Growing up poses challenges to most people at some point in their lives. 16-year-old Holden Cau field is no exception. He is an apathetic teenager who’s flunked out of many schools. Underneath the cynical exterior though, Holden is troubled. He has different methods for escaping his problems but in the end they just cause him more problems. J.
D Salinger, in his novel The Catcher in the Rye shows that often times when an individual faces problems in their life they will try to find a means to escape, instead of solving them. Throughout the novel Holden seems to be excluded from any group. He feels alienated from the rest of society, but I believe that Holden stays bitter on purpose. He keeps a cynical, sarcastic outlook on life so as to escape his true feelings. This is not uncommon for people who have trouble accepting their problems. Many of the times that Holden criticizes people it is something he does himself.
(Pg 13) .”.. one of the reasons I left Elkton was that I was surrounded by phonies… .” Holden himself is many times what he refers to as a “phony.” He knows that he lies and pretends to like people that he would rather not be with. (Pg 125) .”.. I told her I loved her and all. It was a lie of course…
.” His bitterness is a shield against his reality, a reality he doesn’t like at all. Yet at the same time Holden really wants to communicate with people. (Pg 66) ” I damn near gave my kid sister Phoebe a buzz… .” He is torn between the two ways to act and cannot reach conclusions about himself. Fantasies about an innocent and pure world are another means of escape for Holden. He often is moved by images of children doing completely innocent things.
The Essay on People often complain about life in the U.S.
People complain when most of their needs are not met. The irony of it lies when complaints are just piled up without any further insights on how to solve such problems. In the long run, complaints become a part of the lifestyle of people who are good at pointing at the loopholes most especially of the government, and of the leaders. As there would always be a reason for every action that is done, ...
(Pg. 115) “The kid was swell… He was just singing for the hell of it, you could tell.” This longing for innocence is another example of his detachment to society. He wants to retreat into this kind of world. Holden creates barriers between himself and reality through his fantasies. He feels that children are innocent and carefree and honest while adults are phony and hypocritical.
Many times Holden turns towards his younger sister Phoebe for someone to talk to. (Pg 156) ” Anyway, I couldn’t get that off my mind so finally what I figured I’d do, I figured I’d better sneak home and see her… .” She listens to him without being overly judgmental and is an escape to innocence for him. Holden’s dream of being “the catcher in the rye” (Pg 173) “And I’m standing on the edge of this crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff-… I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.
” shows the reader the center of his idealism. The symbol of “the catcher in the rye” has another meaning for Holden as well. He wants to protect those who are innocent and preserve their innocence. (Pg 206) “You can’t take anything. Because you ” re not going. I’m going alone.” In his dream job he’s the only one who can save the kids that are about to run over the cliff.
Going over the cliff represents his or her transition into the adult world of “phoniness” and Holden would be the one who stops that. Though Holden knows that being the “catcher in the rye” is something that that will never happen (Pg 173) “I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be.” he still tries contend himself, and help others stay innocent and carefree by stopping others from tainting them as much as he can. (Pg 201) ” Somebody’d written “Fuck you” on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how’d they’d wonder what it meant… I rubbed it off anyways, finally.” It gives Holden a purpose in life, something to work towards and to help him forget his real problems. Holden has trouble accepting who he is and where his life is going.
The Essay on Holden in “Catcher in the rye ” by J.R Salinger
Holden is a complex person with many conflicting characteristics. He has many ambitions and desires for his life but he is faced with the basic conflict in the story, corruption. This corruption is what drives him and at the same time restricts him Holden’s being surrounded by corruption disgusts him. There are a few main instances in which Holden encounters corruption directly. One type is ...
As with many individuals with problems, he tries to find a means of escaping them instead of solving them. Some ways he tries to escape his problems are through keeping a cynical outlook on life and creating fantasy worlds where everyone is innocent and carefree. He also tries to protect those in danger of losing their innocence. In the end his constant avoidance of his problems causes him to have a nervous breakdown.
