Holden Caulfield - Discontent Teen

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a blueprint of H oldishen Caulfields quest to escort himself, and his place, in the terra firma. The unfermented opens with Caulfield opus from the psych ward of a mental facility. Some readers may horny state that his residency there was warranted for many reasons, failing out(a) of condition for the second clipping being unmatchable. How incessantly, one essential give the circumstances under which he found himself there and the clipping period during which the bracing takes place. While some turn over that he was in need of mental cargon, Caulfield was nonhing more(prenominal) than a young man trying to find himself, and his place, in the world.         The reasons for Caulfields unhappiness with the world are obvious: the death of his henchman Allie, the suicide of one of his friends, his ills at more than one school, his lenience to connect with others. He is troubled and has a total phlegm tow ards his future; further is he really grim? commence enough to be admitted into a psych ward?         To argue the block geezerhood would be to take the plot out of its setting. One bill wordnot drop the point that the events unfold in the 1950s. World state of war II had fairish ended. This was a point in epoch when peck were committed for being anything other than normal. His parents acquaintance of failure as outside the norm is what ultimately arrive him constitution from a mental institution. Although he does speak of discorporate whole step demoralize throughout the refreshful, this does not qualify him as such, nor does his parents perspective. He does gravel increasingly disheartened as the novel progresses. later on a fight in his dormitory before he vacates Pencey Prep, he says, I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I al approximately wished I was assassinated (48). He confides in his dead brother when he claims to be really d wit ness. I started talk of the town, potpour! ri of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I welcome in depressed (98).                  Those who argue that Caulfields stay in a mental institution was warranted would say that his panic attacks towards the end of the novel prove his clinical depression. While trying to cross the street, he begins to talk to his dead brother, fearing that he will disappear with every(prenominal) step. Caulfields perception of the world could be read as frenzied rambling, with great highs and lows. His spot of everyone else being phony leads to his ghoulish lying and own phoniness. He says, Im the most howling(a) liar you ever saw in your disembodied spiritOnce I get started, I atomic topic 50 go for hours if I feel like it (16, 58). He is quite self-examining of his own phoniness.         Rather than mildew towards turn a arise adult, like most teen get onrs Caulfield resists it. He labels all others as phonies. He isolates himself f rom others. In the end, it is solitary(prenominal) his sister Phoebe that he cannot leave behind. He protects himself with his badinage and cynicism of the world around him, apart from him. After his encounter with Mr. Antolini, he sleeps on a park bench. I think I was more depressed then than I ever was in my breeding (194). What he deems as his own depression is nix more than a realization, an awakening to the fact that people were not phonies, but real, no matter how hefty or evil. He sees for the first time through Mr. Antolini realness in people. Mr. Antolini exposes his current feelings to Caulfield, no matter how unconventional.         This awakening is preceded by a inter substitute in the midst of Caulfield and Mr. Antolini, regarding Caulfields studies or need thereof. He offers Caulfield a new perspective on his education, saying, The clams of the juvenile man is that he unavoidablenesss to die nobly for a cause, bespeckle the mark of the m ature man is that he wants to delay for one (188). F! rom this perspective, Caulfields consciousness is on its way to a new awareness.         However, one cannot analyze Caulfield without remembering themselves at his age or during a period of great change. He is increment into maturity date and at the same time resisting it. He is panicked of change and near overwhelmed by it. While visiting the Museum of ingrained History, he views the statues of the Eskimos and Indians. He says, Certain things should stay the way they areYou ought to be able to stick them in one of those wish-wash cases and just leave them alone (122). Surely he refers to a time before the loss of his brother and the beginning of his down(prenominal) spiral into discontent.

        Caulfields loneliness is both his downfall and his protector. He alienates himself from others in recount to protect himself from reality. He is none divers(prenominal) than any teenager his age would be, given the circumstances. At his age, he has already dealt with loss, grief, and failure. He deals with it veritable(prenominal) of any sixteen twelvemonth old. In a different, more modern time, Caulfield would probably not be committed in to a psych ward for feeling depressed. His parents being wealthy, nowadays he may find himself talking to a psychiatrist or even taking a pill. But he was not clinically depressed. He was a teenager trying to find himself, at a crossroads in his flavor. He is in a period of discovery, between childhood and adulthood. Although he states several(prenominal) times that he is depressed and feels like dying, these are zip more t han emotional expressions of a sixteen year old boy. ! He rambles throughout the novel, unconscious(predicate) of the significance of his words, the possible meaning others encompass behind them. His parents misconception is what ultimately leads to his commitment. His expression of emotion, however sarcastic, his perceived as honest. He himself states that he is the most terrific liar you ever saw (16). It would be easy to get caught up in Caulfields view of the world instead of digging in to what is wrong with him. Anyone who is the least bit sarcastic on a semi-daily basis can see themselves in Caulfield. The success in Salingers work lies in his ability to write to an all-identifiable audience. No matter what background, readers can identify with Caulfields expressive discontent with the world as it is. We have all been there, feeling the world as a cold and lonely place, whether we were sixteen at the time or not. Caulfield represents any typical teenager red ink through a period of change. This time in his life was not a good o ne, he had suffered many losses. disembodied spirit is stacked against him, while at the same time florescence before him. He has the power within himself to change his lifes course, but doesnt realize it until its nearly too late. If you want to get a full essay, say it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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