Preview

Catcher in the Rye Essay on the Immaturity of Holden Caufield

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
949 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Catcher in the Rye Essay on the Immaturity of Holden Caufield
In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher is the Rye, the protagonist Holden Caufield emerges from a trying and emotional series of events and does not grow emotionally but remains as immature as he was at the beginning of the novel. The story is about the difficulties of growing up. Most people come out of their teenager years as more responsible and mature people. Holden goes through many stressful events during the weekend, but instead of coming out more mature and grown up, he still has the same childish views on life; he is violent minded, depressed, confused, and irresponsible. Throughout the whole novel, Holden fantasizes about killing people, he is baffled by sex, and he does not think out his actions.

During the beginning of the story, Holden thinks about killing people many times. He wanted to kill Stradlater, his roommate, for dating Jane Gallagher, his old friend. Holden knew what kind of guy Stradlater was and he was afraid he took advantage of Jane. Holden actually does fight Stradlater but gets hurt pretty badly. He then puts his hunting hat on and says it is a “people shooting” hat. Later on in the story, Holden again thinks about killing people. When Maurice, the pimp, hurts Holden and steals his money, Holden pretends that he had been shot in the stomach and his guts were falling out. He then pretends that he is staggering down the stairs with a gun to shoot Maurice and get revenge. Holden does not actually do this, but it shows how he is immature and violent. Also, while Holden is visiting Phoebe’s school, he sees that someone has written “fuck” on the wall. He becomes very angry and wants the bash the skull of whoever did that on the marble floor so they are all bloody. Again we see that Holden has much anger in him. He does not know how to deal with it and that shows he has not grown up.

Holden also does not ever figure out his views on sex. At the beginning he hates Stradlater because he takes advantage of girls. He says has never done anything to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Holden said yes and lied about his age. The when the prostitute came to his room, he changed his mind and asked her to leave. Another example of Holden’s hypocrisy is that he criticizes people but still asks them to sit down and have a little drink and talk! The only good thing that he does is that he visits his sister Phoebe once in awhile. He says she’s the only person he truly loves. It doesn’t stop here, he made numerous mistakes throughout the novel. One mistake he made is, when he was kicked out of Pencey, he didn’t tell his parents and when the found out that he was kicked out, he got in more trouble. Thinking before making a decision is a good thing to do. Another example is when Sally was crying, he started laughing for no reason, and that made Sally feel even worst. He needs to think about the consequences before doing something…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden’s first contradiction becomes clear in the first few chapters of the book. When it comes to attending movies, he claims that he does not enjoy the company of Robert Ackley or going to see movies. Yet, he attends a show with Ackley. On Friday night, while Stradlater was on a date with Jane, Holden made his own plans. Holden,…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Growing up is generally not considered easy or desirable. In J.D Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a sixteen year old boy on the precipice of adulthood. He is resisting growing up despite the allure of sex and alcohol, but he despises the thought of entering a phony world. For Holden, his life is stuck in a never ending cycle of misery, alcohol, and a desire to hold on to his childhood innocence. His own life up to this point has been very rough - his beloved younger brother Allie died of pneumonia, a classmate jumped out of a window, and he has gotten kicked out of yet another school. He yearns to be a protector of childhood innocence. It is only after beginning to accepting change, relinquish his protective instincts,…

    • 1254 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger is about a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield who struggles to find his identity. Holden wants to be an adult but he also subconsciously wants to stay young and maintain his innocence. Holden shows this when he hires a prostitute but doesn’t have sex with her. Holden’s negative encounter with the prostitute shows that although he tries to act like a tough adult he is still a kid at heart.…

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger writes about a troubled teen named Holden Caulfield who undergoes failing school and travels through New York City at night. Salinger depicts Holden as someone with uncontrollable anger, many anxieties, extreme loneliness, powerful love, and numerous fears. All of this molds Holden into a complex person with an unusual personality and unique traits that make him different and unable to accept most of the people around him. In addition, there seems to be a deep connection between many of the things that he did and his own personality traits. The most prominent traits of Holden Caulfield, displayed through his speech, actions, and thoughts, are that he is judgmental, lonely, and depressed.…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden purposely alienates himself from others and doesn’t hold many close relationships. He displays lack of interest in his education. It is not straight forward, but Holden believes he has no future, does he even want one? Detachment is also represented when he fails out of every school he is sent to. He rebels against those who wish for him to have a decent life. Mr. Antolini was one of those who cares and stated “ the mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one” which Holden takes advantage of . Holden is particularly introverted (Salinger 188). He wanders the city, passing hundreds of by standards, he is still all alone. Sure he wants to talk to people but he doesn’t know how to hold a proper conversation. He is a constant critic of others actions although his actions make him come off as an arrogant pest, therefore Holden isolates…

