Holden Bowler

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…

story of a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield. He has recently been expelled from school, and he travels home to New York to find someone who will listen to him and tell him adulthood will be okay. Holden tries to preserve his own innocence, and the innocence of others by not letting go of childhood memories and through his desire to suspend time. Holden's unresolved grief over the death of his younger brother Allie makes it difficult for him to move on with his life. Holden has difficulty…

characters who have deep phoniness tendencies throughout their lives in the real world. The character in The Catcher In the Rye While Gatsby unquestionably is a big phony, Holden is the biggest phony because he lies just to isolate himself from other people, for no reason at all, and so adults would take him seriously. Although Holden is a big phony, Gatsby fabricates a story a bout his life piecing together facets of information that sound intriguing and somewhat believable. When Gatsby is…

The Existential Trials and Tribulations of Holden Caulfield Comparatively, Holden Caulfield is easily one of the most iconic literary figures of one of the most controversial and enduring novels of our time. Obviously for good reason, Catcher in the Rye evokes every reader to question what is the point of the novel and therefore by extension why was this point made. To fathom this you have to delve deeper into the question “For what is Holden Caulfield's eternal struggle?” Namely, a…

are very prominent. In J.D. Salinger's novel “The Catcher in the Rye” the main character Holden Caulfield he experiences all three of those themes. The main character in NoViolet Bulawayo’s novel “We Need New Names” Darling also experiences these three themes as well. The theme of isolation occurred quite a bit in both novels. In “We Need New Names” Darling experience with this is quite different from Holdens. For Darling it is more of a change of scenery from Africa to America. Darling says…

In “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is evolving throughout the novel by gradually reaching a point where he can no longer cope with the truth of reality, causing him to mentally break down into a state of instability. For example, Holden is out on a date with Sally when he suddenly asks her “‘Here’s my idea. How would you like to get the hell out of here? … Honest to God, we could have a terrific time! Wuddaya say? C’mon! Wuddaya say? Will you do it with me? Please!’”…

Holden values children’s innocence. When phoebe asks Holden what he would like to be when he grows up, Holden says: “Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around–nobody big, [he means]–except [him]. And [he’s] standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What [he has] to do, [he] has to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff… [He’d] just be the catcher in the rye” (191). Holden pictures himself as a “big” figure catching thousands of children before they fall off a cliff. Falling off…

The Catcher in The Rye has over 65 million sales and sells about 250,000 copies per year. This book portrays the life of JD Salinger (the book’s author) in Holden Caulfield (The main character). This book has been read by almost everyone in the United States and for a good reason. The Catcher In the Rye’s main character Holden is able to relate with any reader. There is no definite explanation for the book, JD Salinger left it up to the readers to decide what the book meant to them. Each…

childhood to adulthood. In J.D.Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is a perfect example of these people who have a hard time transitioning to adulthood. While he fears change, and disdains adults, he is also too physically and mentally grown up to stay in childhood. Thus Holden is trapped and lingers between childhood and adulthood. Holden fears change both in him and around him that is associated with growing up. To start, Holden is afraid of physical changes that are happening around…

become overwhelmed. This overall cycle is usually associated with teenage adolescence. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is extremely scared of entering adulthood, which is caused by his loss of innocence as a child. Holden’s fear of becoming an adult causes him to have an obsession with preserving youth and the innocence that comes with it. Holden uses what he describes as “Phoniness” to show his true fear of becoming an adult. Phoniness describes the one-dimensional…