Category: Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger introduced Holden Caulfield as an emotional teenager that had been kicked off his boarding school. Holden faced difficulty when he left and felt alone in the world. His parents were not there for him and his sister, so he had to take up a responsibility that he was not ready for. He was not ready to protect his sister or find love and he felt disgusted by the world. He could not accept his failures and wanted to be a saint so that he could protect others. In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden has difficulty transitioning from childhood to adulthood, due to fear and depression, and because of these emotions, he feels alienated from society.

Holden’s difficulty of transitions originates from his childhood and the fact that he lacked strong parental figures. As he grows up, he wants to become the person that his parents were not. Holden’s parents sent him to boarding school and left him there to fend for himself. He felt that he could not live up to his parent’s expectations and therefore struggled in school, which caused him to get expelled from Pencey Prep. When he left Pencey, he ran away to New York where he tried to live his life independently. This was difficult because he had no help and feared responsibility. He could not make money because jobs were an adult responsibility and he did not like adulthood. He wanted to stay young so that he could avoid becoming an adult with responsibilities. As a younger person, he could relate better with children. Salinger writes,

“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye…And 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” (224-225).

In this excerpt, Holden is labeling himself as “the catcher in the rye”. He wants to be the protector so that he can save the children from falling off of the imaginary cliff. He wants to “catch” them and essentially save them. This could relate to the death of Allie, his brother, and how he was not there for him when he died from leukemia. But, this is difficult for him, because he does not have anyone to catch him if he falls. Critic, Baumbach, says, “Apparently Holden’s wish is purely selfless. What he wants, to effect, is to be a saint—the protector and savior of innocence. But what he also wants, for he is still one of the running children himself, is that someone prevents his fall” (59). The author explains that Holden wants to be a protector. Holden has never experienced strong feelings of protection from his parents and he does not want to see others struggle. At the same time, he wants to be saved from falling into a state of depression. In order to become a protector (a catcher in the rye), he must find someone to show him the way. Holden felt that he lacked the skills to be a strong parental figure and he let his emotions and sexuality cloud his judgment.

In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, the author constructs a nihilistic teenager who lives in a society dominated by phony adults and is trying to deal with both internal and external conflicts. Nihilism is the belief that there is no value to life. Nihilist people are very pessimistic and have no loyalties or moral principles. In The Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield is portrayed as a nihilist because he does not believe in any moral standards, believes suicide is a good escape, and has no religious beliefs.

Holden is a protective but alienated teenage boy who cannot seem to fit into society. He believes society demands children to conform to their “phony” views and there are two opposite sides to the spectrum. Society made life a game, and the people who were considered the winners of the game or in Holden’s eyes, “hot-shots” (Salinger 8), are those who manipulate everyone around them. Holden continuously rejects society’s expectations and views the world as a corrupt place with phonies “coming in through the goddam window” (Salinger 13 ). This skepticism of the “phonies” is what stems Holden’s dissatisfaction of the world. Characterized as a pathological liar and extreme pessimist, Holden exhibits many qualities of a nihilist. He always criticizes society by stating that everyone around him is losing their morality, but he himself does not have any moral values. In situations he is uncomfortable with, he lies to hide his true feelings. He tells the audience that he is a “terrific liar” (Salinger 16). For example, he decides to lie to the woman on the train just to play around with her and for his own enjoyment. “I didn’t feel like giving her my whole life story. Rudolf Schmidt was the name of the janitor of the dorm” (Salinger 55). His lies are used to cover up how how he really feels so he doesn’t have to confront his own feelings. This lying plays a bigger role in Holden’s psyche. As the novel progresses the audience is introduced to Holden’s brother, Allie, who died of leukemia. Holden is evidently very heartbroken by his passing and has not come to terms with his feelings about it. Instead of talking to someone or even admitting to himself about his feelings, he chooses to lie to those he loves and to himself to protect himself from the ugly truth. Holden’s continuous habits of lying, proves that he does not have any moral principles that he holds himself too.

Nihilists believe that life has no real purpose and does not have any loyalties. One major reality Holden is trying to escape is the process of having to grow up. He is hesitant to achieve anything in life and hinders himself from mentally aging. Having gone through multiple boarding schools and not putting any effort into his education, he failed four out of five classes, which makes it seem like he is purposely trying to get kicked out to prevent himself from graduating. This mentality stems from Holden’s view of childhood. Holden holds children on a pedestal by viewing them as these perfect, innocent humans who have not yet been corrupted by the phoniness of the rest of the world. He is willing to sacrifice his own future to preserve adolescence. This is not a physical death, but a mental death of Holden Caulfield as he refuses to get a higher education and, eventually, a job. Holden not only hinders his mental development, but he also considers ending his life all together. Often suicide is viewed as a cowardly way to escape from the world instead of facing it head on. But a nihilist would believe suicide to be a good and reasonable option of escape. Holden views suicide as a moral way to die. He considers life to be meaningless and would rather die than face the harsh realities of growing up. There are numerous times when Holden contemplates killing himself to prevent the “phoniness” from corrupting him. “I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would’ve done it, too, if I’d been sure somebody’d cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn’t want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory” (Salinger 104). Holden claims to be loyal to Jane and Phoebe, but if he is willing to kill himself he will only be hurting those he loves. He does not consider the feelings of the people he loves and is only worried about how events will effect or benefit him. Holden’s praise of suicide becomes more evident when he describes the story about James Castle. “I put on my bathrobe and ran downstairs too, and there was old James Castle laying right on the stone steps ana all. He was dead, and his teeth, and blood were all over the place, and nobody would even go near him” (Salinger 170). In Holden’s description of the events surrounding James Castle he seems to support Castle’s decision of killing himself by portraying the story in a good light. Holden respects Castle’s loyalty to himself and loyalty to preventing “phoniness” from consuming him. Holden’s attitudes resemble those of a nihilist.

Since nihilists do not have any values, they do not believe in a God. Nihilism is a rejection of all values. Holden reveals to the audience that he is an atheist. This decision to reject religious beliefs is a characteristic of nihilists. Holden’s positive encounter with the nuns at breakfast offer a contrast to his normal views of religious people. Their conversation about Romeo and Juliet surprises Holden because the nuns do not fit into Holden’s stereotype of religious people. The nuns are intelligent and to Holden’s surprise, can actually hold up a conversation about an interesting topic. Though Holden has a good encounter with the nuns, he still judges religious beliefs. “Take the Disciples, for instance. They annoy the hell out of me, if you want to know the truth. They were all right after Jesus was dead and all, but while He was alive, they were about as much use to Him as a hole in the head. All they did was keep letting Him down” (Salinger 99). Disciples who are considered to be a symbol of morality and avid followers of Jesus Christ, are untrustworthy to Holden because they were useless to Jesus. To Holden, religion is another way society has created social barriers and encourage people to become phony.

In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger Holden Caulfield is portrayed as a nihilist because he does not have any principles, views suicide as a good escape, and he has no religious beliefs. Holden nihilistic views make him more identifiable to the reader. His awareness of the amount of phony people in the world and how easily people can conform to society’s views, reflects the problems many teenagers go through. As children grow up, in highschool especially, many people change their values to fit into society. Everyone wants to be popular, so a lot of people act very differently to attract more people. The novel appeals to what teenagers are experiencing as they watch others around them compromise their beliefs.

Towards the end of the novel Holden compassionately refers to his sister as ‘old Phoebe’ and it is clear from this affectionate tone he cares about her. Holden is protective of Phoebe’s innocence as he sees himself in her from a time not too long ago. As growing up for Holden has required him to recognise the world around him for what it really is and not the artificial way, he believes he was raised (i.e through movies) the constant use of the word “phonies” refers that world and the new one in which he is far too uncomfortable which has left him to feel isolated and cynical about the future.

Holden views Phoebe as a person untainted by the harsh reality of life. He assumes that if he can spare his sister the pain in which he now finds himself, and “catch’ her before she falls into the rye, then he will have accomplished something important and greater than himself. This is the only presentation of Holden as a contemporaneous protective caring man and brother and even then, his ideals are something he has no control over and it is Phoebe that is able to help him, unknowingly, discover that adulthood isn’t as bad. As Holden misquotes a poem by Robert Burns- ‘Comin’ Thro’ the Rye’ thinking: ‘If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye’ Holden says what he wants to be “the catcher in the rye” and he thinks he is responsible for “catching” children in the field before they “start to go over the cliff.” The fantastic field Holden envisions is free of adult ideas and artificiality from his initial perceived world.

