How Does Holden Use Loneliness In Catcher In The Rye

The Catcher in the Rye

All humans go through many conflicts during their lifespan. Some people go through deep troubles and conflict internally, within them self, or externally within their surroundings. People tend to work out their problems through their lives, but there are cases that a person can’t endure the pressure which may result in depression or even it can lead to committing suicide. In the beautiful novel of The CATCHER in the Rye Holden, the protagonist goes through an intense internal and external conflict. Holden, can’t get over the fact that children will grow up and become an adult. Holden thinks adults are incredibly “phony” or fake. Additionally, Holden’s desire is to become the catcher in the rye to save children by stopping
Salinger used the motif of loneliness to show Holden’s behavior. In the novel, Holden isolates himself as a form of self-protection. Holden is already hurt by the loss of his brother Allie. To not get hurt, Holden separates himself so that no one will tell him something that he is mentally not ready for. Also Holden persuading isolation can be interpreted as a way to keep his innocence and to stay away from “phony “people. “anyway, it was the Saturday of the football game […] I remember around three people that afternoon, I was standing wat the hell up on top of Thomson Hill […] You could see the two teams bashing each other all over the place […] You could hear them yelling,” (2). As Holden described his situation, it can be observed that he was preventing to join others to watch the game. Furthermore, Salinger used the motif of relationships to describe Holden’s situation. Throughout the novel, Holden shows that he can’t get far with relationships. For instance, Holden describes how he and Jane were having a time, but Holden didn’t take the chance or when Holden invited a prostitute over, and he couldn't do it. This could reflect that Holden doesn’t want to lose his innocence and he wants to stay as a kid. Among that, Holden is concerned and confused by people’s behavior, “Among other things, you’ll find that you’re not the first person who was ever confused and frightened
Through the novel, Holden meets a boy near the museum, who sang a song, “If a body catch a body coming through the rye,” (62). Holden enjoyed the song and repeated it after, thinking it was such a innocence song. In addition, when Holden sang that song in front of his sister, Phoebe, she corrected Holden saying the actual song is, “if a body meet a body coming through the rye,” (173), which translates to two people having a sexual intercourse. Holden interpreted the song, as saving children’s innocence when they are about to fall down the rye, but the song wasn’t that innocence. The ridiculous idea is that Holden is in a place steeped into profanity and sexuality. Children aren’t as innocent as Holden thinks they are. For instance, when the kids wrote “FU” on the walls of the school, or that kid song that “if a body” song. Moreover, it’s ironic that Holden dreams of becoming the catcher in the rye to save children’s innocence. Salinger used irony to show a contrast of Holden’s concerns by using the poem of Robert Burns.
As a result, Salinger used many literary devices to unfolds Holden’s concerns and troubles. The most three important being the Symbols, motifs, and the use of irony. Holden seemed to have become depressed over Allie's death and struggled to live in reality. Holden finds that the world he lives in is full of “phonies” and attempts to save the children’s innocence even