Joan Crawford

Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Throughout J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, main character and narrator Holden Caulfield displays a deep desire for someone to simply hear him out. In his eye, the world is simply a bunch of “phonies” who are, for lack of better words, too self-involved and egocentric to listen to anybody. He may be the only person to ever pay for a prostitute with the mere purpose of having someone to talk to. In his…

When I first saw him, I was shocked. He sat there, smiling and crying while the rain fell. His eyes stayed on the little girl riding the carousel, probably his sister. I could see what my brother saw in him. He was cute in a plain kind of way. Short brown hair peeking out under his weird hat, sparkling hazel eyes, and a smile that could rival Frank Sinatra’s. “He has the best smile Mary.” As I walked up to him, I noticed worry lines permeate his face. His sparkling eyes contained a sense of…

Have you ever experienced something in your life that had such an immense impact on you that it altered who you are and the way you live, forever? For Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye this was a reality. Holden’s blissful childhood was brought to an abrupt stop when his brother and best friend, Allie passed away. Everyone mourns the loss of loved ones differently. For Holden, he was stuck in the moment of his brother’s death. Experiencing such a trauma while being so young left Holden…

Adolescence is quite possibly the most awkward moment in one’s life. It is a transition from youth to adulthood, in which a person experiences puberty, gains insight to their true identity, and has to figure out plans for the rest of their life whilst balancing all the crazy mishaps life has to offer. It is a troubling, yet rewarding period of time, and in the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield experiences all of this within a span of five days.…

The word phony is used thirty-five times by the main character, Holden Caulfield, in The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. David D. Galloway said, “Wherever Holden turns, his craving for truth seems to be frustrated by the phoniness of the world.” Throughout the book, Holden sees phoniness around him by seeing the imperfect in the world, and he wishes to not have the “phoniness” in the world. Salinger wishes for the reader to perceive phoniness as the flaws in the world shown by the usage of…

Through the iconic voice of Holden Caulfield, an estranged adolescent, one hears a cry for help emerge from the clouds of depression so effortlessly that nearly everyone, regardless of background, relates. As evident within J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, and particularly during chapter 20, Salinger utilizes casual diction, relatable syntax, and a symbolic setting to convey Holden’s great dejection and introspection about death itself. With such a strong rhetorical technique as this,…

Holden Caulfield, 17 years old, was scheduled for a psychiatric appointment by his mother. On the phone, Mrs. Caulfield explained that her son disappeared after being kicked out of his fourth boarding school and didn’t return home for 3 days around Christmas last year. Phoebe Caulfield, Holden’s little sister, was the one that noticed Holden’s peculiar behavior, that continued to worsen over a year, and told her mother of these peculiarities. Such as wanting to run away from home, not returning,…

In The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger explains faith, relationships, and immaturity. Holden Caulfield is a sixteen year old in 1946 that attends a private school. Holden expresses very little faith in The Catcher in The Rye. Holden tells us not long after the story begins that he is writing the story not long after the events happen and that he is in some sort of asylum (Brooks). Holden’s overall attitudes about his life is actually very negative and he acts as if he has no faith in him ever…

The Catcher in the Rye is written about a boy, Holden Caulfield, around the 1950’s in an institution in California. Salinger makes clear in the beginning that he is troubled in some way because he 's already attended two other private schools, Whooton and Elkton, but unfortunately got kicked out of both. We find this out when Holden is explaining he also got kicked out if his present school Pencey Prep for not applying himself academically even though they have warned him what would happen if he…

Safety Is Overrated “Rash” is a speculative fiction navel written by Pete Hautman. Rash shows how safety isn’t something everyone wants because safe does not mean that you’ll enjoy life to its fullest. Rash tells the story of Bo Marston, a 16-year old high school student who lives in the United Safer States of America in 2074.He is forced to wear protective, padded clothes everywhere and cannot do many of the things we can today . Rash shows what an overprotective government can do and how it…