Holden's Attitude Towards His Parents In 'Catcher In The Rye'

Holden’s parents impact his behaviour the greatest, as their neglect towards Holden is seen to greatly impact him throughout the novel. His parents are portrayed by Salinger as very dismissive of Holden and his well-being, which intern significantly affects Holden's behaviour. This dismissive nature is clearly depicted when Holden's parents are both unaware that Holden is expelled from boarding school. Furthermore, it also illustrates that Holden didn't feel safe and secure to disclose such information to his parents, showing he felt isolated by his parents which consequently impacts his behaviour notably. This can be clearly depicted when he states, “They would’ve killed me or anything if they’d caught me home, but it would be very unpleasant …show more content…
By Holden saying this it shows to the audience that even Holden believes that his parents don't truly care about him, which consequently creates Holden to feel lonely and isolated in his own home, which undoubtedly greatly impacts towards his behaviour. Similarly, Salinger again is able to position us to see Holden's behaviour being impacted by his parents when he expresses, “if you want to know the truth… my parents would have about two haemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them.” (Pg.1). In this quote, Salinger has been able to perfectly capture the troubled voice of Holden and furthermore how disconnected he felt from his parents. Through the aesthetic feature of first-person narration, the reader is able to connect deeper with Holden and his words. This is due to that by the use of this technique it allows the reader to recognise Holden's message of being isolated from his parents and not being loved or nurtured at any point during his adolescent years. This connection that the audience is able to feel is emphasised in the words "my parents would have about two haemorrhages" when talking about something personal, reinforcing the lack of an intimate child-parent