The Last Lecture

Although most children appear to want to grow up, most do not. In fact most kids are extremely afraid to grow up. This is certainly the case for 16 year old Holden Caulfield. At the beginning of the book The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden finds himself being kicked out of boarding school yet again. Instead of doing the reasonable thing, he decides to run away and roam the streets of New York City all alone. He has some wild adventures along the way. Including but not limited to;…

Lysette Anthony once said, “Mental illness leaves a huge legacy, not just for the person suffering it but for those around them.” In J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden, leaves a huge legacy for himself and the people around him with his mental illness. He hints that he is mentally ill but only says it outright at one point in the book. Holden is a 16 year old guy living in New York City. He is a troublemaker and routinely gets kicked out of multiple, very expensive…

Literary Analysis Essay contrasting Into the Wild and Catcher in the Rye with phoniness of the adult world When someone is thinking of the idea of phoniness, they might recall something like diamonds, teenagers antics, or TV shows. However, in Into the Wild and Catcher in the Rye, the two main characters Chris McCandless and Holden Caulfield think of adulthood and adult society as phony and constantly criticize it. Even though they both try to move away and not experience adulthood,…

Tobias Wolff is the author of This Boy’s Life. Tobias, or Toby for short, writes this memoir about his own life when he was a young boy. Toby lived a difficult childhood and caused a lot of trouble because of it. He didn’t grow up with a father figure, and he was constantly moving around because his mother couldn’t stay put. Even though his childhood living situation was terrible, it doesn’t exonerate the juvenile acts he performed in his judgement. Based on what Toby went through when he…

The Phoney in the Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is a novel where the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, tells his story about being a normal sixteen-year-old boy struggling to move into adulthood due to being afraid of growing up. This even inspires him to want to save all the children from growing up, desiring to be the Catcher in the Rye. Holden appears to be normal, but exhibits an abundance of signs of depression throughout the story. In this book consisting of 26 chapters is Holden…

Flight “Call me Zits,” (Alexie 1). Zits is a teenage boy facing many problems in his life. Zits says his own name does not matter because all he is seen as is his zits. Zits does not have many morals to begin with, but throughout the story he develops his own morals. We meet Zits in a new foster home in which he hates, and pushes the mother and runs off. Two critical approaches that can be seen in Flight by Sherman Alexie, are biographical and moral. One way to approach Flight is…

It is sometimes difficult for children to realize when is time to mature and grow out of childhood. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a coming of age novel about sixteen year old Holden Caulfield’s weekend adventure. Salinger describes Holden's extreme depression, his beliefs that just about every adult is a phony, and his protection of innocence. Holden’s most significant character flaw is him being stuck in childlike views. Some instances in Holden’s life that prove that he is stuck…

Many times in our lives, we tend to judge people depending on their authenticity. While this might just be human nature, people tend to look beyond that. People are just looking to determine how authentic a person can be. Some people deserve to be admired for their beliefs, expectations and principles. In the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield has many beliefs and judgements about people based on what they say and do. Although, this may be thought as of a…

One of the first parts of the book where we see Holden Caulfield as a virtuous outcast is when he talks about his little brother Allie as Holden works on Stradlater’s essay, “ “(salinger ). It’s clear to see that holden is still depressed by the death of his brother. Holden is stuck in the grieving process, which allows readers to understand his position. Holden’s actions throughout the novel are motivated by his sadness and loss, which is a main example of how Holden is no “whiny brat”, but a…

As Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman philosopher, once said, "A room without books is like a body without a soul.” Books have the capability to be any person's escape from reality and no book should ever be subjected to the term "banned". Every book has at least one good thing to offer, no matter how great or small. All the reader has to do is give the book a chance and find that one thing. The novel The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is one such book that should be taught in high school.…