...Asian Social Science May, 2009 An Analysis of the Adolescent Problems in The Catcher in the Rye Lingdi Chen Dept. of Foreign Languages, Dezhou University Daxue xi Road, Dezhou 253023, China E-mail: chld1973@126.com Abstract The Catcher in the Rye was written by famous American writer J.D.Salinger. This paper mainly analyzes the adolescent problems Holden Caulfield confronts on the journey from childhood to adulthood. These adolescent problems include Holden’s protection of innocence, his disgust for the phoniness of the adult world, and his alienation from society. This paper concludes that these adolescent problems produce great impact on him. Holden behaves almost erratically and impulsively and has negative attitudes towards almost everything and everyone he meets. Keywords: Adolescent problems, Innocence, Phoniness, Alienation 1. Introduction The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger’s masterpiece, tells the painful story of a high-school boy growing up in the world of decadent New York. Young Holden Caulfield is expelled from school because of his poor academic performance. He is afraid to meet his parents earlier than they should expect him, so he decides to stay in a New York City hotel. There he meets pimps, prostitutes and “queers.” Soon he becomes aware that the world of adults is a “phony” one. After his meeting with a friend, Holden sneaks back home to see his kid sister Phoebe. She is a loving kid, but her talk about their father “killing” him sickens...
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...Parjit Sigh Dhaliwal Mr. Mannello ENG3U0-I 2015-12-10 Donnie Darko and The Catcher in the Rye Comparative Essay: The Transition into the Adult World When one’s views contrast with those of society’s, a societal phenomenon of alienation occurs. Both, J.D Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, and director Richard Kelly’s film, Donnie Darko, emphasise this estrangement by contextually presenting protagonists who suggest that teen discordance is universal due to their opposing collective perspectives. The book, The Catcher in the Rye, is about a young-adult’s three-day experience living in New York city after being kicked out of his school. The narrator, Holden Caulfield, recounts his experiences and interactions within those three days through thorough analyzation. The film, Donnie Darko, is about a teen, Donnie Darko, who is supernaturally transported to a tangent universe, guided by a ghost, Frank, in which his actions determine the future of the normal universe. In both the book and the novel, the ironic nature of societal seclusion being self-inflicted shown through the rejection of society by the protagonists themselves, both works are able to reinforce the universality of teen discord. Although there is trust to be found in adults, superficiality is present in the mass majority of the adult society. This phoniness amongst adults is present in both the book and the movie ultimately which contributes to the prevalence of distrust amongst the adolescent protagonists...
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...“The Catcher in the Rye” is written by J.D Salinger which focuses on the reality of life through the eyes of a teenager who sees the world as a painful existence. The novel is written from the perspective of Holden who has been expelled from his fourth school. After a fight with his roommate, Holden leaves early to explore New York City alone. Holden battles with the reality of adulthood that has turn a different turn on his life. We get to this stage where we fear to grow up and see what will be coming for us next in the future. Salinger’s novel clearly displays the experience of being isolated from multiple activities which can lead to the theme of alienation, the creation of the character (Holden) and also the symbolism which can be unnoticed. Salinger tries to convey a message with his writing to also displaying human connection is a must. The theme of “The Catcher in the Rye” is alienation which connects to Holden (the protagonist)...
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...‘THE CATCHER IN THE RYE’ AND ‘IGBY GOES DOWN’ – NON-CONFORMITY Both J.D Salinger’s 1951 Bildungsroman novel The Catcher in the Rye and Burr Steer’s film Igby Goes Down, demonstrate that regardless of context, the youth will choose not to conform to socially held values. We can see that this is the manifestation of the vulnerability and hesitation experienced as adolescents like us grow up. Ultimately both these texts explore the search for identity and individualism as a cause for non-conformity. The Catcher in the Rye was written during a post war era and a time of drastic social change. However, many of its conservative values remained and most importantly, the notion of youth 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...
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...Many teens nowadays are facing depression. In the book Catcher in the Rye the author J.D. Salinger explores loneliness and depression in a troubled boy who does not want to grow up. Holden often admits his loneliness and finds out he has some emotions left. He chooses to protect himself and reduce his pain. For example, whenever he thought about calling up a girl he gives himself many reasons why he should not contact her so he doesn’t get hurt in the end. He tries so hard to protect himself by shutting things out that could potentially hurt him. Holden Caulfield the protagonist isolates himself, has many fears, especially about growing up, and can’t connect well with people. Holden isolates himself from his society. Holden then becomes...