The field Holden imagines is reminiscent of Peter Pan’s Neverland or the Garden of Eden, of which, both are realms that protect innocence from the corrupting influence of experience and life. The fall from the cliff represents the “fall” into adulthood that is symbolic of: lust, greed, ambition, and “phoniness.” The language calls to mind the Biblical fall of Adam and Eve, who were exiled from the Garden of Eden after their awakening to sin and there is shame of sexuality which is a shame that Holden also feels. A typical male would want a woman to stay young in the aspect of beauty as like age, for Holden, it disappears but Holden defies this logic and instead wishes to freeze time so Phoebe can maintain her youth and innocence like in the History museum, this is one of ways Holden attempts to care and protect his sister from the world.

Jane never actually appears in the novel, but Holden frequently thinks about her. She seems to be the one person – of his own age whom he genuinely likes. He remembers her as a quiet and caring kind of person, who has also suffered from a ‘lousy childhood’ which is one of the things that probably makes him more protective of her as demonstrated by him physically attacking Stradlater after he was on a date with her. Holden is appalled at the very thought of Stradlater being with her, but we cannot be entirely sure if Stradlater is really as immoral as he fears or whether his overreaction is more indicative of his own desire for her, which he doesn’t seem to want to think about too much. Holden, regards Jane as a close friend and is arguably deeply attracted to her. Holden can never bring himself to phone her, as this may be because she functions as an idealised female figure for him to some extent, and he can’t cope with actually meeting her which Lingdi Chen supports stating that Holden ‘longs for the meaningful connection he once had with Jane Gallagher, but he is too frightened to make any real effort to contact her.’ Jane is not ideal as Holden makes her to be as he recalls Jane once dating Al Pike, ‘a terrible guy’, ‘a show-off bastard’ and sticking up for him stating ‘She acted like she felt sorry for him … She meant it.’

Holden seems astounded that ‘even smart girls’ like Jane inaccurately judge conceited guys like Al Pike unlike Phoebe who doesn’t judge at all and ‘sits and listens’. Perhaps Holden is saying that Jane doesn’t appreciate him quite as much as she ought to, and that is why he puts off meeting up with her throughout the novel.

The book is about a young character’s growth to maturity, bildungsroman is a novel that deals with the formative years of the main character his psychological development and moral education, it usually ends on a positive note with the hero’s foolish mistakes and painful disappointment over and a life of usefulness ahead, the novel is actually a story of a teenager who is abandoning a childhood life and moving towards adulthood. The teenager Holden Caulfield narrates as the first person, describing what himself sees and experiences, providing his own commentary on the events and the people he describes. Holden’s tone varies between disgust, cynicism, bitterness and nostalgic longing, the protagonist experiences internal conflict, part of him wants to connect with other people on an adult level and more specifically to have sexual encounter – while part of him wants to reject the adult world as “phony” and to retreat into his own memories of childhood.

Holden is already a teenager when we meet him, he develops during the story, he is an unhappy teenager who questions how to live in a world that is often difficult to live in, in addition he is not satisfied at all when he is in school and he keeps thinking about leaving it and therefore also leaving his fellow students, who he is annoying constantly, this shows clearly the gradual development in his mind and his distance to his social connections, which is just getting bigger and is a result of the process of maturity. Holden resists his own development towards maturity and wishes for others to do the same, wishes “ to retreat “backwards into the world he is leaving that of childhood innocence rather than advance into adolescence, maturity and the world of adult American society, furthermore, by wearing his hat backwards, Holden resembles baseball catcher, this resemblance connects Holden to his dream of becoming a catcher of innocent children who come too close to the cliff edge of a field of rye. Though he wears it backwards like a baseball cap, the red hunting hat is a bizarre accessory for Holden, considering that he does not hunt in the conventional sense of the term, when Ackley question Holden for wearing deer hunting hat, Holden corrects him, saying “This is a people shooting hat……I shoot people in this hat”(page 22), therefore, Holden identifies the hat with his aggressive tendencies towards others, especially those of the adult world, as a protector of innocence, Holden often verbally attack or shoot phony people who accept the artificiality and conventionality of growing up, thus, the red hunting hat manifests Holden’s clinging to his childhood and his struggle to come to age.

While most coming of age stories show the main character’s movement from childhood or youth to adulthood, Holden is more complicated because growing up is about the last thing he wants to do. The writer of the novel dumps us straight in the middle of Holden’s maturation. He has lost his innocence but has not quite made it into adulthood, in fact, making it into adulthood, which to him is synonymous with “phonyhood” is about the last thing he wants to do, only in the end when he seems to realise that being a adult does not have to mean being a phony.

Holden is an unusual protagonist for a bildungsroman because his central goal is to resist the process of maturity itself, his thoughts about the Museum of Natural History demonstrate that Holden fears change and is overwhelmed by complexity, he wants everything to be easily understandable and externally fixed, like the statues of Eskimos and Indians in the museum. He is frightened because he is guilty of the sins he criticizes in others and because he cannot understand everything around him, nevertheless, he refuses to acknowledge this fear, expressing it only in a few instances, for example, when he talks about sex and admits that “sex is something I just don’t understand I swear to God I don’t”(chapter 9), instead of acknowledging that adulthood scares and mystifies him, Holden invents a fantasy that adulthood is a world of superficiality that adulthood is a world of superficiality and hypocrisy “phoniness” while childhood is a world of innocence, curiosity and honesty. Nothing reveals his image of these two worlds better than his fantasy about the catcher in the rye, he imagines childhood as an idyllic field of rye in which children ramp and play, adulthood for the children of this world is perceived by Holden as equivalent to death, a fatal fall over the edge of a cliff, Holden’s created understandings of childhood and adulthood allow him to cut himself off from the world by covering himself with a protective armor of cynicism.

Holden is contemptuous, bitter and judgmental not just in the beginning but throughout the entire novel, he is constantly judging everyone he comes into contact with, though the event takes place several months apart, Holden’s attitude is consistent, he continues to have a cynical patronizing and overall pessimistic outlook on people and life in general.

Breakdown and madness is one of the most noteworthy themes explored by J.D Salinger and Sylvia Plath in their confessional, bildungsroman novels “The Catcher in the Rye” (1951) and “The Bell Jar” (1963.) As “The Bell Jar” was heavily influenced by “The Catcher in the Rye” many similarities can be drawn between them, as Robyn Marsack says; “Esther is the female version of Holden”. I am tempted to agree with this sentiment – as there are many key similarities between them. Looking at the protagonists Holden and Esther from a biographical, feminist and psychoanalytical perspective, factors such as self-destructive behaviour, gender and grief will be analysed in an attempt to understand and assess the methods used in the authors’ representation of breakdown and madness.

In the beginning of ‘The Bell Jar’ by Sylvia Plath, the theme of breakdown and madness is explored from the opening chapters. Plath uses the character of Esther to describe her own experiences with intense isolation. Esther Greenwood admits to the reader that although “[she] was supposed to be having the time of [her] life,” and she was “supposed to be the envy of thousands of other college girls” she was in fact “not steering anything, not even [herself].” Plath’s use of anaphora and metaphor first introduces us to the idea that Esther feels as if she is no longer in control of her life, foregrounding her fragile mental state and subsequent spiralling depression. The stative verb “supposed” is significant as it juxtaposes how everyone else around Esther is, by contrast, enjoying themselves and the trip they are on. Esther, by contrast, doesn’t experience this, becoming vastly alienated by her fellow students.

Contextually, ‘The Bell Jar’ is a semi-biographical account of Sylvia Plath’s life, and can be categorised as ‘Roman à clef’, a novel portraying real situations and people but thinly veiled as fiction. This means that almost all of the experiences within the novel are based on Plath’s experiences with mental illness. Readers aware of Plath’s history (her multiple suicide attempts, as well as how she ended her life) will understand just how significant ‘The Bell Jar’ is, as it serves the purpose of illustrating Plath’s own internal struggles. From a psychological perspective, it is clear that Esther Greenwood is an unreliable narrator; she is suffering from mental health issues and so cannot be trusted to be completely truthful.

We see similar ambiguity in ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D. Salinger. We get a glimpse of Holden’s instability as a narrator via the opening paragraph: Salinger writes, as Holden, “I’ll tell you about this madman stuff…” and continues on in the same vein, “…just before I got pretty run down and had to come here and take it easy.” Holden speaks in an informal, colloquial manner about his mental health, and the noun phrase, “madman stuff” foregrounds his dismissive attitude towards the opinion that he may need help. It is obvious that Holden is putting up a front, pretending to be more secure than he actually is. Unlike ‘The Bell Jar,’ in which the protagonist seems unsure of herself from the beginning, Holden is portrayed as a nonchalant character who gets “kicked out” of school for “not applying himself” – making him seem more like a schoolboy rebel than a child suffering from various mental health issues, no doubt including depression. Unlike Esther, he is not an A-grade student or a high achiever – and yet both of them are forced to deal with depression and low self-esteem nonetheless. Like ‘The Bell Jar’ Salinger’s only novel is also semi-autobiographical, as it parallels with JD Salinger’s life as he dropped out of school in 1934, and NYU in 1937. Salinger’s novel was controversial in many ways, particularly because of the taboo language used within and its frank discussion of mental health. Holden’s denial of his own mental health issues, from a psychological perspective, can easily be seen as front to protect himself from what he perceives as further harm. He has already been betrayed by so many adults in his life that he no longer trusts anyone to actually help him, and is cautious of adults and their “phoniness”.

Both novels are written in the first person, so the reader is given an intimate portrayal of the character’s thoughts, and also makes the novels more personal to the authors Plath and Salinger, as they can use the characters as a foil for their own personal thoughts. However, writing in the first person is often unreliable, as both narratives are self-indulgent, resulting in a bias and narrow portrayal.

In both The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar, pressure to conform to gender roles constantly affects the protagonists. Salinger shows us Holden’s inability to conform through his sexual encounter with sunny; a prostitute. he plans to “get in some practice on her”, because “I worry about that stuff sometimes. […] I wouldn’t mind being pretty good at that stuff”. By referring to sex as “that stuff”, Holden seems vulnerable and childlike, but feels like he has to practice in case he ever gets married. “It took me about an hour to just get her goddam brassiere off.” Shows his inadequacy and the adjective ‘goddamn’ illustrates Holden’s frustration with being inexperienced. He decides he doesn’t want to go through with it and when he makes up the excuse of recently having an operation on his ‘clavichord’, Sunny leaves. Sex to Holden seems to be a rite of passage, and wants to lose his virginity, but “…most of the time when you’re coming pretty close to doing it with a girl …. she keeps telling you to stop. The trouble with me is, I stop. Most guys don’t. I can’t help it. You never know whether they really want you to stop, or whether they’re just scared as hell, or whether they’re just telling you to stop so that if you do go through with it, the blame will be on you, not them. Anyway, I keep stopping.” Holden is questioning consent, and respects the women’s decision to stop, however, the way he says that “the trouble is” that he stops, illustrates the way society was in the 50’s. Men were supposed to be the provider and ruler of the family, and women were second-class citizens, as Holden says, “most guys” don’t ask for consent.

Whereas in The Bell Jar, Plath’s representation of conformity is shown through constraints that society places upon women. By reading the bell jar from a feminist perspective, it is easy to see how the female oppression Esther faces can be yet another reason for her breakdown. When she was younger, her mother wanted to teach her shorthand, but “The trouble was, I hated the idea of serving men in any way. I wanted to dictate my own thrilling letters”. Esther wanted to be an author, but is restricted from the beginning as she is places in fashion journalism, which is ‘women’s work’. Buddy shares his mother’s opinions on men and women; ‘What a man wants is a mate and what a woman wants is infinity security,’ and ‘What a man is, is an arrow into the future and what a woman is the place the arrow shoots off from’ which is rejected by Esther as “the last thing [she] wanted was infinite security and to be the place an arrow shoots off from”. Mrs Willard is a key aspect of the feminist reading as she is not a feminist, and this female oppression is engrained in her. She belittles women and their role despite being a woman herself, and this is important as she is of the older generation, and is responsible for teaching the next generation her values.

If a woman were to get pregnant in the 50’s, she’d have to stop working. In a letter to Ann Davidow – Goodman in 1952, Plath says, “I am envious of males. I resent their ability to have sex both morally and immorally and a career.” She states how society “encourages boys to prove their virility” and condemns women for doing so. She was aware of the inequality between men and women, and wanted to have the same experiences as them without the consequences only affecting her. In both cases, this expectation to conform to society’s ideology contributes to the protagonist’s mental breakdown and is used by Salinger and Plath to express their thoughts on their society at the time, and highlight the pressures and stresses that adolescents face in order to fit in, and what can happen to those who are unable to.

In both “The Catcher in the Rye” and “The Bell Jar”, a close family member’s death, the resulting grief can be argued to be a catalyst for the protagonists’ breakdown. In “The Catcher in the Rye”, we learn of Holden’s brother Allie, who died of leukaemia when they were both very young. “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it.” Holden is clearly deeply affected by Allie’s death, and isn’t capable of expressing his feelings properly, leaving him feeling confused, depressed and on the verge of breakdown. From this, Holden begins to idolise Allie, and seems to portray a black and white thinking pattern, in which everything but Allie is held in contempt, as shown in in this outburst: ‘I know he’s dead! Don’t you think I know that? I can still like him though, can’t I? Just because somebody’s dead, you don’t just stop liking them, for God’s sake – especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that’re alive and all’. This leaves Holden vulnerable and psychologically detached, and as he couldn’t go to his funeral, never got the closure needed to deal with the loss and is therefore still at the front of his mind.

Holden also witnessed the death of his classmate, James castle, who committed suicide after being bullied. Though the memory is just one of Holden’s ramblings, it is significant as it clearly affects him. Holden could “hear him land outside”, ran downstairs and saw “his teeth, and blood, were all over the place” he says that the “funny part is, I hardly even knew James castle”, but he was wearing Holden’s turtle neck jumper when he jumped, and their names were next to each other during roll call. Unlike Allie, castle’s death was unexpected and fast, whereas leukaemia is a long process. This can be interpreted from a biographical viewpoint, as J.D Salinger experienced loss first hand in ww2 and liberated a concentration camp, resulting in him being diagnosed with PTSD and hospitalized after suffering a nervous breakdown. In a letter to Ernest Hemingway, Salinger wrote “I’ve been in an almost constant state of despondency and I thought it would be good to talk to somebody sane.”, therefore elucidating the impression that experiencing long and short term deaths of both friends and strangers can result in trauma and depression.

Unlike Holden, the death of Esther’s father when she was 9 is not the main reason for Esther’s breakdown, though it does significantly contribute to her depression. The grieving process is a necessary part of coping with a loss and as she doesn’t remember grieving her father’s death as a child, she, like Holden, doesn’t get any closure. This can also be read biographically, as Plath was 8 when her father died, and the loss is commonly thought to be the sole reason for her depression. This can be seen in her other works; “Daddy’ was a poem written shortly before Plath’s suicide in 1963. “At twenty I tried to die / and get back, back, back to you.” This is significant as her father’s death deeply impacted her, and influenced many aspects of her work; In The Bell Jar, Esther visits her father’s grave and reflects on his death; “I was only purely happy until I was 9 years old”. The fact from the age of nine onwards, Esther wasn’t ‘purely happy’ shows how the death of her father shut her off emotionally, and life would never be the same for her again, thus acting as further cause of her mental ill health. “Howling [her] loss into the cold salt rain”, her father’s death seems to have affected her harder now she is an adult and can truly grasp the extent of her loss.

Self-destructive behaviour easily follows on from the ambiguity imposed by both authors. We see both protagonists engaging in this behaviour in a number of ways, the most notable one of which is not seeing things through. In ‘The Bell Jar’ we learn that Esther had “always wanted to learn German”, which she had been telling people “for about five years” however she never seemed to have the energy to commit to learning it. Plath uses the metaphor of a fig tree to represent Esther’s mental state: “I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story … I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose.” Esther seems to believe that if she chooses to do one thing, all other possible opportunities will be closed to her – and takes so long to choose what to do with her life, she watches as the different opportunities rot away into nothing. “As I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”, which captures the crux of her decent into a deep depression as her future is metaphorically crumbling around her. She is unable to reap the fruits of her labour as they have all expired; meaning Esther believes all of her hard work is wasted, as she is unable to concentrate her efforts on a specific life goal.

The same idea was illustrated in the 14th century the paradox of “Buridan’s ass”, in which a donkey, both equally hungry and thirsty is equidistant to a pale of water and a bale of hay, and unable to decide which it needs the most, dies. Plath deliberately uses the metaphor of the fig tree in order subtly bring into play ideals of life and death; by comparing Esther’s depression to something that is slowly corroding away her every opportunity, she suggests that mental health is not a situation to overcome but some kind of disease – one which Esther appears to be struggling to fight. However, the metaphor also invokes deep images of decay and despair, indicating that Esther cannot escape – whatever she chooses, she misses other opportunities, but if she refuses to choose, all those potential opportunities will disappear. This is echoed in chapter 9, when everyone is given a prop to symbolise what they want to be. Esther is unsure, and “she wants,” said Jay Cee wittily “to be everything”. Esther from the beginning is open to many experiences, but is unable to choose just one to build on, thus starting a snowballing decent into further detrimental behaviour.

Holden engages in many self-destructive behaviours, and as Joel Salzberg states in “Critical Essays on Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye”, the text is a “valuable psychological study might still be made in the progression of Holden’s breakdown – how he provokes fights in which he will be beaten, makes sexual advances he cannot carry through, and unconsciously alienates himself from many of the people he encounters.” I agree strongly with these views and feel that Holden’s problems are sometimes self-inflicted. His alienation can be seen from the beginning, as he isolates himself from the football match. Salinger uses the passive sentence “I was standing way up on Thomson hill…” as a way to portray Holden’s removal from everyone else, and distance himself from humiliation and emotion. Like Esther in “the bell jar”, Holden in indecisive. The informal phrase “sort of” is constantly used throughout the novel and can be argued to be another way of removing himself from things around him. “I can’t explain what I mean. And even if I could, I’m not sure I’d feel like it”. By removing himself from the situation and not facing his problems or even wanting to explain them, Holden is avoiding facing reality and living in denial, which as a result stunts emotional maturity.

This portrayal of immaturity can be seen when Holden is in the phone box, as every time he thinks of someone to call, he ends up talking himself out of it just in case it results in him having to talk to an adult. He constantly decides against actions that may help him, such as reaching out to people. This idea is supported by Charles Kegel, who states, “his problem is one of communication”, and “can’t get through to others his own age”. This lack of communication is also seen through his attitude, as he “doesn’t feel like going into” his issues, portraying him as detaches and unfeeling, which we later learn is not the case, and is actually just a façade he puts up to avoid facing reality. This isolation is mirrored in the bell jar, as Laurence Lerner in “New Novels” says “we realise that Esther’s ruthless and innocent wit is not just the result of youth and intelligence. It is the sign of a detachment, a lack of involvement, so complete that it leads to neurosis” Holden’s self-destruction stems most from this refusal of reality, because he is afraid of becoming an adult. He says the best thing about the natural history museum is that “everything always stayed right where it was”, “nobody’d move”, “nobody’d be different” Holden hates the adult world and is afraid of the change in responsibility. He doesn’t want to venture into adulthood because he is uncertain of what it means for him, and suggests can’t trust the adults he knows, hinting to things like sexual abuse, and often calling out “phoniness”, despite being hypocritical. Instead of embracing the transition into adulthood, he resents it, which does him more harm than good. By “protecting” himself from it, his mental health begins to deteriorate, as he is unable to develop into an adult or express his emotions maturely. Ernest Jones further comments on this and his “resistance to official adulthood.” I feel that this resistance is shown through the symbolism of the ducks in Central Park. Holden, preoccupied regarding “where they go in Winter” exists in a liminal space and cannot move forward himself and many motifs in the novel link to Ernest Jones’s assessment. Esther is similar in her resistance of official adulthood and I feel this is effectively shown at the start – when instead of enjoying her new life she employs a nihilistic simile, explaining she feels “numb as a trolley bus.”

In summary, from the points of evaluation, critical perspectives and their analysis, break down and madness is a potent recurring tone in both novels. In both novels we have resistant protagonists who cannot move forward into legal adulthood and are stymied by mental ill health. Psychological breakdowns are common to both characters and arguably a modern reader is more empathetic of these problems than the original readership.

References

1. Joel Salzberg “Critical Essays on Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye”, 1990
2. Laurence Lerner, “New Novels” in “Listener”, 31 January

J. D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye, captures the attention of several readers by featuring Holden Caulfield, a young protagonist struggling through his transition from childhood to adulthood. The demise of his younger brother, Allie, challenges Holden to maintain his innocence by allowing him a path to adulthood. Allie’s death causes Holden to perceive society differently than those around him by considering his peers as “phonies”, or dishonest people. Because of Holden’s view of society, he encounters the challenge of preserving innocence among the upcoming generations to prevent children from experiencing corruption in society. J. D. Salinger scrutinizes the understanding of preserving childhood innocence in Catcher in the Rye by using symbolism.

Salinger intertwines symbols signifying childhood innocence to contradict the harsh realities of adulthood. Throughout the novel, Holden desires to retain the pureness and virtue among children and nature. For example, when Holden becomes involved in a snowball fight with his friends, he does not wish to throw the snowball because he does not want to agitate the serenity of the environment. Salinger writes, “I started to throw it. At a car that was parked across the street. But I changed my mind. The car looked so nice and white” (Salinger 41). This passage accentuates how Holden aspires to maintain the purity and fine beauty within nature by not wishing to eradicate the tranquility of the environment. Along with preserving the purity of nature, Holden hopes to perpetuate the innocence in children throughout the upcoming generations. He demonstrates the preservation of innocence by wearing his red hunting hat representing the color of Allie and Phoebe’s hair. He wears the hat because it reflects the sense of innocence and purity those characters portray. Before leaving to go to a former English teacher’s house, Holden gives Phoebe his red hunting hat. He lends Phoebe his red hunting hat because Holden believes the hat protected him through adolescence and hopes the hat will allow Phoebe’s innocence to remain pristine.

In Catcher in the Rye, Salinger incorporates multiple symbols that demonstrate the understanding of how some things in life remain unchanged. When Holden brings Phoebe to the carousel, he notices similar music playing as it did when he visited as a child. Salinger writes, “It played that same song about fifty years ago when I was a little kid. That’s one nice thing about carousels, they always play the same songs” (Salinger 231). This scene portrays how Holden does not appreciate adversity and wishes everything to be consistent, youthful, and unchanging. He admires when things in life remain untouched, like the Museum of Natural History. When Holden visits the museum, it seems as if everything froze in time. Nothing has changed since his last visit as a child, but he avoids going in because he does not want to realize he is falling into adulthood. However, the novel demonstrates how adversity occurs temporarily and not forever, which is portrayed by the ducks at the pond. The ducks dissipate in the winter while making a return in the spring. This signifies how adversity occurs, however, it is not permanent. While reading the novel, the reader can examine how Holden denies to change throughout adversity because he believes it will obligate him into adulthood.

J. D. Salinger utilizes symbols contradicting Holden’s concern about preserving innocence. Holden witnesses several harsh incidents in his life that he finds traumatizing. For example, the tragic death of his peer, James Castle and profane graffiti among elementary school walls. Holden hardly knew James, however, he felt a sense of closeness with him because he died wearing his sweater. Salinger writes, “He had on this turtleneck sweater I’d lent him. All they did with the guys that were in the room was expel them. They didn’t even go to jail” (Salinger 188). This passage solidifies how Holden imagines himself dying, and his loss of innocence. He depicts how callous the world can behave, driving the weak people to grow miserable. Holden portrays the protection of innocence at this moment by having the desire to punish the folks who influenced James’ death. He wants to abolish the reality of adulthood and perpetuate purity in society, which is examined when Holden attempts to demolish profane graffiti. Holden encounters vulgar words written on elementary school walls and tries to rub it off as an attempt to preserve childhood innocence. He is in shock that there are humans in society promoting loss of virtue among youth. The profane graffiti represents Holden’s struggle to sustain innocence for all, and not only himself. Throughout the novel, there are symbols present accentuating Holden’s fight against the folks encouraging impurity.

