...Hollow Man In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield believes that almost everyone he comes in contact with is a “phony”. About the only two people that Holden does not consider phonies are his sister, Phoebe, and his dead brother Allie. Virtually everyone else fits this label, including himself. The root of Holden’s pessimistic outlook on life and people is the fact that he is invisible. Although Holden is a phony himself, he has a negative view of society because he wants to connect with someone and he’s chronically depressed. Holden claims that most of the people he call phonies are phonies because they act a different way, or sort of put on a front, when they’re around certain people. This makes Holden a complete hypocrite in every aspect because he does this many times throughout the book. For example...
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...Holden Caulfield's “Catcher in the Rye” Fantasy Growing up, we have all experienced a particular desire to achieve something; an ambitious state of mind that gives us meaning to life. Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, has a primary ambition - to become the Catcher in the Rye – the protector of the young and innocent, as stated in his conversation with Phoebe (Salinger, 191). Completely imaginary and a hopeless fantasy, this passage underscores what is prevalent throughout the novel - the issue of Holden's black and white perspective on the dark, phony world of adulthood juxtaposed with the light, innocent, world of childhood. The important passage contributes to Holden's clinical depression as a result of his beloved brother's death, therefore his cynical view of adulthood, and his anxiety about growing up, resulting in the overall angst and alienation palpable throughout the novel, leading to his eventual catharsis. Holden's imagery of “catching” children playing in a field of rye before they fall off a cliff is unrealistic, misheard from a little boy, and it serves merely as an escape route from what he fears most about adulthood – the change and overwhelming complexity. Holden wants everything to be easily understandable and eternally fixed, similar to the Eskimos and Indians in the museum. Opposed to acknowledging that adulthood scares and mystifies him, Holden instead invents a fantasy – that childhood is an idyllic field of rye, while...
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...One of the most common mentally ill conditions is depression. The state of depression has lots of effects on a person’s thoughts, behaviour and feelings. Depression is where a person feels very sad and very down. Depression is mostly caused by losing a loved one or being put down by lots of people. The author of The Catcher and The Rye shows lots of points leading towards Holdens depression. Holden lost his brother allie and that is what really brought holden down. Holden’s teacher Mr. Antolini Tries to point holden in the right and tell him that the path he is taking is wrong. He tells holden that seeing life as corrupt is no good and brings bad relationships with evrything. Mr. Antolini attempts to help Holden to prevent his “great fall” as he states,“the...
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...conformity was held in high regard. On the other hand, Igby Goes Down is set in the 1980s -1990’s American era, a time of expanding multi national corporations, materialism and commercialism. Salinger and Steers utilise the characterisation of their young, sardonic and rebellious protagonists, Holden and Igby to epitomise non-conformity. The composers allude to the recurring theme of isolation and alienation in both texts. As a result of their non-conformity, the protagonists experience rejection and depression as they search for their selfhood. Similarly, the national ethos of the American Dream is explored as a mere fallacy, and both composers portray this through their protagonist’s wealthy backgrounds and opulent upbringings and yet money doesn’t bring them happiness. Salinger, through literary devices and Steers, through cinematic techniques effectively convey that youth will always refuse to conform regardless of context because conforming denies individuality. Salinger in his novel The Catcher in The Rye explores the ideas of non-conformity in association with Holden Caulfield’s isolation and alienation. The 1950’s Conservative American context demanded adolescents such as Holden...
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...D Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, applies literary devices and language patterns to develop the main character, Holden Caulfield, and his internal struggles and conflicts of maturing into adulthood. Salinger effectively uses Holden’s lies, language of depression, and flashbacks to accurately portray how teenagers often fear growing up, and feel the need to hang onto their innocence. Lying is an effective way for teenagers to hide their emotions and pretend to be someone they’re not, essentially testing the waters of maturity without taking the responsibility. Holden flees Pencey Prep School after being kicked out for failing the majority of his classes, and finds himself on a train sitting next to the mother of one of his classmates, on his way to New York City. Taking a liking to the woman, Holden begins to spin a web of lies. He tells her his name is Rudolf Schmidt and casually adds, “I have to have this operation… It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little brain tumor on the brain… right near the outside”(58). This single lie entertains Holden, as he would rather talk about something that he has never experienced instead of being truthful about himself. He avoids taking on the responsibility of being mature enough to tell the truth about failing out of Pencey, including his decision to run away from his problems. With all the lying Holden has done, he has become quite skillful and creative at it. Unsure of where to go after arriving in New York, he checks into...
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...Catcher in the Rye Critical Paper Pencey Prep High School expelled Holden Caulfield at 17 years old on account of flunking. He failed 4 out of 5 of his classes at Pencey Prep; the only passing grade was in English. (Salinger 4) A total of 5 prep schools have expelled Caulfield throughout his teenage years. (Sallinger 13-14) Regarding Holden’s abnormal physical appearance, he has grey hair with a statue of 62.5 inches. (Salinger 9) Holden's tendency is to resort to perverted ideas around sexual desires and memories. Starting out after his expulsion from Pencey Prep, Holden's journal The Catcher In The Rye gives a detail account on his adventures in New York City. Holden Caulfield is in this facility because he hallucinated Allie's existence...
