Catcher In The Rye Hero's Journey

Bi, Zijian
10/19/2014 Sun.
3° English 2A
WHEN WE BECOME ADULTS Have you ever been lost in a journey? “The Cather in the Rye”, a novel by J.D. Salinger, talks about a teenager calls Holden Caulfield. Holden is a very strange teenager. He always has different views and different ideas to think of something. This novel begins the story at Pency Prep, a private school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. First, he misses a football game on the Saturday afternoon. After the game ends, he fights with Stradlater in his dorm, and Stradlater wins easily. So, Holden decides to leave, he takes a train to New York City. Holden Caulfield has become an icon for teenager rebellion. Through analyzing he struggles through teenage life, it is revealed that Holden is …show more content…
He does not want to take the responsibility to communicate with others who may want to help him. Also, he refuses to go home and face his parents and consequences. Along with these, he also pulls the adolescent silent treatment toward his parents. “She wouldn’t’ve cared if I’d woke her up, but the trouble was, she wouldn’t’ve been the one that answered the phone. My parents would be the ones” (59). He is afraid to talk to people close to him, because they will be faultfinding to him. This expression from Holden could also explain his lack of interaction with Jane Gallagher. “I started toying with the idea, while I kept standing there, of giving old Jane a buzz -- I mean calling her long distance at B.M., where she went, instead of calling up her mother to find out when she was coming home” (63). “The only reason I didn’t do it was because I wasn’t in the mood. If you’re not in the mood, you can’t do that stuff right” (63). Because Holden is afraid of talking to people close to him, so he tries to talk to strangers. He will not have “deep” conversation with them. He does not want to face the real world. In chapter nine, he asks the cab driver, who is a complete stranger to him, for a cocktail when he was done driving him to the Edmont Hotel. “Would you care to stop off and have a drink with me somewhere?” (60) Hence, Holden will continue to try to get some random stranger for alcohol-drinking, as they will not nitpick him. Altogether, …show more content…
This is a very big example of Holden’s attraction to childhood. In chapter five, Holden is writing a composition for Stradlater, and declares many wondrous things about his brother Allie. “He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent. He was terrifically intelligent. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody” (38). Holden overstates that Allie is fifty more times as he is. But, how smart can a kid be? Ditto with he says that Allie will never got mad at anyone. But, every kid has been indignant at least once to his/her friends and family! When Holden was up in his hotel room, Phoebe explains for the first time in the book. “You should see her. You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole life. She’s really smart. I mean she’s had all A’s ever since she started school” (67). Holden overestimates his two siblings considerably, which is because of his fixation of

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