For those of you who have not read the novel "The Catcher in the Rye", Holden Caulfield is the main character in the story. Holden Caulfield is a young 16-year-old teenager who seems to be lost in his young life. Holden has just been kicked out of school, which is only one of his problems in his life. Holden is a young teen trying to survive the struggles of the real world that is around him. Holden tells his story of an experience that only lasts a couple of says, but seems like a lifetime of him growing older.

Something about his unhappiness, and his dramatic way of expressing himself in the world, makes him known so well in the minds of readers who come from backgrounds completely different from his. The obvious signs that Holden is a troubled and unreliable person in life are many: he fails out of four schools; he obviously shows complete lack of interest toward his future; he is hospitalized after, and visited by a psychoanalyst, for an unspecified complaint; and he is unable to connect with other people even if he tries to.

The most noticeable of Holden’s different views towards life is how extremely judgmental he is of almost everything and everybody he sees or even knows. He criticizes and stresses about people who are boring, people who are insecure, and, above all, people who are "phony." Holden seems to be preoccupied more with the world around him rather than the world that he is living in himself. We see Holden use the word “phony” several times throughout the novel. Holden sees people who are either to typical or predictable in the real world as “phony.” Holden Caulfield never ever really seems to tolerate or except anyone because they are just seen as a “phony” in his world and because of that he is distant from people.

Holden Caulfield is a young teenager who doesn’t really know where he is going in his life. He just goes along with what he sees and then accepts what is there. Holden Caulfield often finds himself with several problems that he cannot control. Holden seems to always be lonely and by himself. He really doesn’t have anyone to look to for comfort or help when he really needs it at certain times in the novel. Because Holden depends on his isolation to protect his separation from the world and to maintain a level of self-protection, he often eliminates his own attempts to end his loneliness. For example, his conversation with Carl Luce and his date with Sally Hayes are made unbearable by his rude behavior. His calls to Jane Gallagher are called off for a similar reason: to protect his precious and fragile sense of individuality. Loneliness is the separation Holden experiences; it is both a source of great pain and a source of his security.

Another aspect that makes Holden Caulfield is the type of relationships that Holden experiences throughout the novel. Both physical and emotional relationship with others offer him a chance to break away from the isolation that has taken over Holden Caulfield, but he often finds himself trying to break away from establishing relationships with others. Throughout the novel you get the sense that Holden Caulfield is an insecure teenager who can't even establish relationship with others. Because of this, it creates a big problem in his other situation of isolation.

Relationships, intimacy, and sexuality are also reoccurring factors in the book, which establish Holden Caulfield. They also represent what Holden, as a person fears most about the adult world: complexity, unpredictability, and potential for conflict and change. Him not having relationships with others only damages the person that Holden Caulfield has become in this story. When he actually wants to get away from the struggles that he already is facing. Because Holden sees people as unpredictable, it challenges Holden and forces him to question his own self-confidence. Holden desperately continues searching for new relationships, always undoing himself only at the last moment.

Lying and deception are other obvious and hurtful elements of the larger category of phoniness. Holden's definition of phoniness relies mostly on a kind of self-deception: he seems to reserve the most scorn for people who think that they are something they are not or who refuse to acknowledge their own weaknesses. But lying to others is also a kind of phoniness, a type of deception that indicates insensitivity, coldness, or even cruelty. Through his lying and deception, Holden proves that he is just as guilty of phoniness as the people he criticizes. He so insecure about himself he has to lie to others. His random and repeated lying highlights his own self-deception—he refuses to acknowledge his own weakness and is unwilling to consider how his behavior affects those around him. Holden always finds himself lying to other people, and it has become part of the person of who Holden Caulfield has become.

Holden's lack of tolerance for all the "phonies" in the world, unable to withstand relationships with others, and his lying and deception are characteristics, which I feel, would categorize Holden.

Throughout the novel we see many symbols that establish who Holden is and has become. As the source of the book's title, the "Catcher in the Rye," serves as a deal of importance because Holden wants to catch children before they fall of a cliff. What this really represents is what Holden personality wont let him do, leave the world of innocence and into knowledge of the adult world.

