoming an adult. Holden is obsessed about being a child and refuses to stop horsing around. He chooses to place himself between the world of simple innocence and complex adulthood. Holden is the narrator and he chooses to tell the story in his own contradicting manner. Holden controls his experiences and his narrations of the same are distorted from reality.…

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The fear of change is very common among people all over the world. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden is subject to an abundance of changes that he fears, which eventually causes him to realize that change is needed in some parts of his life in order to become more mature and to adapt to his surroundings. Holden´s fear of adulthood is one of his biggest fears throughout the course of the novel. When Holden first takes a taxi cab when he gets off the train station in New York, he becomes very curious and wonders ¨where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over,¨ (Salinger 16). When Holden asks the cab driver about where the ducks go in the winter, he is relating the question to his own life.…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The author Salinger, makes Holden Caulfield this obnoxious, bad mouthing, cynic teenager. “...I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies.” (Salinger p 13). In the novel Catcher in the Rye, Holden goes through many obstacles and is trying to find himself. But during his exploration,we realize that Holden is growing up and is becoming a man.…

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    J.D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield Psychoanalysis J.D. Salinger, the author of The Catcher in the Rye, writes about a cynical teenage boy named Holden Caulfield who has a difficult time expressing his emotions to other people. Salinger also had a hard time with his social life, so he composed this novel to express his own difficulties through Holden Caulfield. When analyzing this novel, it is clear to see the similarities between Salinger’s own personal life and the life he creates for Holden. J.D. Salinger uses the character Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye to reflect his own social problems: interacting with other people, relationships, and status expectations.…

    • 1550 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    All around the world, adolescent children roam the earth confused and lost between the stages of being a child and becoming an adult. The confusion and problems that every child faces is what shapes them to be the person they will become. J.D Salinger took an adolescent child’s experience and made it come to life as readers experience what the narrator of the story struggles through and how the narrator faces all the confusion of an adolescent child. In the novel A Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger represents adolescence as a time of uncertainty and confusion as the narrator struggles to walk the line between childhood and adulthood. Holden expresses his uncertainty about the adult world through the use of the word “phony”.…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Holden Caulfield Catcher in the Rye, has shown to have a few eccentric tendencies, however Holden has shown to be a fairly normal teenager. Nevertheless, Holden seems to be seen as border lining on insanity due to his tendencies of mass amounts of anxiety and depression, which were strange for the time. Yet, Holden’s understanding of the world and how the world sees him is a factor that is often overlooked. Leads Holden is a normal teenager going through adolescence and is simply misunderstood by society because of his depression, lack of experience with grief, and warped view of the world. First of all, Holden’s depression, throughout the book Holden has shown to hold large amounts of depression that is caused by his detachment from society, pursuit of youth, and neglect from his parents.…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield often pushes people away and gets upset over unusual things. He sometimes gets angry, upset or depressed at for abnormal reasons. Many people push him away in return to his uncommon behaviors. They blame Holden for just being rude but that is not the case. Even though Holden comes off as moody teenager, his post-traumatic stress disorder makes him have abnormal reactions to many situations and people.…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Just when I think I have learned the way to live, life changes”(Prather). Finding oneself in an era of change may lead a person down a complicated and frustrating path. Adolescents undergoing this development are faced with social standards set by older generations and often times are vulnerable to high levels mental stress. For instance, in J.D Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, protagonist Holden Caulfield struggles with this transitional stage. The young boy’s perspective of the world around him is skewed after a series of misfortunate events, which he still has difficulty acknowledging are portrayed throughout the novel.…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Holden 's epiphany leads him to understand that a loss of innocence in children is inevitable, but you can always be there to “catch” them when they fall. This epiphany causes Holden to abandon his irrational ideals about society. Unlike Chris McCandless, it is not too late for Holden. After the realization of his mistakes, Holden is able to go home and receive help. At the end of the book, Holden appears to be receiving treatment and is beginning to come to terms with his unhealable wound and resolve…

    • 2317 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This relates to Holden because he is afraid he will not survive through the conflicts in life. When Holden did not feel well, he went to the bathroom in the Museum and tells the reader, “I mean I could’ve killed myself when I hit the floor, but all I did was land of my side. It was a funny thing, though. I felt better after I passed out…” (204).…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Holden Caulfield Trauma

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Holden’s need to defend the virtues of children, specifically his sister, by being a catcher in the rye is one of the ways Salinger demonstrates the effects of trauma on a person. Furthermore, during a conversation with Phoebe, Holden came to the realization he wanted to be a catcher in the rye “I’d be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that's the only thing I’d really like to be” (173). It becomes Holden’s goal in life to be a catcher in the rye, someone who saves children from falling off a cliff while playing in a rye field.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When kicked out of his boarding school, instead of maturely going home and explaining to his parents his expulsion, Holden roams New York City and avoids returning home. The entire novel is based on Holden’s regression. He was in complete denial of his expulsion and didn’t see why it was necessary to return home. Holden also reverts to younger behavior when he is upset. For example following Allie’s death, Holden went into his garage and destroyed it “I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it.…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Holden wants to act as the archetypal Hero, wanting to fulfill the task of preventing children from physically falling, and from falling spiritually from their state of innocence, which shows his dedication to the youth and desire to serve others. Overall, even though in his heart he has a passion to save others, Holden’s actions and…

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He thinks of her as very smart and while he’s gone from school early, is always thinking about calling her and talking to her because she is very intelligent and he likes talking to her. He eventually visits her at his house and tells her he’s leaving for good. She wants to pack up her bags and go with him, but he tells her no. He meets her at the museum before he decides to leave and she brings her suitcase. He tells her that she’s not coming with him, but again she refuses.…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays