Language Arts Essay

Catcher in the Rye Literary Analysis
Life is full of decisions that can alter one’s course in life. Some choices may lead to contradictions of one’s of own belief, and take one through a difficult period of emotions. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the reader follows the story from Holden Caufield’s point of view, which depicts Holden’s encounters and thoughts. The reader is guided through Holden’s journey as many aspects of life give him a new view of society. Holden’s odyssey takes him through a whirlwind of emotional contradictions and setbacks, but through his trek, Holden is able to come to a peace of mind and a sense of happiness for a brief moment in his life.
(1) In the beginning, (2) Holden displays a very careless and even sardonic personality that makes him enters awfully tough situations. For example, Holden proclaims he has been “axed” out of three previous schools, and now has received the fourth, after his recent fallout with Pencey because of his lack of effort. It is not that Holden is carefree; rather, instead, Holden is very negligent and more or less motivated about certain things. His character has brought him nowhere in life, and in fact, has even taken him down. Holden has not come to the realization that there are rules to the world and that his actions not only affect him, but others close to him as well. Holden’s careless attitude continues with his time at Pencey when he so foolishly loses the fencing teams equipment. (3) Unlike most people who would take the situation seriously and regret such actions, Holden claims that he finds the situation quite humorous. Holden addresses himself by saying, (4) “I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes” (9) (5). (6) Holden’s mindset makes him very childish and has yet to realize that his actions are wrong. Holden has not discovered what he truly enjoys or wants in life, and continues down a path that only brings tougher hardships. (1) Following his downfall at Pencey, (2) Holden’s odyssey takes him through a quest of the real world, where he encounters emotional hardships. (3) Holden’s depression brings him to a last resort situation, where he finds himself paying for a prostitute; however, Holden gets caught up with the pimp. (4) “All of a sudden I started to cry. I’d give anything if I hadn’t, but I did”, is what Holden narrates about the incident (103) (5). (6) He demonstrates his emotional weakness and his childish behavior in this situation. He is a young boy left in the real world without any protection or guidance and sees the hardships it presents. Holden not only comes in contact with pimps in the real world, but also perverts. Holden had always thought Mr. Antolini was a nice man and one who cared about Holden. However, Holden’s thoughts of him changed as Holden caught Mr. Antolini petting Holden’s forehead. Holden’s idea of a “phony” may be Mr. Antolini; one who shows kindness and friendship, yet only to attempt a move on Holden without Holden’s knowledge. Holden is frantic to leave the premises and rushes out. It was then, only a day later that Holden decided his fate: to leave for good. (1) However, (2) before making his decision, Holden experienced a chilling feeling as he walked down the streets. (3) Every time he got to a curb, he said, (4) “I had this feeling that I’d never get to the other side of the street. I thought I’d jut go down, down, down, and nobody’d ever see me again” (197) (5). (3) His spooky thoughts continued, as he would say, (4) “’Allie, don’t let me disappear. Please, Allie.’ And then I’d reach the other side…I’d thank him” (198) (5). These thoughts are examples of what is really going on in Holden’s mind. He is thinking that he does not belong in this world, but for some reason, he does not want to leave and asks Allie to save him. Despite such horrific thoughts, Holden persisted on to leaving and never coming back, but just like Allie saved Holden is his thoughts, Phoebe saved Holden from actually leaving for good. (6) It was Phoebe who allowed Holden to realize that, although he cannot be the catcher in the rye for everyone, he can, however, be there for Phoebe. Holden realized he has to be the one to guide Phoebe through, allowing her to experience what a childhood should be and enjoy the wonders of the world untainted. This new realization and responsibility of helping Phoebe not fall into the steps of his own is what truly allowed his mind to settle for even the slightest time. It is the image and experience of seeing Phoebe on the carousel that gives Holden a moment of happiness and a sense of peace. Phoebe’s actions give Holden a piece of evidence that demonstrates the innocence still left in the world. Although Holden’s happiness lasted for only a brief period of time, it was his odyssey through those few days that made him come to a realization of his duty in the world and to the people he cares about. Holden’s journey Pencey took him through hard times, while his journey in the outside world made him realize that it is inevitable to change everyone and maintain the child’s innocence. But through Phoebe, Holden saw what he needed to do, and in time, he realized his job was to be the catcher in the rye for phoebe.