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden Caulfield, the novel’s protagonist, is a pivotal character in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is characterized as an innocent, apathetic, naive teen who is seeking knowledge of life and the meaning of becoming an adult. Holden’s struggle with seeing the genuine nature of people is something that acts as a barrier for him throughout the novel. Holden is troubled and burdened throughout the story, which causes him to have a warped view on an array of subjects. Holden passes strict judgement on everyone, as he struggles to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Holden appears to be stunned when he sees how different the life of an adult is comparison to that of children. His views on topics such as, life, his future, and sex. Holden approaches each of these subjects with strict views, and feels dejected when he realizes there are more multiple perspectives to these topics.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden cannot keep friends for an extended amount of time. He ends up pushing them away, or he behaves so strangely they never get to know the real Holden.…

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, J.D. Salinger challenges the nature of growing up through symbolism, point of view, and characterization. Holden, throughout the novel, expresses his loneliness and the difficulty of growing up because, like most teenagers, Holden is stressed out and depressed because of the expectations he has for himself…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good 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

    Holden is upset because he is such an underachiever. The past few days have been very tough on Holden, he was even beaten up by a pimp after refusing to give a stripper extra five bucks. “Only, this time I thought I was dying,” (103) Holden says after he is mugged by the pimp, Maurice. That experience is one of the most adult things he’s ever dealt with, or anyone can deal with for that matter. Anyone who would have to go through that must have some way to forget about it, and for a few moments Holden can focus on the fantasy in order to clear his head from that scenario. Although Holden is a terribly miserable character, he also hates change. He is seldom remotely happy throughout his journey, but one of the few times is when he is in Museum of Natural History. He goes to the mummy exhibit and it is just as he remembered it, he even describes it as “nice and peaceful.” (205) This is one of the only moments in the novel where Holden is calm. He explains what the problem is with the world, “You may think there is a place that is nice and peaceful, but when you’re not looking somebody’ll sneak up and write ‘Fuck You’ right under your nose.” (204) It seems here as if Holden is finding a way to upset himself. He is at peace for just a brief moment, but then once he starts to actually think, he ruins it, which is what he does with the fantasy. When he is lost and it seems like he is…

    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine having the world at your fingertips, having the opportunity to learn what you need to know, and the ability to shape your own destiny, but refusing to do so in order to avoid change because all you can think of is what is to be lost than what is to be gained. Holden Caulfield is that exact same way, he refuses change therefore refuses to progress. The Catcher in the Rye, a novel published in 1951 by J.D. Salinger, is about Holden who after being kicked out of a prep school for failing most of his classes goes to New York for a few days. Throughout his time there Holden encounters many problems as he struggles with the idea of having to grow up. In addition, Holden tries to fabricate wild escape plans in order to avoid the inevitable reality of maturing. Although The Catcher in the Rye is a very elaborate book…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Catcher In The Rye, Holden Caulfield is a sixteen year old junior who has just been expelled from Pencey Prep. Although he is sensitive and intelligent, he finds the hypocrisy and unpleasantness of the people around him almost unendurable, and through his mistrust, he tries to protect himself and those whom he cares about from the pain and harsh reality of the world. However, the disapproval that Holden has with people around him is also aimed at himself. He does not like opening up and is very uneasy about opening about his weaknesses. There are many signs that Holden is troubled and undependable: he fails out of school, he shows a lack of interest towards his future, he is unable to connect with people and he is hospitalized and is visited by a psychoanalyst. Holden habit cannot be explained because he feels that there is no meaning in life. Doing so, the way Holden approaches people changes throughout the novel. Towards the end, he regrets telling his story at all, which shows that he is cautious about change and in denial about maturity and change. Holden is so afraid of losing people that he purposely pushes them away.…

    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He hasn’t started being the catcher in the rye yet, but he has the power to save the youngsters. Overall, Holden is a normal teen like the others. Teenagers like to convey their thoughts, take risks, be kind towards others, and experience things. They want to reveal what they are thinking in an honest way. Furthermore, the advantages including the enjoyment from doing things is important to them, so they do whatever it takes to get them. Teenagers are eager in what they want to do, but don’t start until later. To conclude, a typical teenager like Holden has these…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden's Hardships

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In J. D Salinger 's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden, goes through many hardships in his journey to self-knowledge. In the beginning, Holden has to deal with being kicked out of school and not having any place to call home. He is also struggling with the unfortunate tragedy of the death of his beloved younger brother Allie. At the same time, Holden is trying to deal with growing up and accepting the adult world. Throughout the novel Salinger addresses the conflicts faced by a young man struggling with the trials and tribulations of growing up while also confronting personal loss and loneliness along the way.…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays