Holden Essay

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Catcher in the Rye Final
Depression is a state in mind in which a person can’t seem to find anything to make them happy; which is how Holden the main character of the Catcher in the Rye felt throughout a couple of rough days. Many things that scared him occurred throughout his childhood; one he was forced to grow up from. As a teenager not being able find anything to make up for his tragic childhood led him to become very depressed. There were many factors that came into his depression such as his brother Allie’s death; one he had not been able to yet recover from. However the only thing that made him continue living, was the hope of someday becoming “The Catcher in the Rye”. In the scene in which he tells Phoebe about wanting to become “The Catcher in the Rye” gives the reader a better understanding of the theme, Holden’s character and the rest of the book. Holden is having really hard days in which he has fallen under depression. In this scene Holden is with his younger sister Phoebe. She is the only person he has that he can both talk to and will listen to him. Phoebe is really dissapointed that Holden got kicked out of his school. This scene is meant for the reader to have a better understanding about what Holden would like to do with his life. Throughout the book Holden is always very negative about life in general. He dosent like many people, he thinks that mostly everyone is a “phony”. During his childhood life was very hard because of family problems, such as his parents fighting & his brother Allie dying. However the first time he mentions something that he would like to do as he grows up, is to protect children from having to grow up “I’d just be the catcher and all” (173). This reveals about a lot about Holden’s characters, he’s very caring for wanting to save other children from losing their innocence, that is why he wants to be the one to save them “If a body catch a body” (173). He wants the person to catch them from their destiny of having to grow up. As we learn more about Holden's character, various themes are also portrayed in this scene. Themes such as youth are shown. He very strongly believes that every child should conserve their innocence forever “I keep picturing all these little kids” (173). Holden thinks about children a lot. He just loves the way that they are so carefree and innocent. Youth is a theme that is brought up various times not only in this scene but in the rest of the book; specially because the only people that don’t disturb Holden as much as everybody else are children. Relating it back to the rest of the book youth is something that Holden is trying to conserve all throughout. He doesn't want to grow up and have to become an adult because he believes that’s for “phonies”. That is why he is very careless about everything he says and does; such as when he told Phoebe he didn't care if his dad found out he got kicked out “I don’t give a damn if he does” (173). It’s a theme that is very important and essential all throughout the book. Holden has moments in which he acts like an immature careless teenager, however he also has moments in which the author allows the reader to see a different caring side of him. The moments in which Holden has acted maturely is when he talks about his siblings Phoebe and her little brother Allie who passed away. Other than that all the other moments which he is mature is when children are involved. Conserving children's innocence is something
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