¶ … Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. Specifically it will portray main character Holden Caulfield in 2009. "Catcher in the Rye" is a coming of age story about a young man on a quest to find himself. By the end of the novel, Holden Caulfield has endured freedom, madness, and death, and yet he finally matures enough to manage as an adult. Ultimately, Holden is a cynic who views the world and the people in it with a negative eye. In 2009, it seems Holden would only have a lot more to be cynical about and view negatively.
Salinger wrote this controversial book in 1951, and Holden was 16 in the book. That would make him 74 today. Throughout the book, he proves that he has a negative, cynical view of life. For example, at the beginning of the book, he is critical of the expensive prep school that has just expelled him. He sarcastically notes while he stands watching a school football game, "The more expensive a school is, the more crooks it has -- I'm not kidding" (Salinger 4). Later, one of his teachers tells him, "Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules'" (Salinger 8). This starts Holden's thinking that he cannot win this complicated game of life, because he will not play by the rules. However, in 2009, Holden has realized that to survive in life, you have to play by the rules, and he has, compromising his early principles, but ensuring he fit in and survived the game of life. He has a wife, children, grandchildren, a nice home, and all the trappings of a successful man, but like his younger days, he is still not happy, because he has compromised his beliefs to make it happen.
At the very end of the book, Holden admits that he is "missing everyone," and that indicates that he has given up some of his cynicism and need for alienation, which allows him to move through life more successfully. He ponders, "Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody'" (Salinger 214), and this makes it clear his recovery is almost complete, because he learned the ways of...
Catcher in the Rye, a novel by J.D. Salinger, is the story of Holden Caulfield, a cynical sixteen-year-old with prematurely gray hair that appears older than his age. Holden is caught at the awkward age between adolescence and adulthood. Set in the 1950s, the story begins with Holden recovering from a breakdown stemming from his expulsion from Pencey Prep School. Holden has already flunked out of three other schools. This
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye was first published in 1951. The novel deals with the issues of identity, belonging, connection and alienation. This paper will review five articles written on the novel. "Holden's Irony in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye" This article by Lisa Privitera was published in Explicator in 2008. The article postulates that the irony of Holden Cauldfield is that the harder he
J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. The writer discusses the isolation that is experienced by the protagonist Holden and how that isolation is illustrated in the book. In today's world teenagers are said to have a harder time than those of yesteryear. Many experts disagree with this statement and point to J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye to illustrate that teens have historically had a hard time finding their way
Introduction One of the great American novels, J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye is a spot-on depiction of disaffected, disillusioned youth attempting to come to grips with the sad reality that growing up means selling out. Holden doesn’t want to sell out; on the contrary, he wants to be the “catcher in the rye”—the one who allows children to live forever in their innocence and maintain their state of grace
With such a vivid description of this densely populated, and optimistic city on the east coast during a time of growth and construction itself after the Great Depression of the 1930's, this element leaves a reader to focus in on the lead character here. Plus, elements such as his age and his "red hunting hat" demonstrate that he will direly hold on to that sense of self. However, his
Antolini when he takes refuge on the man's sofa. He is rude to the girls to whom he is attracted, showing a discomfort and immaturity regarding his sexuality. The only person to whom Holden can relate is little sister Phoebe. When imagining a future for himself, Holden can only envision becoming a 'catcher in the rye.' This imaginary occupation is someone who prevents children playing in rye fields from falling
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