Crazy Eddie

In Catcher in the Rye, Holden decides to leave New York to head out West after he experiences a frightening feeling of “just go[ing] down, down, down, and nobody’d ever see [him] again” (217). Yet, Holden decides to visit Phoebe one last time before leaving, so he pays a visit to her school. Holden’s experience of “go[ing] down, down, down” mirrors the image of someone falling off a cliff like in Holden’s imagination as a “catcher in the rye” (191). In a way, Holden himself is a child in the rye…

“He’s dead now. He got Leukemia and died when we where up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You would have liked him” (Salinger 43). In the novel, The Catcher In the Rye, by J.D. Salinger: Holden’s younger brother dies of Leukemia. Holden never full recovers from the family loss and is affected by this through the rest of his childhood and as he continues to grow up. In the novel, the death of Allie, Holden’s brother, causes Holden expresses multiple symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.…

“Certain things, they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone.” - J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye. The Catcher in The Rye is a novel about a 17 year old boy living in a “phony” world who ventures throughout the streets of New York to possibly find purity. J.D. Salinger’s reason for writing such a controversial novel was to appeal to the teenage mind. Holden is sexually confused and struggles expressing his…

Throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye and the film Dead Poets Society, both of the main characters Holden and Neil have strained relationships with their parents. For Holden Caulfield, he struggles with the fear of telling his parents that he was expelled from boarding school due to the expectations of his parents. Then, for Neil, he struggles with finding his own path that is separate from his father’s ideas, but cannot confront the strictness of his father. Within these two sources are…

Sometimes, traumatic events in a young person’s life can force them to grow up faster than others. For Holden Caulfield, however, innocence and childhood is something to be cherished, since the world of adults is filled with “phonies” and people he doesn’t agree with. After the death of his little brother Allie, Holden struggles to retain his childish nature while growing into an adult. J. D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is a unique coming-of-age story that presents a theme of…

For many teenagers, the thought of growing up and navigating the responsibilities of adulthood is a troubling thought. It is a time where maturity is tested, and autonomy is necessity. A time when some of us feel most alone. Unfortunately, this reality is no different for Holden Caulfield as his rejection of adultness leaves him wandering the streets of New York City alone. Throughout the novel “the Catcher in the Rye”, J.D Salinger plays off many aspects of Holden’s quirky and immature…

Often times, the transition into adult life can be difficult. Not only is it hard to lose your innocent nature but it’s also difficult to push yourself into adult experiences. In many ways, however, teens are forced to do so. In the famous novel, The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden experiences many of these problems. This book reveals that, while in many ways an average teen, Holden is literally stuck in between a man and a child’s mindset. Although generally mature, Holden often…

‘The catcher in the rye’, written by ‘J. D. Salinger’ narrates the psychological and physical troubles of Holden Caulfield, a mentally unstable, teenage boy seeking approval in an ever-changing world. Throughout the novel, the author uses a variety of stylistic and language techniques are used to intrigue the audience into reading the text, which include the use of imagery, symbolism and metaphors. It is the different themes and techniques like this that are used throughout the text to pull the…

There has been a rise of mental health cases every year, and most of them occur during a teen’s life. Teens stress and struggle through their mental health problems, increasing the need for help from others. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger explores the life of a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield, after he flunks out of the fourth elite boarding school he has attended. Throughout the novel, Holden struggles with depression and loneliness, and is unable to find help for…

In Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a symbol of the younger generation who rejects America’s culture of conformity unlike his parents. The older generation of parents tried to defeat the spread of communism by conforming while the teenagers felt a disconnect to society. Caulfield uses the word “phoniness” to display his affection towards conformity. Caulfield would love to experience a human connection similar to his but does not find such thing. The youth during this time…