The Catcher in the Rye
“The Catcher in the Rye” is a book written by Salinger and published in 1951. Holden Caulfield, a major character in the narrative, is a sixteen-year-old youngster who is struggling with the fact that he does not want to become an adult. Holden feels that the adult world is full of fake or phony people who he does not want to be associated with. Holden is a shy guy who is continuously avoiding interactions with other people by all means. In the story, Holden is now attending his fifth boarding school named Pencey Prep.
Holden finds that everyone in Pencey Prep school is fake, and he is experiencing a hard time getting along with his teachers and classmates. Eventually, Holden is ejected out of this school due to poor academic performance and goes to New York. While in the city, he finds that performers and actors and all adults are phony. Due to this, he refuses to go home and stays in a hotel. In an attempt to explain Holden’s behavior to the world around him, this paper provides a detailed discussion and examples of how he excludes himself as an approach for self-protection.
Holden appears to be isolated and victimized by the rest of the world. Initially, Holden does not want any interactions with people as he does not want any interference and therefore seeks self-protection. An example is where he feels that all students and teachers in the school are a lot of fakes. Holden isolates himself from these students and teachers, including his engagement in class activities and games, since he does not want to be with these people. Holden also considers the school as being fake as it only provided the students with special events or meals a day before parents would come to visit to create an impression that it was always caring for the students and treated them well. Holden states, “They would feed us steak the night before the parents would come for the weekend” (Salinger 29). The quote attests to Holden’s point the school only offered good meals to close their parents’ eyes. Holden is facing a hard time accepting maturity as he feels it is full of hypocrisy and therefore prefers to be alone in his room.
Secondly, Holden excluded himself from the people in New York City as opposed to enjoying life there. He enjoys being at the museum since things here seem to be constant. Holden states, “The best thing, though that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody moved” (Salinger 121). His presence at the museum is attributed to some level of security enjoys while being there. One aspect he notes is that the exhibitions behind the glass cases are always the same. Later on, Holden comes to a realization that the displays are just reformations of past events; hence no different from phoniness. The realization makes him cease from going to the museum again. Holden is troubled by things in the real world, and he can’t come into terms that he is adulating no matter what he does.
Lastly, Holden excludes himself on the night that Allie passed on as opposed to spending time with his keens. Additionally, Holden is filled with anger that he ends up breaking all the garage windows. Holden says, “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the windows with my fist…”(Salinger 39). After committing this act, Holden isolates himself and goes to sleep. However, he comes to regret his actions as he moves on with his life as he finds it insincere of himself, and he hates it. When he cannot control himself in a given situation, he isolates himself from the case. Throughout the novel, Holden feels confined to “the other side” of life. He is, therefore, trying to find his way in an environment that does not belong to him.
Work Cited
B Salinger, J. D. (2001). The Catcher in the Rye [1951]. Boston, MA et al.