Another symbol within the book that makes up Holden is red hunting hat. It shows how Holden wants to be different from everyone else around him. Without the hat Holden will often feel alone and it serves as a piece of protection for him. The hat is a part of Holden when without it makes him feel as if he was naked.

Holden often tells us the symbolic meaning of the museum's displays: they appeal to him because they are frozen and unchanging. He also mentions that he is troubled by the fact that he has changed every time he returns to them. The museum represents the world Holden wishes he could live in: it's the world of his "catcher in the rye" fantasy, a world where nothing ever changes, where everything is simple, understandable, and the same.

The ducks in the central park pond also represent a symbol of who Holden Caulfield is. As he questions the fact of where the ducks go in the winter, the same question could be asked about Holden himself. Holden really can't say where he wants to go. Holden doesn't know where his life is leading him. He is lost and Holden as a person needs someone to guide him to safety. As the ducks try to make their journey down south, Holden needs to try and make his journey from childhood to adulthood.

Here is only one side of many views into the characteristics that have been established who Holden Caulfield is and has become throughout the story of "The Catcher in the Rye." A young man needing to establish as someone himself in life.

 

There were several problems throughout the novel, which Holden encountered. Many troubling aspects in the story were seen as Holden progressed throughout the story. Problems such as depression, isolation, and painfulness due to others were all apart of what Holden eventually went through. When Holden needed help with these problems there was none around to help or give him a hand or pat on the shoulder and say everything will be ok. From that Holden's problems grew worse and worse and they eventually overtook Holden as a person.

As you read throughout the novel you began to understand that all the themes that were expressed were actually all the problems that Holden had to experience and go through. Holden was never able to realize that he had these problems and because of it he couldn't go and get help. Some might say that Holden may have been too stubborn and others might say that he was too afraid of what might happen to do anything about it. But what is known is that Holden experienced several problems that he encountered face to face and from there he struggled with them.

Holden faces the problem of dealing with alienation and isolation as a form of self-protection for himself. Throughout the novel, Holden seems to be excluded from and victimized by the world around him. As he says to Mr. Spencer, he feels trapped on "the other side" of life, and he continually attempts to find his way in a world in which he feels he doesn't belong.

We begin to recognize that Holden's alienation is his way of protecting himself. Just as he wears his hunting hat to advertise his uniqueness, he uses his isolation as proof that he is better than everyone else around him and therefore above interacting with them. The truth is that interactions with other people usually confuse and overwhelm him, and his cynical sense of superiority serves as a type of self-protection. Thus, Holden's alienation is the source of what little stability he has in his life.

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As readers, we can see that Holden's alienation is the cause of most of his pain. He never addresses his own emotions directly, nor does he attempt to discover the source of his troubles. He desperately needs human contact and love, but his protective wall of bitterness prevents him from looking for such interaction. Alienation is both the source of Holden's strength and the source of his problems. For example, his loneliness propels him into his date with Sally Hayes, but his need for isolation causes him to insult her and drive her away. Similarly, he longs for the meaningful connection he once had with Jane Gallagher, but he is too frightened to make any real effort to contact her. He depends upon his alienation, but it destroys him.

For example, [Ackley] took another look at my hat … "Up home we wear a hat like that to shoot deer in, for Chrissake," he said. "That's a deer shooting hat." "Like hell it is." I took it off and looked at it. I sort of closed one eye, like I was taking aim at it. "This is a people shooting hat," I said. "I shoot people in this hat." Here, we see how deeply his desire for independence is connected to his feeling of alienation, to the bitterness he has for the rest of the world. He desires independence because he probably feels that the world is an ugly place that deserves only contempt.

"… I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. "

Here we see another example of how Holden's isolation and alienation from the rest of the world has created problems for him. His catcher in the rye fantasy represents his extreme disconnection from reality and his immature view of the world. He prefers to retreat into his own imaginary view of the world rather than deal with the complexities of the world around him. His isolation from the rest will only create more problems for himself.

Another problem that Holden experiences is the painfulness of growing up. As his thoughts about the Museum of Natural History demonstrate, Holden fears change and is overwhelmed by complexity. He wants everything to be easily understandable and eternally fixed. He is afraid to change and grow up. He is still stuck from his ways of childhood when he reaching stages of going into adulthood. Holden just can't seem to understand everything around him and he refuses to face his fear of growing up in life.

An example of this is when Holden says, "The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move …. Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be different would be you."

Rather than face the challenges around him, he retreats to a fantasy world of his own making. When he actually gets to the museum, he decides not to go in; that would require disturbing his fantasy world by making it encounter the real world. He wants life to remain frozen like the display cases in the museum. Holden is too afraid to try and change which is another one of Holden's problems that seem to take over his young life.

While facing the struggles of growing up, there is one person in the story that serves as almost as a fatherly figure to Holden and that is Mr. Antolini. He tries to put some sense into Holden, telling him that he wont go anywhere in his life unless he tries to achieve and succeed.

One example of this was when Mr. Antolini stated, "I have a feeling that you're riding for some kind of terrible, terrible fall …. The whole arrangement's designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply them with…. So they gave up looking."

Mr. Antolini is trying to catch Holden in the midst of a "fall." But the fall Mr. Antolini describes is very different from the one Holden had imagined. Mr. Antolini describes Holden in an unconcerned free fall—giving up, disengaging himself from the world, falling in a abyss removed from life around him. In both cases, we sense that although Holden envisions himself as the protector rather than the one to be protected, he is the one who really needs to be caught. He is the one that needs to be guided and helped along the way of growing up, no matter how painful it may be.

If you were to ask anyone who has read this book, most of them would probably say that Holden's biggest problem would be his great depression in life. Holden always seems to become depressed and it really takes a toll on Holden. The more depressed Holden becomes throughout the novel the worse off Holden is.

One example of when Holden shows his depression in when he says, "Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue as hell." this event occurred right after he meets the nuns at the diner he went to. He felt sorry that he didn't give the nuns enough money. Here we see Holden become depressed because he starts to become preoccupied with the people that are around him. He tries to make things perfect when the world really isn't. It eventually overwhelms Holden and he soon becomes depressed because he can't help those who are innocent and not "phony." I feel that most of his depression is cause by him worrying about other people's problems instead of the important that really need to be handled in his life. Like where is he going and what is he going to do. Who can he look to for comfort when down and because he feels that so many are "phony" in the world, there is no one really that can help him.

What Holden needs in his life is help from others that can console and soothe his problems. But while he is preoccupied with other people's problems he will just keep getting depressed and depressed even more.

Holden Caulfield is a teenager that has faced several dilemmas throughout his life in "The Catcher in the Rye."

 

As we saw throughout the story of “The Catcher in the Rye,” Holden Caulfield is a young teenager that experiences several problems that led to depression. His isolation from others and fear of growing up into the real world cause many problems for Holden as the novel progresses.

I bet you that Holden isn’t the only one that feels alone and isolated from people and others need help as well. Teen depression is a big problem in America and every single case is different each and every time. but they all need the same thing, help from others.

Holden experienced problems because he was separated from the rest of the world, too afraid to do anything about it. At times he was ignorant of others who would try and help him.

Several teenagers throughout the US face these same problems and more everyday. They either feel alone, sacred, and try to hide away form their problems instead of trying of deal with them. One problem that I feel is very key in helping young teens away from depression is trying to understand who is there to help them, if anyone. whether it is friends, family, or even school teachers and counselors. What people need to look into when someone is going through depression is the kinds of relationships that they have with others and whether those relationships are ones that they feel comfortable to be in.

Like in “The Catcher in the Rye,” Holden is never every really able to establish relationships with others because he is either too ignorant of them or too afraid of where their relationship might lead them to. Having either physical or emotional relationships with others always the person with depression to break away from he isolation that they might be feeling. But if they don’t have that connection with other people them they will continue to feel isolated and alone and the problem then only becomes even worse. People who are depressed are often feeling lonely and scared with no one there to help them. So for those reasons I feel that it is key to establish the kinds of relationships that people have with others in order to help them with their depression.

