Holden example essay topic

The catcher in the rye is a work of fiction and a tragic-comedy. I came to choose it because I heard it is about a boy who is around my age. In this book, the main character, Holden Caulfield, tells us a story about what happened during his Christmas vacation. Holden is a sixteen-year-old boy who has flunked out of a private prep school. Because he is afraid that his parents would find out this fact, he goes to a hotel in New York City instead of going home after he leaves school for Christmas vacation. In New York, many things happen to him within a few days.

For example, he goes to the hotel bar and meets three women after he first arrives there. The women go away soon after he fails to talk with them, and Holden feels lonely and depressed. He goes to another bar to find someone to spend some time with, but he fails to find anyone to talk to and comes back to the hotel feeling more depressed. Inthe hotel, he meets a prostitute, but he sends her back without having sex because he feels depressed and sorry for her.

He was further disappointed when she tries to rob him of his money even though he tries to be nice to her. In the next morning, he has a date with an old girl friend, and asks her to flee from this corrupt world and live in the woods with him. However, she tells him he is crazy and then leaves him. Holden meets some more people later, but they also cannot solve his problems, and he feels more and more depressed and lonely. He finally decides to run away and live as a deaf-mute who will not need to communicate with anyone. Before leaving, he goes to say good-bye to his little sister, Phebe, who he admires the most.

While talking and playing with her, Holden changes his mind and decides to rejoin his family and because he realizes there are many things that he cannot solve by himself. The theme of this novel is how innocence is corrupted by society. Holden thinks everybody who is grown up is a phony because their behavior and advice are all false. The title of this book is based on an old game where someone catches children from falling off a cliff. This symbolizes that Holden wants to bethe catcher in the rye because he wants to protect the vulnerable, especially to prevent small children from losing their innocence and becoming corrupted by society as they grow up. Holden Caulfield is an amusing character because he talks about everyone without my respect, but with much irreverence.

This is shown thorough the language he uses which includes slang and swear words. Even though Holden believes in honesty or innocence, he is a pessimistic character because he seems to find something depressing in almost everything and everyone. He is also a depressed character because he feels alone in the most of the time, and he never finds any place where he feels comfortable. He doesn't fit into this society where many people live by false values and take advantage of others. This is shown very well when he says:' OI keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all.

Thousands of little kids, nobody's around- nobody big, I mean- except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff- I mean if they're running and they don't look they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day.

I'djust be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. ' This shows Holden's compassion and sensitivity very well, but I feel sorry for him because nobody can understand his dream, and it is not realistic. Holden seems to be too good a person to be in this corrupt world. The style of this book is unusual because it is told by a sixteen-year-old boy who appears to be sympathetic since he is so amusing. However, one of the problems with this style is that some of the things he observes might not be true, but somewhat exaggerated and biased.

We are not very sure that he is even mentally stable since he tells us the story from a hospital bed. Despite these things, this style is highly effective because it makes us very involved with him and sympathetic to him. I liked this book very much because it talks about the concerns of teenagers who feels the pressures of society. The some parts of the message of this book can be dangerous because they suggests rejecting school or society, but it also made me think about many things filled with the false standards, and I could find some of the real truths. I also appreciate the way Holden talks which is very comical even though he's dealing with serious and sad subject.