Preview

Catcher In The Rye Book Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
890 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Catcher In The Rye Book Analysis
Catcher in the Rye Book Analysis

Holden Caulfield is not an everyday teenager. Due to a lack of attention from his parents, Holden possesses an evergoing drive to find love and affection, especially from young women. The way Holden talks to and approaches adults, proves how he does not appreciate their company. Holden is sixteen going on seventeen, but sure does not act accordingly. He essentially is a cigarette smoking eleven year old living in the body of a forty-two year old man. With his grey hair, and astonishing height, he gets into bars and gets taken advantage of by hookers and bartenders. His indecisive persona makes it hard for him to communicate to the outside world what he really wants, which proves to take him down a very dark
…show more content…
And Holden spends a great deal of the book attempting to lose his virginity. Although he can never bring himself to pull through with it. Despite being rude and an inadequate liar, Holden does hold a certain respect for the value of a girl. He fears that if he has sex with a girl, that he will lose his true respect for her. This is strange, due to how much of a sexual drive that Holden expresses. But, just because he won’t have sex with a girl, sure does not mean that he will not hesitate to flirt up a storm with one. For almost every girl he sees, he will either give them a good look, or say a word or two to her. Holden tells himself that he is the biggest sex maniac ever, but he respects, women, and is a virgin. He thinks this because, all he can really think about is sex. No matter where he is, all he is thinking about is sex. It is the primary reason he even goes outside. He could have just stayed in a hotel in the city, but no, he had to wander the streets to see who he can score. It brought him to the point where he could not complete a simple task, without getting distracted by sex. A prime example of his drive is, in his hotel, a pimp sends a prostitute over to Holden, and they go back up to his room. He even gets her undressed, but he cant’ bring himself to actually do it. He is

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Holden’s relationship with phoebe in chapter 21 is coles holden cares alot about phoebe. Holden always tries to protect her. Holden is so comfortable around her because she not hard on him, she understands him, and she always there for him.…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Catcher In The Rye Summary

    • 1259 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Holden left Pency Prep and took a train back home to New York City. He takes some time off from everyone telling him what to do and decided to stay at a hotel and try to find a woman to loose his own innocence to. He goes to a bar in the restaurant where he continuously tries to pick up women. The room is filled with "old, show-offy-looking guys and their dates" (69) except for three women who, in Holden’s opinion, were pretty ugly except for the blond one. He flirts and dances with them in the hopes of getting lucky.…

    • 1259 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Salinger was drafted into the army, serving from 1942-'44. His short military career saw him land at Utah Beach in France during the Normandy Invasion and be a part of the action at the Battle of the Bulge. Salinger continued to write, assembling chapters for a new novel whose main character was a deeply unsatisfied young man named Holden Caulfield. Salinger did not escape the war without some trauma, and when it ended he was hospitalized after suffering a nervous breakdown…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Similar observations are made by academic writer and author Sarah Graham in her book entitled Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. In this book, Graham addresses a variety of reading techniques, themes, and comparisons/contrasts in regards to Salinger’s most popular novel, but she specifically addresses the main theme of Holden’s attempt to escape the phony 1950’s materialistic focused society surrounding him. Graham begins her take on this theme of escaping society with a chapter on Holden’s rebellion: “Developing the theme of rebellion, Holden’s visit to Mr. Spencer confirms that he is opposed to the conventional ideas that school and society encourage in order to promote stability” (34). During this visit to Mr. Spencer’s house that Graham…

    • 1991 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Catcher In The Rye Quotes

    • 3669 Words
    • 15 Pages

    Holden is a young 16 year old boy who admits to being everything he stands against. He admits he isn’t particularly good looking, or strong, and to having a lack of courage. He is lacking the strong characteristics that most protagonists possess, but what Holden does possess is a kind heart. Holden has a kinder heart than he may realize, and he shows for that in the ways that he expresses his love, for Jane, his sister Phoebe, his brother Allie. Even the way that he sees the nuns, or the way he sees Sunny, as a human rather than a prostitute. The only time Holden openly shows his kind hearted attribute is when he interacts with…

    • 3669 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    He remembers Jane as a good girl who really wants true love. Stradlater braggs about his date with Jane and implies having such an encouter with her so that Holden developes emense frustration. Holden shares his thoughts with the reader away from Stradlater, "I kept thinking about Jane, and about Stradlater having a date with her and all. It made me so nervous I nearly went crazy"(34). When Holden stays the night at a hotel he agrees for Maurice, the elevator operator, to send a prostitute, Sunny, up to his room. Instead, he only wishes to talk with her and she reacts bitterly about the awkward incident and leaves. He reveals his sympathy for Sunny thinking to himself, "The trouble is i just didn't want to do it. I felt more depressed than sexy if you want to know the truth. She was depressing"(96). Holden makes it evident he longs to establish a personal connection…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The song “All I Want” by Kodaline refers to Holden’s feelings toward Phoebe near the end of the book. For example, when Holden is delusional, he thinks he is going to die of pneumonia and says, “...so finally what I figured I’d do, I figured I’d better sneak home and see her, in case I died and all” (Salinger 156). Holden’s one wish before he dies (or so he thinks) was to go see his kid sister Phoebe. Holden has a very close relationship with his sister, and they are both very fond of the other. This mindset is displayed by the members of Kodaline when they sing “‘cause if I could see your face once more/ I could die a happy man I’m sure” (Kodaline). While “All I Want” is admittedly about a romantic relationship and not one of a sibling nature,…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden Caulfield Phony

