Holden's Dual Personality

James Cho P.1 Wells Sticky Turmoil In the book, Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield exhibits many personality traits. Holden’s two main personality characteristics are his pessimism and clinginess, which he displays through his interaction with the other characters. One of Holden’s personality traits is his pessimism, which can be seen when he introduces himself in the beginning of the book. “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me… but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them” (1). Holden jumps into the first few sentences of the book talking about how he doesn’t want to tell the reader some ideas or backgrounds. He also expresses only negative aspects of himself and none of any positive aspects. Another example of Holden’s pessimism occurs during Holden’s thoughts when telling the headwaiter to call Valencia, the singer. “…So I called the headwaiter over. I told him to ask old Valencia if she’d care to join me for a drink. He said he would, but he probably didn’t even give her any message. People never give your message to anybody” (149). The reader would expect Holden to anticipate his conversation with the singer. However Holden does not impress the reader by talking about he doesn’t expect to get a drink with the singer, so much as getting the waiter to give his message. Pessimism is only one of Holden’s personality characteristics. In Conclusion, Holden’s pessimism and clinginess are his two main character personality traits throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye shown through his encounters with other characters in the novel.

The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger copyright 1945 Little,