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Catcher In The Rye Holden's Flaws

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In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger illustrates that Holden carries a deep grudge against the world. Hence, after closely studying Holden’s character, one can state that his bitterness and grudge acts as a cover for his own insecurities. Throughout the story, Holden seems to be in a continuous war with himself, constantly trying to escape from his inner discord and turmoil. As a result, he is often caught judging others, and isolating himself from the rest of the world. Holden is also seen as an immature adolescent who finds comfort in viewing the world from only his own stubborn perspectives, because he finds others viewpoints to be fake and flawed. Thus, these reasons explain why Holden’s grudge against the world is just a cover for his own insecurities.
While reading the novel, it can be seen …show more content…
For example, although Holden has many friends at Pencey, he still criticizes them for all of their faults. When Holden leaves Pencey at the end of chapter seven, he says “sleep tight, ya morons!” (page 59). He does this in order to convince himself that he doesn’t feel sad or dejected about leaving the others. The author also does this in order to build on Holden’s independent and stubborn nature. In addition, when explaining his reason for leaving his old high school, he says, “one of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies” (page 17). Holden's description of the people at Elkton Hills being phonies, further illustrates his judgmental mentality. The words surrounded and phonies put great emphasis on Holden's insecurities to the audience. The author uses such words to show Holden being judgmental when he is in an uncomfortable

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