Conclusion

Throughout Catcher in the Rye, Salinger incorporates several symbols intertwining to establish the theme of preserving purity and innocence. Holden does not aspire to adapt to adversity throughout life as he believes it will hinder innocence and open a door to adulthood. He knows he is experiencing adulthood, but he does not want to develop a mature mindset. Salinger assimilates small symbols and actions in the novel to manifest the importance of purity and virtue while demonstrating the understanding of how allowing a downfall in life is necessary. This assists readers in understanding the importance of downfall and how it can be used as motivation to put one’s life back together. Adjacent to the conclusion of the novel, Holden contemplates assembling his life back together. He educated himself thoroughly throughout his decline to conclude that it is required for him to accept the adult mindset. In society today, adversity will allow you an opportunity to grow as it is the bad times in your life that educate you more than the good times.

Introduction to Holden Caulfield’s Character and Background

The Catcher in the Rye is a literature classic that follows the story of Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old student. He is kicked out of a boarding school and told not to return after Christmas break. He decides to head back to New York City, where he is from, but he doesn’t go home. He decides it’s best if he stays away from home. This leads to a number of bad decisions that occur over three days. These events are being told by Holden from a hospital bed in California. Though it is not clearly stated, it can be inferred from the story that he is in a mental institution. Throughout the story, Holden expresses signs of having a mental health disorder. He mainly shows signs attributed to depression. The experiences and thoughts of Holden Caulfield accurately represent those of real-world depression patients.

Holden’s Cynical Worldview and Trust Issues

Throughout the novel, Holden acts cynical and negative towards many things. He views many things as “phony” and he doesn’t trust many people. In New York City, he calls Sally Hayes, a friend of his, and schedules a date with her. When he asks, she responds with, “That’d be grand” (Salinger 57). Holden hates this, “Grand. There’s a word I really hate. It’s a phony. I could puke every time I hear it” (Salinger 57). Holden later refers to Sally as “the queen of all phonies” (Salinger 63) and calls her snotty, “She was still being snotty on account of her ankles when she was skating” (Salinger 70). After the play, Sally and Holden see, Holden sees all the people and views them all as “phony”, “At the end of the first act we went out with all the other jerks for a cigarette. What a deal that was. You never saw so many phonies in all your life, everybody smoking their ears off and talking about the play so that everybody could hear and know how sharp they were” (Salinger 68). Sally meets a guy she knew and Holden sees him as phony. He states, “The worst part was, the jerk had one of those very phony, Ivy League voices, one of those very tired, snobby voices. He sounded just like a girl” (Salinger 69). He is very untrustworthy of people. When speaking about schools, he says, “The more expensive a school is, the more crooks it has–I’m not kidding” (Salinger 2). When Sally compliments him and calls his hair lovely, he doesn’t believe what she is saying and thinks, “Lovely my ass” (Salinger 67). He often insults others and makes fun of them, criticizing their problems without recognizing his own. When talking about a student in his school, Ackley, he says, “He hardly ever went anywhere. He was a very peculiar guy” (Salinger 10). Real-world depression patients often have a cynical outlook on life and are untrustworthy to cope with their depression, “Cynicism is part of a defensive technique taken as protection” (“Depression and Cynicism”). Holden acts this way to hide his own insecurities.

Symptoms of Depression in Holden’s Behavior

Another symptom attributed to depression is a loss of interest in many things, “People typically exhibit multiple of the following behaviors and symptoms Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports,” (“Depression (Major Depressive Disorder)”). Holden also exhibits this behavior. Very few things keep his interest and it affects multiple aspects of his life. In school, he expresses this to his professor saying, “That is all I know about the Egyptians. I can’t seem to get very interested in them although your lectures are very interesting” (Salinger 7). Because of Holden’s extreme lack of interest, he fails four out of five classes. Depression affects all aspects of life, “Depression is technically a mental disorder, but it also affects your physical health and well-being” (“The Effects of Depression”) and can lead to serious problems for a person.

Trauma and Its Impact on Holden’s Mental Health

The exact causes of depression are unknown. However, it can stem from trauma and other bad experiences from the past, “Early childhood trauma can cause depression. This is because some events impact the way the body reacts to fear and stressful situations” (“Depression”). Holden had a traumatic experience as a child, the loss of his brother, Allie. After this, a noticeable change in his behavior occurs. The night he died is when the change first occurs, “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn’t do it” (Salinger 21). From here on out, Holden was never the same. He viewed Allie as innocent and didn’t believe he should’ve died, “I know it’s only his body and all that’s in the cemetery and his soul’s in Heaven and all that crap, but I couldn’t stand it anyway. I just wish he wasn’t there” (Salinger 82 – 83). He begins to see the world as unfair, after Allie’s death. Allie’s death took away Holden’s innocence. He wants this innocence back. He doesn’t want anyone to experience his loss of innocence. He bought a red hat at the beginning of the novel. The significance of this is that his brother, Allie, had red hair. He often wears the hat when feeling awkward, embarrassed, or uneasy. The hat reminds him of Allie and he feels safe in the hat.

Holden’s Struggle with Suicidal Thoughts and Substance Abuse

Depression is a serious issue and if it goes untreated for long enough, it can lead to one taking their life, “Depression is a key risk factor for suicide” (“Suicide”). Suicide rates have spiked in recent years and suicide is a huge problem, “Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US” (“Suicide Statistics”). Holden has suicidal thoughts multiple times throughout the novel. After being beaten up by Maurice, Holden lies on the floor and thinks, “What it did feel like, though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window” (Salinger 57). At one point, Holden begins picturing his funeral, “I kept picturing her not knowing what to do with all my suits and athletic equipment and all. The only good thing, I knew she wouldn’t let old Phoebe come to my goddam funeral because she was only a little kid. That was the only good part” (Salinger 83). Suicide and suicidal thoughts often are only a part of a bigger issue, “Roughly 50% of people who died by suicide had a known mental disorder” (“Risk of Suicide”). Holden’s depression has led him to contemplate suicide.

Many people with depression, don’t get professional help. So in order to cope with their emotions, they turn to alcohol and other forms of substance abuse, “Among individuals with recurring major depression, roughly 16.5 percent have an alcohol use disorder and 18 percent have a drug use disorder” (“Substance Abuse and Depression”). Holden does the same. In chapter twenty, Holden is feeling very lonesome so he calls a friend to have a few drinks with. The friend doesn’t like the immature conversation they are having, so he decides to leave. Holden begs him to stay, “‘Have just one more drink,’ I told him. ‘Please. I’m lonesome as hell. No kidding’” (Salinger 80). After his friend leaves he stays at the bar, getting very drunk, “Boy, I sat at that goddam bar till around one o’clock or so, getting drunk as a bastard. I could hardly see straight” (Salinger 80). Holden is “self-medicating” with alcohol because he doesn’t know what else to do, or who else to turn to.

Depression has a huge impact on one’s mental state. It affects the ability to make decisions as it clouds judgment, “Another symptom attributed to depression is a diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day” (“Depression Symptoms”). During this three-day period, Holden makes many bad decisions. After a night of drinking, Holden decides to sit out in the freezing cold with no jacket on and he almost dies, “Anyway, I kept worrying that I was getting pneumonia, with all those hunks of ice in my hair, and that I was going to die” (Salinger 83). Another mistake is not owning up to his being expelled from his parents and instead, running away. Those suffering from depression tend to avoid admitting that they have a problem, “Many people who have depression do not get help” (Suicide and Depression”). Those suffering from depression often, blame others, push others away, and refuse to help themselves. A major theme in The Catcher in the Rye is running away. Holden is constantly running away from his problems, like being expelled, and avoids them. One thing Holden constantly brings up is the ducks in Central Park. The ducks are migrating and he wants to know where they are going. Holden is acting like a duck in the way he avoids having to deal with his issues. A fantasy Holden has is to run away and live in the forest with Sally, ‘I know this guy down in Greenwich Village that we can borrow his car for a couple of weeks… What we could do is, tomorrow morning we could drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont, and all around there, see… We’ll stay in these cabin camps and stuff like that till the dough runs out. Then, when the dough runs out, I could get a job somewhere and we could live somewhere with a brook and all and, later on, we could get married or something” (Salinger 71). Holden wants to keep running away from his problems and never face them.

