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Holden Caulfield College Essay

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Submitted By SureshA52
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Growing up I was told a few times that I was the type of person that always saw the world in a slightly glass half empty type of way. I never really thought much of it until I encountered the character Holden Caulfield in the Catcher in the Rye. He similarly has the glass half empty outlook, and had the opportunity to do something good with his life. Instead he decides to throw it all away, and drink away his problems.
Holden Caulfield has many problems. He is very antisocial, pessimistic, and cannot see any good in people. He is just a kid that decided to never grow up and instead to view society, and most people he meets, as “phony.” When I read this book I thought of all the similarities that I have with Holden, how I’m lucky enough to have the opportunity to do anything that I want with my life, and yet I’m too unmotivated to do much because life hasn’t been too hard on me. I never saw this as a problem until one of my close friends compared me to Holden, but on a much smaller scale. That’s when it hit me that on a day to day basis I have more similarities with him than I do differences. That’s when I realized that I don’t want to end up as a Holden Caulfield, and that I want to be the exact opposite of him.
Over time I started trying to change. At first by just trying harder in everything, even if I didn’t think it was worth it, to trying to see everything in more of a glass half full sense. In general I noticed being pessimistic can make life miserable, and can lead to more problems. Optimism on the other hand helps you see the world as a better place and helps changes these negatives to positives. Holden Caulfield just kept looking at the bad side of things, and then when it got worse he would drink away his problems, hoping they would get better. I would similarly just hide in my room when something happened, and try to stay to myself hoping everything

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