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...Many teens nowadays are facing depression. In the book Catcher in the Rye the author J.D. Salinger explores loneliness and depression in a troubled boy who does not want to grow up. Holden often admits his loneliness and finds out he has some emotions left. He chooses to protects himself and reduces his pain. Like whenever he is thinking about calling up a give he gives himself many reasons why he should not contact them so he doesn’t get hurt. He tries so hard to protects himself by shutting things out that could potentially hurt him. Holden Caulfield the protagonist isolates himself, has many fears especially about growing up, and can’t connect with people. Holden isolates himself from his society. Holden then becomes very lonely because...
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...THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. SALINGER I. Content of the Book Holden Caulfield is a very weird and interesting young man who likes to do things on impulse or because as he said 'he got such a bang out of it'. He has a brother, D.B. who is a writer in Hollywood, a little sister named Phoebe and another brother Allie, who has already died before the story even began. In the beginning of the story Holden narrates that he'll be leaving his school, Pencey Prep (a school full of Phonies from Holden’s point of view), because he flunked out in the four out of five subjects he was taking, the only subject he didn't fail was English. Holden tells the readers that he had come back to Agerstown, Pennsylvania though he was traveling with his team for a fencing contest, he lost all of the foils in a New York Subway, and so the match was cancelled instead. Holden even mentioned that on the way home his mates treated him to silence and he found this very amusing. Though there was a football game going on, Holden didn't go down and watch it, instead he went to visit his old history teacher, Mr. Spencer. Mr. Spencer is a very old man who wants to help Caulfield in his studies (since Holden has also been expelled in a few other schools as well) and at some point Mr. Spencer even read out Holden's examination paper and the little note that Holden had written in the end saying that if Mr. Spencer would like to flunk him then he'd be all right with it, Holden explained to the readers that the...
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...essay is to analyze the mental instability of Holden Caulfield, the main character of J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, as well as explain how his Depression and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder alter his perspective through comparisons between Holden’s accounts and reality. The scope of the essay includes The Catcher in the Rye, as well as __ articles detailing different interpretations of the cause of Holden’s problems. Holden is also the novel’s unreliable narrator, and his illnesses prevent him from accepting reality, thereby allowing him to create whichever reality he wishes were true. J. D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in The Rye is well-known for its themes of identity, loss, and growing up, but its most definitive quality is...
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...Tyler Ryan Professor Wheeler English 101 April 22, 2015 Catcher in the Rye Jerome David (J.D.) Salinger was born on New Year’s Day in the year 1919, in New York City, “the second and last child of Sol and Marie (Miriam) Jillich Salinger” (Alexander 1). As a young boy, Salinger was interested in theatre and dramatics. Growing up, he attended a public school on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. He was always a very quiet and polite young man. His parents, Sol and Marie, thought he would fit in perfectly in a private school – seeing how well-mannered that young Salinger was – they “enrolled him in McBurney School in Manhattan in 1932” (Alexander 2), but, just as one of his most famous characters, Holden Caufield, he did not fit in very well in the private school, struggling to keep his grades satisfactory. Concerned, Salinger’s parents sent him to Valley Forge Military Academy when he was just 15 years old. “There he was active in drama and singing clubs. He sometimes wrote fiction by flashlight under his blankets at night and contributed to the school’s magazine” (Alexander 3). Salinger graduated in June of 1936 from Valley Forge, and then went on to pursue a brief, but significant college career. He began his education at New York University, but quickly dropped out “to try performing as an entertainer on a Caribbean cruise ship” (Alexander 4). When he was 20 years old, he worked toward his college career once again. He enrolled in a class at Columbia University to learn...