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...‘Our relationships with others help us to define who we are.’ Context 4, Sample B This sample uses the prompt to show understanding of the text, brings knowledge of various texts to the discussion and shows good control in the writing. Bruce Dawe suggests in the introduction to his anthology of poetry, that ‘Each of us is both a private person and a public person.’ Despite this simple truth, our personal sense of identity and individuality is under serious threat from two entirely separate, though equally negative entities, alienation and conformity. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye struggles to find a sense of belonging in a world that he feels is increasingly demanding conformity, resulting in his self-imposed isolation and lack of genuine sense of self. As a young person, about to embrace a largely foreign world, it is imperative for myself and other young people to find a balance between our own individuality and the concession we choose to make in regards to our individuality when seeking connections or relationships with others. Everyone must realise that while we are each unique, we are also members of the human species, sharing universal characteristics and experiences. Therefore, the relationships we have with others will inherently help determine much of who we are. Only once we have made these realisations can we begin to gain a coherent understanding of the functioning of society and avoid Holden’s predetermined fate...
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...showing that maturing is inevitable and ones life will go on. Holden Caulfield’s experiences allow his character to undergo permanent change that altered his perspectives on life. Salinger illustrated a Bildungsroman with emotional loss, life lessons learnt from encounters, and acceptance of ethics in society. Holden’s role as a developing character in Salinger’s novel demonstrated the elements used in a Bildungsroman. The first phase of a Bildungsroman involves an emotional loss, a period of awkwardness and typically ends with moral the growth of the protagonist. The emotional loss Holden experienced was the loss of his younger brother, Allie, who passed away from leukemia five years before the beginning of the novel. This event altered Holden’s psychological behavior. Holden still grieved from the passing of Allie and regretted the time he told Allie to leave him and Bobby alone. Holden reenacted that particular moment and tried to change the past: “Okay. Go home and get your bike and meet me in front of Bobby's house” (Salinger 99). Holden tried to comfort his depression by attempting to change the past through communication with his deceased brother. Due to Holden’s ongoing struggle to deal with this loss of Allie, he demonstrated traits of awkwardness in the form of cynicism. Holden’s mental state was not the only the consequence of the loss of Allie, but also due do to the way in which he perceived life. Holden had a hypocritical attitude towards everyone, labeling them...
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...ALSO BY JOHN GREEN Looking for Alaska An Abundance of Katherines Paper Towns Will Grayson, Will Grayson W ITH DAVID LEVITHAN DUTTON BOOKS | An imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. DUTTON BOOKS A MEMBER O F PENGUIN GRO UP (USA ) INC . Published by the Penguin Group | Penguin Group (USA ) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A . | Penguin Group (C anada), 90 Eglinton A v enue East, Suite 700, Toronto, O ntario M4P 2Y3, C anada (a div ision of Pearson Penguin C anada Inc.) | Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC 2R 0RL, England | Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a div ision of Penguin Books Ltd) | Penguin Group (A ustralia), 250 C amberw ell Road, C amberw ell, V ictoria 3124, A ustralia (a div ision of Pearson A ustralia Group Pty Ltd) | Penguin Books India Pv t Ltd, 11 C ommunity C entre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India | Penguin Group (NZ), 67 A pollo Driv e, Rosedale, A uckland 0632, New Zealand (a div ision of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) | Penguin Books (South A frica) (Pty ) Ltd, 24 Sturdee A v enue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South A frica | Penguin Books Ltd, Registered O ffices: 80 Strand, London WC 2R 0RL, England This book is a w ork of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously , and any resemblance to actual persons, liv ing or dead, business establishments, ev ents, or locales is entirely coincidental. C opy right ©...
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...ALSO BY JOHN GREEN Looking for Alaska An Abundance of Katherines Paper Towns Will Grayson, Will Grayson W ITH DAVID LEVITHAN DUTTON BOOKS | An imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. DUTTON BOOKS A MEMBER O F PENGUIN GRO UP (USA ) INC . Published by the Penguin Group | Penguin Group (USA ) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A . | Penguin Group (C anada), 90 Eglinton A v enue East, Suite 700, Toronto, O ntario M4P 2Y3, C anada (a div ision of Pearson Penguin C anada Inc.) | Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC 2R 0RL, England | Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a div ision of Penguin Books Ltd) | Penguin Group (A ustralia), 250 C amberw ell Road, C amberw ell, V ictoria 3124, A ustralia (a div ision of Pearson A ustralia Group Pty Ltd) | Penguin Books India Pv t Ltd, 11 C ommunity C entre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India | Penguin Group (NZ), 67 A pollo Driv e, Rosedale, A uckland 0632, New Zealand (a div ision of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) | Penguin Books (South A frica) (Pty ) Ltd, 24 Sturdee A v enue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South A frica | Penguin Books Ltd, Registered O ffices: 80 Strand, London WC 2R 0RL, England This book is a w ork of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously , and any resemblance to actual persons, liv ing or dead, business establishments, ev ents, or locales is entirely coincidental. C opy right ©...
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