Another problem with those that have depression is that they are often afraid what is going to happen in the future of their lives and can’t maintain themselves. They are scared of the fears in the adult world: complexity, unpredictability, and potential for conflict and change. Maybe people don’t want to change and because of that they can never go on in their lives and feel stuck and have no where to go. It’s just like the way Holden felt as he was growing up.

Denial that they have problems is also important to examine. If you see that people are having problems within their live you need to recognize it when you see and ask them whether they need help. People often deny that they have problems and when people do realize that these people are having problems it might have already overwhelmed that person so much already that they need serious help.

So I feel that the best thing that someone can do in helping depression is try to be a friend and confront the person’s problems and try to help them through them. It wont be quick and easy but it will be a start in the right direction. Family and friends need to see if someone they know is experiences dilemmas and not just ignore them but try to take it seriously and help that person through the problem.

Just like Holden did in “The Catcher in the Rye,” Holden spoke to all his readers about his problems and expressed his feelings. He told us about his isolation and fears of growing up into the real world where he felt that everyone was “phony.” Just talking about helps in one way and it is a start in the right path for people that feel depressed. Several of us feel depressed all the time, but with help, they can overcome it all.

The story of "The Catcher in the Rye," is a unusual novel that can make you think to yourself about the many struggles in life. The story of Holden Caulfield describes himself as a teenager and he runs away to New York City where he stays there a couple of days before going home to his parents and family. He has been kicked out of four schools and really doesn't try to show any potential in his life.

The Catcher in the Rye is in fact a insightful study of one individual's understanding of his individual situation. Told as a monologue, the book describes Holden's thoughts and activities over these few days, during which he describes a developing nervous breakdown, unexplained depression, irresponsible spending and strange, unpredictable behavior, prior to his eventual nervous collapse.

Holden has a problem with people, thinking they are "phony" and ignorant. Holden finds trouble though as isolation and him unable to establish relationships with others interferes with his life. Holden then goes through several problems as his depression starts to overwhelm him. However, during his psychological battle, life continues on around Holden as it always had, with the majority of people ignoring the "madman stuff" that is happening to him.

It is a good book, but not one of my favorites. I think the reason it has become so popular can be found in the way it is written. It is written in conversational style, and people are able to relate to the main character very well.

The book has been banned from several countries throughout the world feeling that the book is to provocative for young readers. I mean they see that the book having to deal with topics such as sex, violence, and vulgarity such as swearing are extremely inappropriate and sets the wrong example for young teenagers who chose to read the story.

The reader will be able to come to the conclusion that Holden is in a mental hospital or institution. He tells, detail by detail, the events which lead to his breakdown. Holden leads the reader through his trying and troubled teenage years. One will begin to sympathize with him and end up feeling sorry for him since he has had such a difficult time with almost every situation. Having a pessimistic attitude toward life, he never learns how to enjoy life or absorb some of the good that life has to offer.
The Catcher in the Rye, in my opinion, is a book which can enable the reader to achieve a better understanding of our harsh society and what impact it can have on a teen-ager. This is an interesting, easy-to-follow novel and I recommend it as a book that teenagers can possibly relate to.

The thing that I find intriguing about this book is that it is very raw and vivid. Everything in this book is serious and realistic. Holden talks about problems that several of us can relate too. He talks about how it is scary trying to grow into the adult world. Holden tells us how life can really be a struggle and how in isn't just some joy ride that we go along.

I would recommend this thought provoking novel as a fascinating and enlightening description of our individual situation in life. Several of us go through struggles and hardships throughout our lives and in "The Catcher in the Rye" you can see eye to eye with Holden and his problems.

Though many feel that this book contains several inappropriate topics, that is why this book has become a success. This book has shown people a different but realistic side at the world around us.

For all those reasons and more I would rate the novel "The Catcher in the Rye" 4 out of 5 stars for its great insight on teachings us readers several aspects of the world around us. People are different just like Holden Caulfield was and he showed us a different view of looking at people that we know and don't know.

 

 

 

 
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