Conclusion: Holden’s Journey Towards Healing

Holden Caulfield is a troubled character who shows clear signs of clinical depression. From his outlook on the world to his actions, and even his past, it is very easy to see that he has a mental health issue and needed to seek help. He shows that he is suffering, even though, to everyone else he may seem fine. Depression is usually masked and Holden is shown to do this. The ending of the novel has no real resolution, but Holden seems to be taking steps in the right direction. He seems to be getting the help he needed. Throughout the story, Holden perfectly mirrored what it is like to actually be diagnosed with depression in the real world.

Through the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, Holden is portrayed as a controversial adolescent to the 1950’s society he grew up in. He was constantly breaking traditional values, causing him to stand out among the rest of the teens his age. The teen culture illustrated by Holden has not influenced teen culture today due to teenagers do not view things in the same way Holden has throughout the novel. Teens today are more optimistic about their futures, strive to fit in with society, and aren’t so sensitive towards insignificant things they encounter on a daily basis.To begin, in today’s society, failing out of academics is not quite simple.

Success is the main goal for several teenagers seeking for a brighter future. Within the novel, Holden appears negligent towards his academics and succeeding in general. Although he was immensely intelligent, he never applied himself towards the classes he took and resorted to allowing himself to be discharged from Pencey Prep permanently. Finlo Rohrer states, “Holden is 16. Expelled from his prep school for flunking too many subjects, he travels to New York his hometown. He drinks smokes, sees a prostitute is punched by a pimp goes on a date, has a strange encounter with a former teacher, spends a fair amount of time in the park, and really does not a great deal else” (Roher para 4). If a teen were to attempt that today, it would be highly looked down upon by both teens and adults. Many people would refer to Holden as “ignorant” and “unrealistic” being it would be challenging for him to provide for himself under such circumstances at a young age. According to Jennifer Schuessler, “These days teenagers seem more interested in getting into Harvard than flunking out of Pencey Prep.” (Schuessler para 10). Teens are made aware of the importance of being successful. Despite how great someone may dislike going to school on a day-to-day basis, they know they must cope with the antipathy in

Through the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, Holden is portrayed as a controversial adolescent to the 1950’s society he grew up in. He was constantly breaking traditional values, causing him to stand out among the rest of the teens his age. The teen culture illustrated by Holden has not influenced teen culture today due to teenagers do not view things in the same way Holden has throughout the novel. Teens today are more optimistic about their futures, strive to fit in with society, and aren’t so sensitive towards insignificant things they encounter on a daily basis.

To begin, in today’s society, failing out of academics is not quite simple. Success is the main goal for several teenagers seeking for a brighter future. Within the novel, Holden appears negligent towards his academics and succeeding in general. Although he was immensely intelligent, he never applied himself towards the classes he took and resorted to allowing himself to be discharged from Pencey Prep permanently. Finlo Rohrer states, “Holden is 16. Expelled from his prep school for flunking too many subjects, he travels to New York his hometown. He drinks smokes, sees a prostitute is punched by a pimp goes on a date, has a strange encounter with a former teacher, spends a fair amount of time in the park, and really does not a great deal else” (Roher para 4). If a teen were to attempt that today, it would be highly looked down upon by both teens and adults. Many people would refer to Holden as “ignorant” and “unrealistic” being it would be challenging for him to provide for himself under such circumstances at a young age. According to Jennifer Schuessler, “These days teenagers seem more interested in getting into Harvard than flunking out of Pencey Prep.” (Schuessler para 10). Teens are made aware of the importance of being successful. Despite how great someone may dislike going to school on a day-to-day basis, they know they must cope with the antipathy in virtue of how significant education truly is. Even if a teen ultimately decides they want to drop out of school, it would require a significantly long process involving various amounts of signatures from adults in order for a teen to do so. Education sets teens up for their future and without it they may end up somewhere on the streets similar to Holden..

Next, most teens aim towards fitting in with society rather than being the odd one out. Growing up as a teen today is mainly about following the latest trends and making sure you are up to date with the rest of the things going on during the time being. Holden, contrarily, is the exact opposite. Through The Catcher in the Rye, Holden constantly isolated himself throughout the novel and never seemed to fit in with the people attending Pencey Prep. But, he oddly enjoyed doing things differently from everyone else. For instance, at football games, you found Holden standing on top of the hill while everyone else was cheering on the players. In addition, he buys a red hunting hat for only a dollar, which is something nobody has ever seen before. Although it may not be a positive quality, teens rather be pressured into being “cool” and “normal” rather than being someone who can be easily pointed out by the rest. According to Jennifer Schuessler, “In general they do not have much sympathy for alienated anti-heroes; they are more focused on distinguishing themselves in society as it is presently constituted than in trying to change it.” (Schessler para 7). This illustrates that in contrary to Holden, teens are looking to have a place in society rather than trying to change the way it functions. While most teens may have their own independent opinion on certain trends, for the time being they usually find it much easier to follow what everyone else is doing than distinguishing themselves from the rest to avoid the hate they may receive from other people.

Finally, unlike Holden, teens are not sensitive or dramatic towards inconsequential things they face almost all the time. Holden throughout the novel was consistently whining about the simplest subjects that normally, someone would not focus too much about. For instance, Through The Catcher in the Rye, Holden could not seem to shake off features such as Ackley’s yellow teeth, pimples, and unorganized character. Today, these are all typical characteristics teens not only encounter but acquire themselves. Holden also indicates how phony everyone appears. With social media as a huge part of their daily life, teens understand that people tend to be deceiving and you simply cannot believe everything you see. Teens are knowledgeable of the fact that these are all aspects of life and there are bigger issues they need to worry about. According to Roher, “But, despite its gazillions of sales, there are plenty of people- teenage and adult- who just cannot understand what the fuss is about.” (Roher para 17). Holden throughout the story is just simply overdramatic and negative towards certain subjects teens today are aware of but would not even stop to think about. Holden not only appears stuck up for criticizing aspects associated with growing up but also appears unaware of the way society operates.

Thus, Holden did not have a direct impact on today’s teen culture considering his outlook on life differs from how most teens view things today. Teens are taught to value their future and aim towards success. In addition, teens enjoy the feeling of fitting in, rather than trying to isolate themselves from society. Lastly, teens are not distressed by simple aspects that they encounter on a daily basis. Throughout the novel, Holden’s idea of a teen culture greatly contradicts the rest of the teens during his time. Likewise, Holden would continue to contradict teen culture today.

First-Person Narration

After carefully studying both characters I believe that first-person narration is essential for Coming of Age novels. It creates a relationship between the reader and the protagonist like no other. By using first-person narration, readers get a wide ranged insight into these two characters’ traits and connect with these characters on an emotional level, by accessing their thoughts and emotions. By using a combination of dialogues with other characters and inner monologues, layers to the character are formed by observing them from different angles.

The Catcher in the Rye

Holden’s narration and language gives a far greater insight into his emotions than Miles does, especially his true feelings towards other characters. A good example of this is his interaction with Mr. Spencer. Holden calls his former teacher “Sir” , a form of respect, while simultaneously thinking crude things about Mr. Spencer, saying his appearance is “depressing” . This clearly shows the contrast between his thoughts and how he interacts with others. Important to note is that the use of first-person narration influences the reliability of the portrayal of characters. For example, merely the way he describes Ackley indicates that there may be some exaggeration in how he describes his physical appearance. “He started cutting his big horny-looking nails.”

