Drew Kreisler 9/30/16
Mrs. Smythe English 9/10
The Catcher in the Rye Essay
In the world there are many people, who at a young age, start themselves on a road that doesn’t lead them to a very good place. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the narrator and main character, Holden Caulfield, tells a story looking back while he is currently in California, at a rehabilitation center. Holden talks about the traumatic experiences he had while at Pencey, an all boys boarding prep school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania, and while he was in NYC. Holden starts to go down a bad path as the story moved along, this is the start of his emotional and physical decline. In this novel, the author shows …show more content…
This steep decline happened very many times during the course of Holden’s story. The majority of his declines are centered around one key event from Holden’s past. Every time Holden is reminded of his little brother Allie, who died from leukemia, he becomes depressed. “Boy, I sat at that goddam bar till around one o’clock or so, getting drunk as a bastard. I could hardly see straight,” (194). This quote shows that Holden gets depressed at points during the book and this makes him want to be drunk which isn’t good at all for his health. He is depressed because Holden is the type of person who feels obligated to help and protect the vulnerable things in the world and he felt like he was unable to protect Allie and faults himself for the death of his brother. This starts Holden on a downward spiral where he becomes more and more depressed. For example, Holden thought back to his childhood, while Allie was still alive and remembers one day when him and his friend were riding their bikes somewhere and when Allie asked if he could go with them, Holden denied him. This is really important because it shows that when Holden remembers this moment he wants to go back and change what he did because he feel like he wasn’t …show more content…
I didn’t even try to get out of the way or duck or anything. All I felt was this terrific punch in my stomach.” (135)
This is another example of Holden picking a fight that he knows he can’t win. Holden had refused to pay Maurice and Sunny the ten dollars he owed them because he was convinced that he only owed them five and he was unwilling and too stubborn to pay them the full ten dollars. After a while Maurice and Sunny took the money that he owed them from Holden. Holden then proceeded to call Maurice a moron and other names to the point that Maurice just punches him in the stomach. This shows that because Holden is really stubborn and in a bad emotional state, this causes him to to take actions that end up hurting him, physically. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the author conveys to the reader that Holden makes attempts to grow throughout the story; however, they fail and Holden’s emotional and physical state take a large decline which is why he ends up in a rehabilitation center in california by the end of the novel. It’s common for a teenager in Holden’s situation to be depressed and what holden goes through is typical for a teenager who is feeling
Mrs. Smythe English 9/10
The Catcher in the Rye Essay
In the world there are many people, who at a young age, start themselves on a road that doesn’t lead them to a very good place. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the narrator and main character, Holden Caulfield, tells a story looking back while he is currently in California, at a rehabilitation center. Holden talks about the traumatic experiences he had while at Pencey, an all boys boarding prep school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania, and while he was in NYC. Holden starts to go down a bad path as the story moved along, this is the start of his emotional and physical decline. In this novel, the author shows …show more content…
This steep decline happened very many times during the course of Holden’s story. The majority of his declines are centered around one key event from Holden’s past. Every time Holden is reminded of his little brother Allie, who died from leukemia, he becomes depressed. “Boy, I sat at that goddam bar till around one o’clock or so, getting drunk as a bastard. I could hardly see straight,” (194). This quote shows that Holden gets depressed at points during the book and this makes him want to be drunk which isn’t good at all for his health. He is depressed because Holden is the type of person who feels obligated to help and protect the vulnerable things in the world and he felt like he was unable to protect Allie and faults himself for the death of his brother. This starts Holden on a downward spiral where he becomes more and more depressed. For example, Holden thought back to his childhood, while Allie was still alive and remembers one day when him and his friend were riding their bikes somewhere and when Allie asked if he could go with them, Holden denied him. This is really important because it shows that when Holden remembers this moment he wants to go back and change what he did because he feel like he wasn’t …show more content…
I didn’t even try to get out of the way or duck or anything. All I felt was this terrific punch in my stomach.” (135)
This is another example of Holden picking a fight that he knows he can’t win. Holden had refused to pay Maurice and Sunny the ten dollars he owed them because he was convinced that he only owed them five and he was unwilling and too stubborn to pay them the full ten dollars. After a while Maurice and Sunny took the money that he owed them from Holden. Holden then proceeded to call Maurice a moron and other names to the point that Maurice just punches him in the stomach. This shows that because Holden is really stubborn and in a bad emotional state, this causes him to to take actions that end up hurting him, physically. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the author conveys to the reader that Holden makes attempts to grow throughout the story; however, they fail and Holden’s emotional and physical state take a large decline which is why he ends up in a rehabilitation center in california by the end of the novel. It’s common for a teenager in Holden’s situation to be depressed and what holden goes through is typical for a teenager who is feeling