The Catcher And The Rye :: essays research papers

Love, Affection, and Adulthood   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In J.D. Salinger’s controversial 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character is Holden Caulfield. When the story begins Holden at age sixteen, due to his poor grades is kicked out of Pencey Prep, a boys’ school in Pennsylvania. This being the third school he has been expelled from, he is in no hurry to face his parents. Holden travels to New York for several days to cope with his disappointments. As James Lundquist explains, â€Å"Holden is so full of despair and loneliness that he is literally nauseated most of the time.† In this novel, Holden, a lonely and confused teenager, attempts to find love and direction in his life. Holden’s story is realistic because many adolescent’s face similar challenges.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  J.D. Salinger presents Holden Caulfield as a confused and distressed adolescent. Holden is a normal teenager who needs to find a sense of belonging. All though Holden’s obsession with â€Å"phonies† overpowers him. Dan Wakefield comments, â€Å"The things that Holden finds so deeply repulsive are things he calls â€Å"phony†- and the â€Å"phoniness† in every instance is the absence of love, and , often the substitution of pretense for love.† Holden was expelled from Pencey Prep School not because he is stupid, but because he just is not interested. His attitude toward Pencey is everyone there is a phony. Pencey makes Holden feel lonely and isolated because he had very few friends. Holden’s feeling of alienation is seen when he doesn’t attend the biggest football game of the year. His comments on the game: â€Å"It was the last game of the year and you were supposed to commit suicide or something if old Pencey didn ’t win† (2, Ch. 1). This also hints to Holden’s obsession with death. Holden can’t find a since of belonging in the school because of all the so-called phonies. Holden speaks of Pencey’s headmaster as being a phony. Holden says that on visitation day the headmaster will pay no attention to the corny-looking parents. Holden portrays his not being interested by saying, â€Å"all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to buy a goddam Cadillac someday, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses†(131, Ch. 17). Holden does not care for school or money. He just wants everyone to be sincere and honest. Holden's obsession with phonies causes him to have no positive adult role models to follow.