Looking for Alaska

The narration is divided into two parts: “Before” and “After”. The reader is unaware of the meaning of these titles. Each chapter counts down the days to the pivotal moment of the book. This creates suspension for the readers and causes them to pay close attention to what is narrated. After the incident the reader does not lose this suspension, as the mystery behind Alaska’s death is only revealed at the very end. Especially in the second half of the novel, the focus is put on Mile’s development, as he narrates the struggles of dealing with an unexpected death. Additionally, first-person narration in Looking for Alaska is used to tell the story, in a more personal fashion. Often sentences start with “I” and the past tense of an action, moving the storyline along, rather than to convey emotions as prominently as in Holden’s case. Miles’ shy and insecure character is not only shown by his interaction with other characters but also through his narration of the plot. His first meeting with his future friends shows how self-conscious and insecure he is about himself. This reaction to others is very common in the real world, where it may be scary for some to interact with others in an environment they are not used to. By depicting this so realistically the reader understands the character and sees their transition. An example for this would be when he first meets Chip who criticizes his pants. An embarrassed Miles immediately pulls them up.

Language

One important aspect to consider when analyzing the language of each novel, is that The Catcher in the Rye was written in the 1950s, whereas Looking for Alaska was published in the early 2000s. This difference in the time periods greatly affects the language used by the respective main characters. Terms that were commonly used by teens in earlier generations, i.e. in the 1950s, are not the same as the terminology commonly used by contemporary youth. The particulars of language are fundamental to first-person narration. The characters are shaped by the language they use, whether informal or formal. How their sentences are structured, and their repetitive usage of specific terms may reveal specifics of their characters. Holden and Miles share some similarities in this field but still have many linguistical differences.

Repetition of phrases

In both novels phrases and terms are continuously repeated, the effect stylistic however differs. While in Miles’ narration, the repetition of phrases conveys his emotions, the repetition of certain terms in Holden’s narration, highlight some of his character traits.

Miles’ repetition

The phrase “I thought” is repeatedly used by Miles in times of distress. The use of anaphora may be to connect with the reader and share the struggles he is faced with. By sharing his deepest thoughts, he seems transparent to the reader, showing his authentic, raw emotion-his humanity. A good example for this would be the narration he gives after finding out Alaska died: “I thought: it’s all my fault. I thought: I don’t feel very good. I thought. I’m going to throw up.” This anaphora shows every single thought he had, every emotion he felt when he found out about her death. Readers feel sympathy towards Miles as he starts to become aware of reality. This rhetorical device appears multiple times in the novel, always when Miles seems to be in distress . By using this rhetorical device, the reader focuses less on the scene that is unfolding and more on how Miles is reacting to the situation he is faced with. Such rhetorical devices indicate milestones in the transition of his character. The novel starts out with Miles caring little about finding friends and having no desire to have an emotional connection with anyone but develops into him caring immensely about others. Through his narration of the story the reader gains an insight into Miles’ maturing character.

Holden

In comparison to Miles, Holden continuously uses the term “phony” to describe anyone who seems to have a fake persona. The repetitive use of this term indicates the distaste Holden has towards dishonest individuals. In reality he is the one who often isn’t true to himself: he hides his romantic feelings, ignores the effect of his brother’s death and is afraid to grow up. While he tries to appear truthful to the reader is comes off as naïve. This immaturity is further supported by his repetitive use of the phrase “I really do” . It shows that Holden wants to ensure the reader that he himself is telling the truth and isn’t behaving in a phony way. Rather than appearing truthful he seems insecure, as he yearns for the readers approval. Another example for this would be when he continuously tries to ensure that reader that we would like his sister. “You’d like her” . In contrast to Miles, Holden seems to uphold a false imagine of him, in order to appear as someone, he is not. He shows an idealistic facade that the reader can immediately look straight though, while in Miles use of anaphora show his raw emotions.

Miles’ use of final words

Miles often conveys his deepest emotions by referring to and quoting others’ final words. Right at the beginning of the novel he says he’s “looking for the great perhaps” , in other words, wants to find himself, although he struggles with this throughout the whole novel. From the story’s outset, the theme of Coming of Age novels is mentioned. Immediately after Alaska’s death, he mentions Henry Ward Beecher’s last words: “Now comes the misery” , making it clear that grief and heartache are awaiting him. In the end, he shares the last words of Thomas Edison: “It’s very beautiful over there.” making it clear that he has found acceptance and that the future is bright.

The use of Italics

In both novels, italics are used to put emphasis on selective words, sometimes even phrases. By using this print, the author intends the reader to put emphasis on these select words, making them stand out more. With syntax such as “Then he said it three times” and “I didn’t care.” , Holden puts emphasis on the terms “three” and “care”, expressing his annoyance almost to a childish extent. The frequent use of this cursive writing shows how he is often annoyed and lashes out which in return reflects on his child-like behavior. In Looking for Alaska the usage of italics merely shows that the protagonist is affected by a certain situation. The fact that Miles says the phrase “Oh, he’s funny. That guy Miles is a riot.’’ to himself when thinking about meeting his roommate shows that his self-conscious character traits are apparent. With this statement he belittles himself, by making a sneer comment about himself, indicating that he is very critical of himself. By not only writing selective terms in italic form, it doesn’t express annoyance as it does in The Catcher in the Rye.

Symbols

The Catcher in the Rye

Holden’s Red Hunting Hat

The most significant symbol in J.D. Salinger’s work is Holden’s red hunting cap. The significance is not made clear initially, as it seems only be an accessory of his clothing. However, when he sheds all his formal wear, for example his tie, he continues wearing the hat that is not usually worn inside. The reader becomes aware of how comfortable the main character is when wearing it. Furthermore, when Ackley comments on how the hat was money not well spent, Holden seems to show no offence, which contrasts to his otherwise constant negative reaction to everything Ackley says or does. This further underscores Holden’s sense of comfort with his hat. The very conspicuous red color makes him stand out in the crowd showing off his unique personality even more. During the course of the story, the hat is continuously referenced, from him fixing it to look right to someone commenting on it. These situations seem to correspond to moments of his vulnerability where he shows raw emotion. One example of this is the scene where he talks about Jane. In this scene he continuously asks himself why he acts in a certain way, never acknowledging the fact that he clearly feels jealous of Stradlater who goes on a date with her. During Holden’s recollection of this scene, he continuously references his hunting cap. By not acknowledging his true feelings he shows his immature side. Therefore, in the last part of the novel, when he gives his sister the hunting hat, he shows maturity in two ways. By giving her his beloved hunting cap, one of the few things he truly loves, he is showing maturity and compassion as he wants her not to let go of being herself. Giving away his hat to his younger sibling also symbolizes him letting go of his childish behavior.

Allie’s Baseball Mitt

Another character defining symbol in “The Catcher in the Rye” is Allie’s baseball mitt, which represents Holden’s memories of his deceased younger brother. When describing Allie’s appearance and character he only speaks highly of him, using terms such as “terrifyingly intelligent” or “the nicest” . In contrast to the other negative remarks Holden makes about other characters, he seems to show nothing but love for his brother. Therefore, the mitt paints him in a more pure and vulnerable light. When criticized by his roommate for writing an assignment about a mitt, Holden reacts angrily and protectively, in an older brother manner. “’So what?’ I said. Cold as hell” . Even though the mitt only appears once in the novel it clearly has a great emotional value to Holden. Both his description of Allie and his reaction to Stradlater’s criticism about the baseball mitt, don’t sit well with the protagonist, which shows that he is deeply affected by his brother’s untimely death. The mitt helps us as a reader understand Holden better as a character and the circumstances that have shaped him. Another notable point is that he mitt was covered with poems that Allie wrote. Holden has however stated that he hates poems and movies. The reason for this perhaps may be, because the remind him of his brother, a further indication that the mitt represent the reality of Holden’s emotional state. When he describes the mitt his curtain of idealism falls, and he lovingly tell the story of the mitt. After he stops however, he returns to his critical behavior.

