Catcher In The Rye Holden Character Analysis
Tara DeAngelo October 17th, 2011
Ms. Oriani Period 3
Looking at his own character through a window in other people encourages Holden to take on a job as the catcher of others. His adolescent years are not his finest, causing Holden to make himself there for others; so that people will not go over the edge, like he does. Holden feels comfort in helping others, “…I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff.” (Salinger 173) Phoebe, his sister, is one of the main people Holden feels he needs to be there for all the time. Holden tends to remain independently strong; however his weakness lies in his inability to part from others. Mr. Antolini, one of Holden’s favorite teachers, talks with Holden about fixing …show more content…
Holden’s brother grows up very differently from him; however their latter lives have taken the same path of failures. D.B, Holden’s brother, who has an extreme amount of potential in his writing career, decides to take off for Hollywood where his writing becomes mediocre at best. He settles for less than he is capable of, and this causes Holden to feel disappointment and sorrow for his brother. For himself, Holden sees that he was never capable of staying at one school and many like Mr. Antolini, his parents and Mr. Spencer are disappointed in him. He sees that he is failing and he and his brother are not good examples for his sister. Holden’s goal is to help Phoebe strive to be the best and catch her before she loses all her innocence. Phoebe should find a medium between D.B.’s settling for less than he is worth, and Holden’s failure. When Phoebe is on the carousel, Holden is reminiscing about Phoebe and how he is afraid for her to grow up. He doesn’t want her to fall like him, but he realizes he cannot say anything. Holden’s change in character from holding on to Phoebe to now letting go shows that Holden’s immaturity has changed and he has matured.
The gold ring represents Phoebe’s success. Holden wants to let her get there by herself, but he will be there if anything bad
Ms. Oriani Period 3
Looking at his own character through a window in other people encourages Holden to take on a job as the catcher of others. His adolescent years are not his finest, causing Holden to make himself there for others; so that people will not go over the edge, like he does. Holden feels comfort in helping others, “…I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff.” (Salinger 173) Phoebe, his sister, is one of the main people Holden feels he needs to be there for all the time. Holden tends to remain independently strong; however his weakness lies in his inability to part from others. Mr. Antolini, one of Holden’s favorite teachers, talks with Holden about fixing …show more content…
Holden’s brother grows up very differently from him; however their latter lives have taken the same path of failures. D.B, Holden’s brother, who has an extreme amount of potential in his writing career, decides to take off for Hollywood where his writing becomes mediocre at best. He settles for less than he is capable of, and this causes Holden to feel disappointment and sorrow for his brother. For himself, Holden sees that he was never capable of staying at one school and many like Mr. Antolini, his parents and Mr. Spencer are disappointed in him. He sees that he is failing and he and his brother are not good examples for his sister. Holden’s goal is to help Phoebe strive to be the best and catch her before she loses all her innocence. Phoebe should find a medium between D.B.’s settling for less than he is worth, and Holden’s failure. When Phoebe is on the carousel, Holden is reminiscing about Phoebe and how he is afraid for her to grow up. He doesn’t want her to fall like him, but he realizes he cannot say anything. Holden’s change in character from holding on to Phoebe to now letting go shows that Holden’s immaturity has changed and he has matured.
The gold ring represents Phoebe’s success. Holden wants to let her get there by herself, but he will be there if anything bad