Discuss holden caulfield as a rebel-victim in salinger's the catcher in the rye
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Holden Caulfield, misfit or the society is the problem?
n “The Catcher in the Rye”, J.D. Salinger portrays a fascinating and intriguing adolescent misfit character with great depth — — Holden Caulfield. Misfit? What is a misfit exactly? A misfit is a person that is not suited or is unable to adjust to the circumstances of his or her particular situation. Holden is a misfit because of his alienation problem, his conflict with “phoniness” and his struggle of growing up.
Throughout the novel, readers can clearly feel Holden’s alienation from the rest of the world. From his multiple attempts of trying to interact with other people, it is understood that he wants to connect with other people, especially adults. On the train to New York, Holden said that he “enjoys taking late-night trains” because of the aloneness. In contrast, once he arrives in New York City, he starts to look for people he can contact with. His desire for interaction suddenly becomes more drastic than before. The first one he thinks of is Jane, the girl Stradlater is dating with, who happens to be Holden’s secret crush. Although he claims that he “do[es] not fell like” to contact her, but apparently he is too nervous to contact her since he switches the topic really fast and comes up with a long list of people who he can phone. He eventually gets contact with a woman called Faith Cavendish, who is introduced to him by someone at a party. Ms. Cavendish, however, declines Holden’s invitation to a bar in the mid-night.
Holden wants to maintain his alienation from the world for self-protection purposes. He views the world as a place that “full of phonies” and he does not want to become one. Nonetheless, he often attempts to sabotage this alienation to end his loneliness. In fact, Holden has expresses several times that he wants to lose his virginity. After he arrives in New York, he is sexually aroused and seeks for sexual intercourse. He says that he hates Stradlater because he takes advantages on girls. He has also said that he would have to “really like the girl’s face and really get to know the person” before he could have sex with them. However, because he desperately needs human interaction he breaks all his words and calls Ms. Cavendish who he thinks is a stripper. He even accepts Maurice’s offer of hiring a prostitute — — Sunny. These events contradict everything he said before.
Although Holden is trying really hard to interact and connect with other people, his own unstable mental stage destroys his relationship with others. In the hotel, he does not do anything to Sunny. He is too nervous to have sex at that moment and having sex with a prostitute does not seem right to him. Similar scenario happens to him when he is dating with Sally in Radio City. He proposes a “run-away” plan which Sally refuses to follow along. Holden lost his control and starts yelling and swearing at Sally. He said “I do not get hardly anything out of anything. I am in a bad shape. I am in a lousy shape.” These reveal his lack of ability to handle adult relationships and human interaction which makes him a misfit.
Holden’s lack in the ability to interact with people is not only caused by his loneliness, but also because of his immaturity. Throughout the novel, his actions and conversation with others demonstrate that he is still a child. He is confused by sex, so he finds his former classmate Carl Luce for some guidance on adult sexuality. However, because of his rudeness and immaturity, Luce refuses to continue their conversation. “Your mind is immature,” says Luce before he leaves the bar.
Luce is true that Holden is an immature person. Holden resists the process of maturity itself, how can he grow up? He admires museums because everything in there is fixed in perpetuity. “Best thing about that museum is nothing moves… nobody’d be different”, this quote indicates Holden’s preference of everything being frozen in time, just like the Eskimo statues in the New York Museum of Natural History. “The only thing that would be different would be you. Not that you’d be so much older or anything. It wouldn’t be that exactly. You’d just be different, that’s all.” Holden realizes that people change and children grow up. Like his little sister Phoebe, she would “be different every time she saw [the Eskimo statues]”. Holden embraces childhood and he wants to stay in childhood eternally so he does not have to be forced into and face the “phony” and complicated adult world in the future.
n “The Catcher in the Rye”, J.D. Salinger portrays a fascinating and intriguing adolescent misfit character with great depth — — Holden Caulfield. Misfit? What is a misfit exactly? A misfit is a person that is not suited or is unable to adjust to the circumstances of his or her particular situation. Holden is a misfit because of his alienation problem, his conflict with “phoniness” and his struggle of growing up.
Throughout the novel, readers can clearly feel Holden’s alienation from the rest of the world. From his multiple attempts of trying to interact with other people, it is understood that he wants to connect with other people, especially adults. On the train to New York, Holden said that he “enjoys taking late-night trains” because of the aloneness. In contrast, once he arrives in New York City, he starts to look for people he can contact with. His desire for interaction suddenly becomes more drastic than before. The first one he thinks of is Jane, the girl Stradlater is dating with, who happens to be Holden’s secret crush. Although he claims that he “do[es] not fell like” to contact her, but apparently he is too nervous to contact her since he switches the topic really fast and comes up with a long list of people who he can phone. He eventually gets contact with a woman called Faith Cavendish, who is introduced to him by someone at a party. Ms. Cavendish, however, declines Holden’s invitation to a bar in the mid-night.
Holden wants to maintain his alienation from the world for self-protection purposes. He views the world as a place that “full of phonies” and he does not want to become one. Nonetheless, he often attempts to sabotage this alienation to end his loneliness. In fact, Holden has expresses several times that he wants to lose his virginity. After he arrives in New York, he is sexually aroused and seeks for sexual intercourse. He says that he hates Stradlater because he takes advantages on girls. He has also said that he would have to “really like the girl’s face and really get to know the person” before he could have sex with them. However, because he desperately needs human interaction he breaks all his words and calls Ms. Cavendish who he thinks is a stripper. He even accepts Maurice’s offer of hiring a prostitute — — Sunny. These events contradict everything he said before.
Although Holden is trying really hard to interact and connect with other people, his own unstable mental stage destroys his relationship with others. In the hotel, he does not do anything to Sunny. He is too nervous to have sex at that moment and having sex with a prostitute does not seem right to him. Similar scenario happens to him when he is dating with Sally in Radio City. He proposes a “run-away” plan which Sally refuses to follow along. Holden lost his control and starts yelling and swearing at Sally. He said “I do not get hardly anything out of anything. I am in a bad shape. I am in a lousy shape.” These reveal his lack of ability to handle adult relationships and human interaction which makes him a misfit.
Holden’s lack in the ability to interact with people is not only caused by his loneliness, but also because of his immaturity. Throughout the novel, his actions and conversation with others demonstrate that he is still a child. He is confused by sex, so he finds his former classmate Carl Luce for some guidance on adult sexuality. However, because of his rudeness and immaturity, Luce refuses to continue their conversation. “Your mind is immature,” says Luce before he leaves the bar.
Luce is true that Holden is an immature person. Holden resists the process of maturity itself, how can he grow up? He admires museums because everything in there is fixed in perpetuity. “Best thing about that museum is nothing moves… nobody’d be different”, this quote indicates Holden’s preference of everything being frozen in time, just like the Eskimo statues in the New York Museum of Natural History. “The only thing that would be different would be you. Not that you’d be so much older or anything. It wouldn’t be that exactly. You’d just be different, that’s all.” Holden realizes that people change and children grow up. Like his little sister Phoebe, she would “be different every time she saw [the Eskimo statues]”. Holden embraces childhood and he wants to stay in childhood eternally so he does not have to be forced into and face the “phony” and complicated adult world in the future.
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