Looking for Alaska

The Labyrinth

The symbols in Looing for Alaska, however, do play a significant role in the novel. The symbolic meaning of the labyrinth comes into question early on in the novel. Miles’ love for famous last words causes Alaska to disclose her favorite ast words from the fictional characters of the book “The General in his Labyrinth”. In this a character exclaims “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!”. This sparks a recurring question about the labyrinth’s meaning and how one can overcome the labyrinth. The readers are left to interpret its symbolic meaning. The main character deals with the death of Alaska, trying to determine his own way of coping with the labyrinth of suffering and figuring out what Alaska’s view on the matter was. Ultimately the main character comes to the conclusion that his way of dealing with the labyrinth was wrong. “Before I got here, I thought for a long time that the way out of the labyrinth was to pretend that it did not exist, to build a small, self-sufficient world in a back corner.” Miles statement shows that he grows from an introvert that was not living life to its full potential into a mature adult who understands the hardships of life and knows that you have to get through them, rather than hide from them. The labyrinth embodies every human’s path of suffering throughout life and it is up to us as individuals to determine how we overcome this path of suffering. Miles concludes that the solution to survive the labyrinth is forgiveness .

White Tulips

The white tulips, introduced midway into the novel, play a significant role in the storyline have a deep symbolic meaning. While doodling flowers, Alaska realizes that she has forgotten to put flowers on her mother’s grave on the anniversary of her passing. Tragically, this causes her to drive in an intoxicated state, with little hope of redeeming her mistake, deliberately driving into the truck, thereby committing suicide. For the remaining main characters, especially Miles, the white flowers represent the clue that leads the group of friends to the truth behind Alaska’s death and therefore to peace. Both the white color and the tulip carry a deeper meaning: Even though Alaska is portrayed as a troubled teen the white flower represents her innocent love for her mother. However, in Asian culture the color white stands for death. The white tulip therefore symbolizes her innocent love for her mother and her tragic demise because of it. White tulips, according to an online source , stand for eternal rest. While there is no information given on her ethnicity the meaning accurately represents the tragedy. When Miles first comes across the white tulips, he questions their significance, but when he finally discovers that they are the final piece to the puzzle, he is at ease and can finally move on. In both cases the flowers do however remind Miles and Alaska of deceased loved ones. While Alaska is reminded of her mother, Miles is reminded of his love interest, Alaska. These two key symbols, the flowers and the labyrinth, both seem to signal the demise of Alaska, but the personal growth of Miles.

Significance of the Symbols

Both novels have symbols that signify a connection between the protagonists and their deceased family members, giving their respective characters depth. In both The Catcher in the Rye and Looking for Alaska the main characters have an emotional connection to a symbol that represents the person, who has changed their life significantly. Both have been through the trauma of losing a loved one and have had to deal with their grief throughout the respective novels. The symbols, unbeknownst to the main characters, depict their emotional state. Holden subconsciously shows his strife for individuality through the hunting hat and sadness through the baseball mitt. Miles shows his desire for answers and heartbreak through the white tulips and the final words of others. Both characters show a side of them that they don’t actively narrate to the readers.

Conclusion

Here this exploration of the Coming of Age novels The Catcher in the Rye and Looking for Alaska comes to an end. As discussed in the Introduction many questions arise when one read literary pieces such as these novels. It can be state with absolute certainty however that the significance of the rhetorical devices, analyze in this paper have a vast importance in the depiction of the character development of both books. An overview of the findings made throughout this exploration, specifically that of the first-person narration, language and symbols, will be given in the following. Holden’s narration gives readers a better insight into his emotion and shows how he truly feels about others. In contrast Miles narration highlight his insecurities and generally create a more personal narration with the repetitive use of the term “I”. Additionally, both protagonists use linguistic devices that show their character traits. Miles’s repetition of phrases emphasizes the distress he feels, leading to sympathy from the reader. Holden’s repetitive us of phrases such as “phony” and “I really do” depicts his oblivion to his own immaturity. The symbols used in the respective novels show the subtlest yet important development of the protagonists. The emotional dysphoria is reflected, unbeknownst to the main characters, through the baseball mitt and the labyrinth. We see a side of the narrators that they don’t discuss upfront in their narration. Rather through their interaction or description of the symbol do we see the importance of symbolism to the development of the protagonist. Therefore, the more one takes the time and analyses the significance of the aforementioned aspects, the more one understands the protagonist and why they behave the way they do. On multiple levels these two characters evolve from idealistic, immature naive adolescents to self-reflecting, rational adults. In order to fully understand a character, one has to make a broad analysis of them, as this is the only way to truly understand the essence of Coming of Age novels. By working closely with these books, one learnes that there is more to a novel than its plot. Literature is an expression of humanity, but one must listen to fully grasp it.

Holden Caulfield was a seemingly unsolvable anomaly. His life was complicated by the death of his younger brother, and the negative reaction that it invoked from his parents. He was pushed around from school to school, failing and being expelled from the majority of them due to his poor behavior. All of these factors contributed to the mental hardships that he dealt with on a daily basis. Throughout the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield coped with the stresses of daily life by running from his problems, becoming physically violent towards himself and others, and contemplating the meaning of his existence.

Holden Caulfield was never very direct when it came to facing the problems that arose within his life. Rather than owning up to his mistakes, Holden worked hard to run from his problems. Holden’s antisocial personality made it easy for him to avoid dealing with the consequences of his actions head-on. Whenever Holden was feeling hopeless and particularly anxious, his mind would create miniature escapes to make him feel safe. Holden would allow his imagination to distract him from stressful situations often. During his fight with Maurice, Holden pretended that he had been shot and was bleeding out. Whilst crossing the street, he would say silent prayers to his dead younger brother, asking to make it to the other side safely. “‘Allie, don’t let me disappear. Please, Allie.’ And then when I’d reach the other side of the street without disappearing, I’d thank him” (Salinger 218). Finally, when Holden was drunkenly wandering around Central Park in the late hours of the night, he visualized what would happen if he had suddenly gotten pneumonia and died. Holden’s overload of negative emotions as he pushed through these low points in his life resulted in his mind creating hallucinations and daydreams to provide him with a safety blanket. Holden’s most important skill was his ability to evade anything and everything that affected him negatively.

Holden nearly crumbled under the stress of his busy, unpredictable life: but behaving violently towards himself and others brought him the mental relief that he needed. On one particularly notable occasion, Holden manages to get himself into a physical altercation with someone over debatably insignificant matters. After Stradlater refuses to explain the details of his date with Jane, Holden becomes furious and throws the first punch. The two fight it out, and the brawl ends in Stradlater’s victory. “This next part I don’t remember so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed like I was going down to the can or something, and then I tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddam throat open” (Salinger 43). Holden took the opportunity to alleviate the stress of the situation immediately by confronting Stradlater with physical violence. This fight would allow Holden to spare himself from the burden of thinking about and handling the issue that he had with Stradlater dating, Jane. This entire situation could have been avoided if Holden had kept calm and thought about a rational solution. Instead of facing the problem directly by talking through it, he escalated the fuss into something much more serious. Acting impulsively and beginning a fistfight created an outlet for all of Holden’s negative emotions. It was a way for him to release all of his pent-up energy that originated from the stress of daily life.

For the duration of the novel, Holden felt lost. He didn’t know what it felt like to fit in and to have a purpose. As a way to minimize the stress of his own problems, Holden clung to the ideas that were the most important to him. One of the ideas that Holden held on to was his dream job to be the Catcher in the Rye. “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” (Salinger 191). The Catcher in the Rye is an image in which Holden sees himself as someone who would oversee children as they run around and play in a field atop a cliff, catching them as they get close to falling off the edge. This is an example of how Holden does not want children to surrender their innocence and grow up. At the end of the book, he realizes that there is no way for him to be able to protect the innocence of children forever and that kids will grow up no matter how hard you try to stop it. It is not his duty to protect these kids from something that is so entirely out of his control. His place in society is the same as everyone else’s. All he has to do is live in the moment and focus on himself and his well-being. Taking the time to think about his dreams and morals served as a distraction from the strain imposed on him from worrying about all of the stressful situations that bombarded his life.

Holden Caulfield’s methods of enduring the stresses of life from day to day were dodging his problems, resorting to violence, and searching for the significance of his life. He did an amazing job of warding off all of his issues by isolating himself from others and seeking refuge in the safety of his imagination. His impulsive choices influenced violent actions, which allowed him to decompress and distract himself from any conflict that might have weighed on him mentally. Thinking about the never-ending possibilities of the future and the role that he played in society also worked as a diversion from the stressful side effects that come along with growing up.