Catcher in the rye essay

Submitted By spaphappy

Words: 400

Pages: 2

Open Document

Catcher in the Rye In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, many people either relate closely to Holden, or do not relate to Holden at all. People call him a hero, a victim, and in some cases “something else”. Holden is a victim of society, which is a prospect to just about anyone; however, it is easy to tell he is also a strong hero.
Throughout the book, he shows compassion to people he cares about –which is not many people – and is willing to save them if needed. To do anything for the ones he loves, and there is nothing to inhibit him from going any length to protect them. This is especially strong for children, where his agenda is to save their innocence and. Holden feels strongly about preserving the childhood innocence and preventing children from growing into adults: “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start going over the cliff –I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out and catch them” (Salinger 173). All Holden wants to do is catch the children; Holden desires to save these blameless kids from the harsh world of adulthood and is willing to sustain repulsive consequences.
Another instance of Holden being a hero is when he is in Phoebe’s school and sees unruly actions: “Somebody’s written the word ‘Fuck you’ on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it and they’d wonder what the hell it meant” (Salinger 201). He then

Catcher in the Rye Essay

The Catcher in the Rye “Is The Catcher in the Rye, as a work of literature still relevant for today’s youth?” Name: Sara Sigurdson Course: English A1 Supervisor: Mr. Peter Steadman Word count: 3851 Candidate number: 00136022 Table of Contents Content Page Number Abstract 3 Introduction 4 The Actual Catcher in the Rye 4 The Sexual Matter 5 The Caulfield Family 6 Narrator and Protagonist 8 Role Model 9 Mr. Antolini 10 Targeted Audience 10 Guidance 12…

Words 4410 - Pages 18

catcher and the rye Essay

Emma Lange 9/16/14 Peruggia C Essay: Catcher and the Rye Profane, sexual, and vulgar content are often cited as reasons for banning a book. J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most controversial books of all time. It is heralded as a classic yet, according to the American Library Association, the Catcher in the Rye was the third most banned book from libraries and schools as recently as 2005. It earned the ranking of nineteenth most challenged books between the years…

Words 1502 - Pages 7

Catcher in the Rye Essays

a. How does the context created in the first 20 pages of the novel create how the ending occurs for the reader? In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger published in the year 1951, the context created at the beginning of the novel is that the character Holden Caulfield occurs to believe that the world is full of stupid people – who cause his relationships to be unsatisfying and unfulfilling. At the end of the novel, Holden is seen to find the satisfying and fulfilling relationship he had…

Words 640 - Pages 3

Catcher in the Rye Essay

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 romp and play; adulthood, for the children of this world, is equivalent to death—a fatal fall over the edge of a cliff. His created understandings of childhood and adulthood allow Holden to cut himself…

Words 2239 - Pages 9

Essay on Catcher In The Rye- Ducks

Rita Acosta Advanced U.S. Literature B 26 January 2015 Krueger Catcher Essay In The Catcher In The Rye By J.D. Sallinger, a young Holden Caufield is refusing to grow up. There are many symbols of his youth throughout the book, such as his curiosity about ducks. "I was thinking about the lagoon in Central Park, down near Central Park South. I was wondering if it would be frozen over when I got home, and if it was, where did the ducks go. I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got…

Words 588 - Pages 3

Catcher in the Rye Literary Essay

English ISP 3/23/14 Daniel A. Edery Catcher in the Rye/Swing Kids In life, while trying to overcome obstacles there are two options: either it is overcome, or not. But there are many reasons behind whether one fails or succeeds. Holden Caulfield was “troubled”, and had many obstacles to overcome, most of which were his fault in the first place. He was failing out of school and was therefore getting kicked out. Also, he had this idea that everybody was a “phony”. Because of this notion he got…

Words 1954 - Pages 8

Essay on Catcher in the Rye

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was and always will be one of the greatest novels of all time. It’s a fascinating story that allows us to explore a young boy’s thoughts (also Twain’s view) of society. At the beginning of the story, Huck doesn’t want to ever be civilized and at the end of the story, Huck still doesn’t want to be civilized. However, by the end of the story, Huck’s reasons behind not wanting to be civilized change from the beginning of the story. When the story begins, Huck talks…

Words 879 - Pages 4

The Catcher in the Rye Essay

The Catcher in the Rye In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger represents childhood as a stressful turn table of mixed emotions. The intense moments of Holden’s life (like in chapter one at the football game, where Holden feels excluded from his entire school as he glares down at everyone in the stadium) are amazing representations of childhood at a glance. Most teenagers go through hell during high school, and Holden Caulfield is a prime example of that. This book was interesting because of Salinger’s…

Words 1053 - Pages 5

Catcher in the Rye Essay

Holden’s greatest worry is that Stradlater will make sexual advances toward Jane. Stradlater and Ackley sound like appallingly unsympathetic characters, but this is completely the result of the tone in which Holden describes them. For instance, Holden indicates his awareness that Ackley behaves in annoying ways because he is insecure and unpopular, but instead of trying to imagine what Ackley wants or why he does things, he focuses on Ackley’s surface—literally, his skin. By describing in minute…

Words 371 - Pages 2

Catcher In The Rye Comparison Essay

Comparison essay of catcher in the Rye and Life of PI According to Helen Hayes “ Every human being on this earth is born with a tragedy, and isn't original sin. He's born with the tragedy that he has to grow up… a lot of people don't have the courage to do it” , Holden decided to try to find a way to keep himself from aging to an adult and trying not to face the fact that when Ali died and he did not want to face that reality while Pi since he lost his whole family and was stranded on an island…

Words 1180 - Pages 5