Essay About Holden Caufield And Holdens Way

Catcher in the Rye
Catcher in the Rye
In the book, Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caufield, the main character is a negatively charged person, doesnt want himself or others around him to grow up, and suffers from depression because of his brothers death. This is obviously Holdens way of alienating the entire world and delaying the consequences of facing reality. Alienation is a big theme in Catcher In The Rye, and something that Holden depends on most often. Holden Caufield is a negatively charged character as expressed on the first page of the book before Holden tells his opinion about his childhood. He says, “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing youll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like” (Pg. 1) Holden shows here that he was negative and depressed even in his childhood years which is mainly due to his brother, Allies death. Holdens alienation toward the world is what causes these unwanted character traits of Holdens. Holden is also a hostile character who attributes his negativity to block out others around him, and to delay the fact that he indeed will have to face reality sometime. Holdens pattern of speech, the constant expression of negativity, is a character trait Holden possesses that shows the inner pain he feels. Holden truly shows that he does not want to grow up and he does not want other children to grow up either. Holden believes that all adults are phonies, like Principal Thurmer. Holden hates phonies and thats why he doesnt want children to grow up, do they wont become phonies. Holdens hatred towards adults is due to his brothers death. Holden probably somewhat blames his parents for not stopping his younger brothers death. Holden alienated phonies or adults because of this. Holden believes that he cannot depend on adults because they are phonies like Principal Thurmer. Holdens inability to accept growing up causes much depression for Holden and makes Holden suicidal. At what time, Holden does in fact feel suicidal. “what I really felt like, though, was committing suicide.” This shows that Holden has not really accepted the fact that everyone has to grow up sometime no matter how much u dont want to because no one can stay a child forever. Holden suffers from depression due to his brother, Allies death. This is mainly because lack of closure of his brothers death. There is one moment when Holden expresses how he talks out loud to Allie, even though he is dead. “What I did, I started talking out loud to Allie. I do that sometimes when I