Alienation As A Form Of Self Protection example essay topic

464 words
TS: In the novel Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield uses alienation as a form of self-protection. CD 1: For example, he shows his cynical sense of superiority when he says, "I hate it when somebody has cheap suitcases" and how his roommate "kept them under the bed, instead of on the rack, so that nobody'd see them standing next to [his]... from Mark Cross, and they were genuine cowhide". (108) CM: By making condescending comments about others, he gets an allusion to see himself better than he really is, which causes him to see past his own problems. CM: He puts others down so that he can bring himself up in order to give himself a sense of confidence and self-protection. CD 2: Holden shows that he resists to grow up when he says, "The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move...

Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be different would be you". (121) CM: This shows that Holden is afraid of the changes and painfulness in growing up because he doesn't want to face the problems he may encounter later in life. CM: He would rather be protected in a museum display case and isolated from the rest of the world than to deal with the changing and unpredictable future.

CD 3: An example of Holden's "phony" view of the adult world is what he thinks about Mr. Haas, the "phoniest bastard... he'd be charming as hell... except if some boy had little old funny-looking parents... then old Haas would just shake hands with them and give them a phony smile and then he'd go talk, for maybe half an hour, with somebody else's parents". (14) CM: Holden tries to run away from the rest of the world, which is full of deception and fake ness, especially in adulthood. CM: He thinks he is protecting himself from all the "phoniness" when he alienates himself from adults, but kids are okay because they are innocent and true. CD 4: Holden attempts to end loneliness by going on the date with Sally, but he sabotages it when he tells Sally, "You give me a royal pain in the ass" (133) CM: Holden fears that if he gets too close with Sally, he will be very hurt if he would ever lose her due to death, breakup, etc. CM: He stops himself from building a close relationship to protect himself from the pain of losing someone. CS: Holden's red hunting hat symbolizes alienation as a form of self-protection like how he stands out from the crowd when he wears this "shooting hat... that [he] can shoot people with.".