The Catcher In the Rye: Final Essay When coping with a devastating loss, people often turn to defense mechanisms to help heal, or conceal their pain. They sometimes ignore the loss, and rather than reacting to it, they project their thoughts for that person onto someone else. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, shares his experiences regarding high school, adolescence, loss, and independence, and uses projection, and regression as mechanisms to heal his pain. Holden uses the defense mechanism projection, while dealing with the loss of his brother Allie.…
Holden Caulfield, a sixteen year old boy living in New York, has been sent to multiple boarding schools and share many similar experiences with J. D. Salinger, the author of The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is not like normal teenagers, who are full of life, crave adventure and look forward to new experiences. In contrast, he hates many things, gets depressed, especially around young children, and thinks that everybody; but, mostly adults are phony. On a psychological level, there are many factors in his childhood experience which may have influenced why he acts and thinks such a way. By applying Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical theory, it is easier to understand what motivates Holden’s thoughts and actions, in addition to what Salinger experienced…
In the first paragraph of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield addresses his nominal audience in two distinct idioms. At first he is truculent and defensive, using slang like “lousy” and “crap” and employing long, rambling sentences as he tells his listener what he won’t be talking about; his “whole goddam autobiography.” However, towards the end of the paragraph his defensive language drops and he speaks in more precise sentences as he shares a literary interest; a “terrific book of short stories” written by his brother, and provides a brief description of his favourite story. Salinger use’s these two narrative voices throughout the novel, and in this paper I will examine how they contribute to the meanings and effects of the text. The…
‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is a 1951 novel written by J.D. Salinger. Set in the 1940’s, it is told from the point of view of a troubled teen, Holden Caulfield. It looks at his emotions and view of the world which show the reader his distressed nature. This novel focuses on the alienation of the main character, madness and mental illness, mortality and lies and Deceit. Despite Holden’s constant interaction with others throughout ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ it still seemed to me that, whether intentional or not, he was bringing his isolation upon himself.…
After, Holden talks to someone he usually decides that a person is a phony unless they are a child. Whatever he wants from people he’s not getting it and this makes him bitter and lonely. The main idea of “The Catcher in the Rye” is that growing up sucks, because you become a phony, and the world around you is not an easy place to live, also loneliness and oblivion are waiting for you. So you need to learn how to deal with them while trying to understand something or else you’ll go mad.…
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, Salinger appeals to the empathy of the audience and creates a nearly universal cult-following for Holden. Although undeservingly idealized, Holden’s struggle to find meaning and happiness in this passage suggests a greater, underlying aspect throughout…
J.D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield Psychoanalysis J.D. Salinger, the author of The Catcher in the Rye, writes about a cynical teenage boy named Holden Caulfield who has a difficult time expressing his emotions to other people. Salinger also had a hard time with his social life, so he composed this novel to express his own difficulties through Holden Caulfield. When analyzing this novel, it is clear to see the similarities between Salinger’s own personal life and the life he creates for Holden. J.D. Salinger uses the character Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye to reflect his own social problems: interacting with other people, relationships, and status expectations.…
Holden’s story Tucker Avonda Mr. Matarazzo English 9 October 24, 2014 A forever classic book, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger discusses the life changing journey of Holden Caulfield through New York in the wintertime. Holden has been kicked out of three prep schools in his three years of high school, the latest being the prestigious Pencey Prep. Upon receiving news of his impending expulsion, Holden takes a train to New York to stay in a hotel. While on this journey, Holden grows as a teenager and as a person. Holden’s innermost thoughts are captured without a filter, allowing us to see into his life.…
The Catcher In the Rye’ is a 1951 first person novel by J.D Salinger, depicting the life of Holden Caulfield. The protagonist Holden, became well known in the 1950’s as the majority of the audience could relate to his alienation and disillusionment. The book is based around a very short yet critical time in Holden’s life which mainly took place in New York, during a period of only three days. My interpretation of the book identifies Holden as a very confused sixteen year old boy, who doesn't exactly know what he wants in life. He is disgusted by human behaviour because everyone he associates with is “fake” or a “phony”, which makes his school and social life extremely difficult since he quite often doesn’t even understand himself or his own actions.…
Theme Analysis In Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, people are not always who they appear to be, are not always as sure as their body language suggests or as confident as their firm voice and steady expressions may convey. Holden Caulfield is a prime example of a living contrast, his outward attitude completely overshadowed by his withering and lost subconscious. Salinger uses Holden’s shaky grasp on his own life and mind to manifest the implications of a delicate, lost teenage mind being thrown to the depths of adulthood earlier than intended.…
Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye continues to engage audiences through it relatable narrative treatment of alienation. Through his narrative treatment Salinger portrays the then first look of the teenage years and what it is like transitioning into adulthood. Holden continues to resonate with modern audiences due to his feelings of alienation towards his culture and the everyday life in which Holden struggles to relate too. Holden’s disillusionment to adulthood and growing up is what feeds his feelings of alienation, which in its self is what makes him feel so “lonesome”. Salinger’s use of narrative treatment towards Holden’s perspective of his culture and the world in which he lives, maintains interest within the reader.…
Adolescence is a time fraught with the dangers of loneliness. In a person’s journey through this period it is therefore important to maintain strong relationships with other people. Holden Caulfield is a teenager who lets such relationships deteriorate in J.D. Salinger 's The Catcher in the Rye. The novel follows Holden as he leaves his school, travelling through New York City alone in a depressed funk. Ultimately, Salinger uses Holden’s language to illustrate the theme that an absence of close relationships and feelings of alienation and loneliness pose a danger to adolescents.…
First person narrative pieces may be the least objective accounts that one may encounter. It is almost impossible to expect the person participating in the story – the person emotionally attached to the characters in the story – to give an impartial account of the events occurring. Because of this, it is imperative that readers observe patterns in the diction that the narrator uses so that they may infer details about the story that the narrator chooses not to include. A specific example of the advantage of adopting this technique is in Holden Caulfield’s narrative of his life in the book The Catcher in the Rye.…
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Session 2 Review The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, was an amazing book that forced me to open my eyes to what the mid 20th century was like. It is about the main character Holden, who flunked out of school, going around New York and doing foolish things. It forces him to contemplate what he wants to do with his life and who he wants to be. This question is something that everyone around that age has to decide for themselves, and this book taught me more about that choice.…
J.D Salinger’s novel, Catcher In The Rye is on the subject of a adolescent, Holden Caulfield, the central character of the story. Holden is piled with distinctive difficulties and for the most part absorbed in his own mind, which causes him being able to not come to realism. The psychoanalytic theory coordinates a position of definition when working with Holden Caulfield. Holden is viewed as a cut off, insubordinate teenager who failed out of an all-boys exclusive school, Pencey Prep.…