Catcher In The Rye By J. D. Salinger: Character Analysis

I have a good friend named Amanda who I have known since we were four years old. A few years ago she injured herself jumping into a pit of blue foam blocks at a different friend's birthday party. She then ended up in the hospital with a bad leg injury and a bright pink cast that extended up to her torso. As a result of this, she spent the next several weeks in a wheelchair and eventually on crutches. Because of her injury, she ended up missing several full days of school, and once she was able to come back she only came for part of the day for a few weeks. Just as the character Holden from the book The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger takes a break from normal society to get help, my friend Amanda did too. If I had been her when this had
happened and I had had to take a break like she did I would have been worried about my health, and about the school I was missing. I would have been scared because I was injured, and was no longer able to get around on my own, especially because her house is multiple floors and she was no longer able to get up to her bedroom on her own. I also would have been frustrated that there was no way I could make myself heal quickly, and I would have just had to rest and wait. Amanda being injured affected me because I was watching one of my friends trying to recover from an injury and there wasn’t anything I could do other than be there to talk to her and spend time with her.
I also missed her because she wasn’t available to hang out very much and when we could our choices of things to do were limited because we couldn’t run around. I also remember being disappointed when she left school early during the first few weeks after her injury because she was funny and nice and I missed having her around for the rest of the day. Amandas injury and experience also affected me because it opened my eyes to what it was like to navigate the world from a wheelchair, especially when there are things you are used to being able to do easily that now require more effort or time or the help of someone who can walk. I realized how things as simple as carrying your lunch to your table become a challenge, and that it is frustrating not to be able to pick up the pencil you dropped on the floor. However, her injury and in many ways being isolated from society also affected me because it made us closer. She wasn’t able to go outside for recess because it was winter and the playground was icy. This made her separate. However, I stayed inside with her and we talked and played games and this brought us closer as
friends.