Catcher in the Rye Essay

The events that take place in the book The Catcher in the Rye are based on the main character, Holden, and his acts of impulsiveness. It seems as though Holden is either making decisions on his impulsive and immature behavior throughout the book. He leaves the school he was kicked out of and lives in a hotel for a few days at a split second with no intentions. He makes random phone calls to heal his loneliness and thinks of suicide throughout the book. These acts show how Holden is very immature and sometimes acts on what he is in his mind without thinking of consequences.

When Holden leaves Pencey Prep he has nothing on his mind except getting away from it. He is fed up with the people he has met there and needs to get away from everything surrounding his life. Holden's impulsiveness if contributed by his lack of maturity. He lies to adults and thinks of everyone but his family in a negative way. Holden has a lot of social problems because of his impulsiveness and causing him to be lonely and scare people away.

Holden makes a lot of phone calls throughout the novel. "The first thing I did when I got off Penn Station, I went in to this phone booth" (59.) This shows how lonely Holden is and his unpredictable attitude. He doesn't know who he's calling or what for but he does it anyway. Holden has led a troubled life and is on his own most of the time. His family has practically abandoned him and left him as if he were and adult. Holden is not ready for the real world. "In my mind, I'm probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw" (62.) This shows how young Holden is and how he is still a young teenager who is very confused.

Holden is so impulsive that he even thinks of taking his own life because of his own loneliness. Holden asks for a prostitute in the elevator to cope with his loneliness and things do not work out. He does have enough street smarts at such a young age to be able to handle things such as these. If he wasn't as impulsive he may have thought of the consequences before taking the offer of a prostitute. Instead he took the offer and ended up being beat up. Holden is also unpredictable when he rips up the paper that he writes for Stradlater and begins a fight with Stradlater, and once again losing.

The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger depicts the events of the main character and his impulsive and unpredictable behavior. He comes and goes as he pleases. He makes phone calls to people he hasn't talked to years and makes bad decisions. This is caused by his immature behavior. His thoughts of suicide and not perusing are also acts of his unpredictable decisions.