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...4141- 4141--- Cherished and Cursed:Towarda Social History of The Catcher in the Rye STEPHEN J. WHITFIELD THE plot is brief:in 1949 or perhaps 1950, over the course of three days during the Christmas season, a sixteen-yearold takes a picaresque journey to his New YorkCity home from the third private school to expel him. The narratorrecounts his experiences and opinions from a sanitarium in California. A heavy smoker, Holden Caulfield claims to be already six feet, two inches tall and to have wisps of grey hair; and he wonders what happens to the ducks when the ponds freeze in winter. The novel was published on 16 July 1951, sold for $3.00, and was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. Within two weeks, it had been reprinted five times, the next month three more times-though by the third edition the jacket photographof the author had quietly disappeared. His book stayed on the bestseller list for thirty weeks, though never above fourth place.' Costing 75?, the Bantam paperback edition appeared in 1964. By 1981, when the same edition went for $2.50, sales still held steady, between twenty and thirty thousand copies per month, about a quarter of a million copies annually. In paperback the novel sold over three million copies between 1953 and 1964, climbed even higher by the 1980s, and continues to attract about as many buyers as it did in 1951. The durabilityof The author appreciates the invitationof Professors Marc Lee Raphaeland Robert A. Gross to present an early version...
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...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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...In J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield possesses many different character traits that make him an intriguing character. Irresponsibility and loneliness are two of his biggest characteristics, but throughout the novel, Holden shows that he can be desperate. Holden’s irresponsibility is apparent from the very beginning of the novel. He is clearly not on top of his grades and has been kicked out of multiple schools due to his poor efforts. In chapter one, Holden talks to his English teacher, Mr. Spencer, to explain what had been going on. Holden is well aware that the news of his latest exit won’t bode well with his already annoyed parents. “Well…they’ll be pretty irritated about it,” I said. They really will. This is about...
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...Analysis of The Catcher in The Rye Through a Psychoanalytic Lens Mental health is an important aspect of one’s wellbeing that may be significantly impacted by a traumatic experience. The author J.D. Salinger illustrates this idea in his novel The Catcher in the Rye, which focuses on the life of the depressed protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Holden experiences the death of his young brother Allie and struggles with transitioning from his innocent childhood to his materialistic adulthood. This transition eventually influences his mental state of mind, which is evident by his lack of motivation in school, and results in him suffering from loneliness, frustration and alienation. The psychoanalytic lens discusses an individual's actions based on their conscious and unconscious mind. The Catcher in the Rye can be better analyzed through the psychoanalytic lens rather the existential lens, and this is exemplified by Holden’s desire to avoid inevitable change, his resultant isolation and his battle between his conscious and unconscious mind. Holden has a fear of change and desire to avoid...
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...Habibi 1 Ramtin Habibi Mr. Jeffs ENG 3U1 July 15, 2014 " Essay Test " Throughout human history, mankind has endured many periods of suffering and hardship. Although it was completely immoral, those hard times are what made our world the place it is today. It is in our human nature to experience hardship at one point in our lives as it can help us mature and better ourselves. However, when the hardship comes from several different sources, it becomes hard to learn form the many experiences. This is demonstrated throughout the narrator’s life in J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher In the Rye. It is shown that: poor relations between an individual and their family impacts the individual’s ability to make good decisions. Secondly, when an individual is surrounded by deceiving people, their ability to socialize and network is hindered. Finally, the constant feeling of depression harms an individual well being, both physical and mental. Ultimately, the times of hardship that an individual experiences are shaped by the outside influences of: family, deceptive societies, and mental illnesses. Firstly, the narrator, Holden, his poor relationship with his family prevented him from making decisions that would benefit him. To begin with, Holden was always sent away to a private school during the working year. Naturally, this made him unable to Habibi 2 communicate as frequently with his parents. Although it may have seemed like a good idea to his parents, their absence...
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...It was another perfect Friday evening, everyone was out at the movies, playing football, or hanging out with their friends, but there Holden was, stuck in his room on yet another weekend with nothing to do. What a great start to the weekend. In Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger presents the idea that to alienate oneself, although it helps to preserve previous relationships, is often not beneficial to one’s mental well-being. This is shown throughout the book as Holden isolates himself in order to maintain an unchanged relationship and reputation, but this only causes himself harm. Holden keeps to himself in order to prevent jeopardizing his relationships with certain people. In the book, Jane Gallagher is waiting outside for Stradlater to get ready for their date. Holden mentions that he knows her quite well and should “go down and say hi,” but he then follows that up with, “I don’t feel like it.” Holden doesn’t want to say hello, so he can preserve his relationship with Jane and not jeopardize any feelings she might’ve had for him. By doing this, Holden increases his self dependability as he is unable to find a consistent relationship with someone....
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