    • 1558 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Holden’s *friends are familiar and experienced with the topic of sex while Holden stays puzzled and curious. Holden comes on strongly with just about every woman he meets for example Sally Hayes, Sunny, and Jane Gallagher. Sally Hayes is a longtime friend of Holden’s and grew up together. Holden is extremely attracted to Sally and even dreams of running off to a cabin with her having children and living happily ever after. Holden says that he “felt like marrying her the minute I saw her” (138). Sunny is a prostitute that Holden paid just to talk to even after she started removing her clothes. When he met her pimp he knew what he was paying for, however never went through with it. Jane Gallagher is an old friend that Holden used to spend summers with and she is very important to him. He comes on strong to women at the bar and close friends but never actually does it. Holden is confused about sexuality, especially when it is homosexual. Holden strongly dislikes when a guy “flirts” a lot and is simply puzzled by the whole topic of sex. Sex is simply a confusing idea for any young teen, but for Holden it is a little harder. In the novel it implies that as a child he was sexual abused by his neighbors dad and was neglected by his own parents. He is also timid when it comes to being imamate with a women after his brother, Allie, lost his life to cancer. Phoebe is…

    • 1558 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyone has had a dream job since they were small, it might have changed over time but it was always something they loved. In “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger we meet Holden whose dream job is to be a catcher in the rye. Holden states that in his dream job he would “catch everyone if they start to go over the cliff- I mean if they’re running and they don’t see where they’re going I have to come out of somewhere and catch them.” (Salinger, 173)…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden criticizes people who are overtly promiscuous/sexual, because he deeply fears that exposure to sex is extremely dangerous to innocence. For example Holden goes so far as to get into a fight with his roommate, Stradlater, after Holden suspects Stradlater of giving his friend Jane Gallagher “the time” on their date (43). Even though Stradlater probably did not have sex with Jane, the thought of it still drives Holden mad. Holden values innocence extremely, however hypocritically he spends an enormous part of the novel attempting to lose his virginity. Of course in the end, like usual, Holden always ends up shying away from actually having sex. Holden is always having a tough time making decisions or committing to anything; this makes something as serious as deciding to lose his virginity almost impossible for him. Holden’s hypocrisy becomes clearer with each example given, but even after looking at these chosen few it is evident that Holden is a hypocrite. To further prove my point Holden even closes the book with an extremely contradictory…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Three seconds remain in the tied basketball game. The point guard shoots and scores right before the buzzer sounds off. I bet for a long time, that player worked hard in the gym to practice and perfect his shooting for game time situations like that. It just goes to show that nothing great can ever be achieved without hard work. Holden Caulfield from The Catcher In The Rye, however, does not quite understand this saying. In the story, Holden does not apply himself to his education at Pencey Prep, which results in his expulsion from school. Throughout the story, Holden, as well as a few other characters, represent the terms expressed in Freud’s Theory of Personality known as the id, superego, and ego.…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden's Phony

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Holden is choosing to lose his virginity as a way to prove he is grown, mature, and independent, one identity Holden craves but then realizes he actually doesn’t want to pursue with this action because Holden is using his virginity as a way to hold onto his innocence and childhood. Holden is conflicted between these two identities and also craves human interaction which plays a factor in Holden’s decision just to speak with the prostitute. Both of these factors are prominent reoccurring conflicts in Holden’s…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Adult and Holden Visits

    • 1902 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Among other responsibilities, Holden tries to set rules up for himself like an adult, but ends up breaking them right away: "Last year I made a rule that I was going to quit horsing around with girls that, deep down, gave me a pain in the ass. I broke it though, the same week I made it- the same night, as a matter of fact." Holden cannot maintain his rules, and ends up acting like a child, who needs someone else to set the rules up for him.…

    • 1902 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Throughout the novel Holden fights to protect his innocence from the cruel society around him that is just so… phony. He hates all of society for the phony things it does, he hates sex because that may make him feel that he too is apart of the adult life, and he hates change because change is just a recipe for a child to step into the new life, the older more mature life. The one that comes with responsibilities that Holden is not ready to…

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is about a young Holden Caulfield’s growth into maturity. Caulfield begins the novel as an inexperienced boarding school student attending Pencey Prep, a private boarding school located in Pennsylvania, who is struggling academically and socially. After getting kicked out of yet another boarding school, Caulfield travels to New York City before going home. After staying in New York for the time period between when he got kicked out and when he can return home Caulfield learns the struggles of living in the adult world. As he experiences New York, it opens his eyes to the painfulness of growing up and he wants to escape it. A major theme in this story is keeping innocence, which is portrayed through Caulfield’s theory about the catcher in the rye, his need to protect his sister, and the red hunting hat.…

    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays