Catcher in the Rye

In J. D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caulfield’s apparent madness and irrational behavior plays an important role. The decisions that Holden makes at the time seem un-normal and irrational to characters in the novel, but to the reader they seem wise and reasonable. One example of this behavior is the way Holden treats women. Throughout the novel he has the temptation to be with women, but he can resist his urges. He doesn’t want to be with a girl, just to be with a girl, Caulfield actually wants it to mean something.At the time people would have thought Holden was mad for passing up some of his opportunities with women, but when a reader reads about it, they feel like Holden is making the right decision. This helps the reader to believe that Holden is mature. When Holden donates the ten dollars he has to the nuns, some people may think that that was a large amount of money to spend on something, in which you get no gift out of. Even though Holden didn’t receive something physically back, he did receive something back mentally.Since he had felt guilty for the night before, he wanted to pay off his guilt. To some people it may seem â€Å"mad† to pay off your guilt, but to Holden it was what he needed to do. Madness can be determined differently through other peoples eyes, what one person may think is what is considered â€Å"mad†, another may find completely normal. The difference and the significance of the â€Å"madness† in the novel work as a whole because it shows how not thinking like everyone else isn’t a bad thing.Holden has a mind of his own, and he uses it to his advantage, making him a stronger and more independent individual. Holden carries himself in a very unique way, some people may think his decision are irrational, and some may think they are completely logical. Analyzing how â€Å"madness† works, and how â€Å"madness† is seen through dif ferent peoples eyes is difficult, but when it comes down to it, it is always going to be seen differently. Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is written in a subjective style from the point of view of its protagonist, Holden Caulfield, following his exact thought process (a writing style known as stream of consciousness). There is flow in the seemingly disjointed ideas and episodes; for example, as Holden sits in a chair in his dorm, minor events such as picking up a book or looking at a table, unfold into discussions about experiences. Critical reviews agree that the novel accurately reflected the teenage colloquial speech of the time. Holden is six feet two and has grown six and a half inches in the last year.He's a heavy smoker and wears his hair in a crew cut. People mistake him for being 13 even though he's 16 and has a headful of gray hair. Holden's appearance is that of an adolescent who's not just too young or too old for his age, but somehow both at once. Holden has just failed out of Pencey Prep. The only subject he passed was English, as he reads a lot on his own. The novel follows Holden' s last few days at Pencey and the events that happen afterward, which lead to his hospitalization and psychoanalysis. The Catcher in the Rye is the story of Holden Caulfield during these crucial days, as told by Holden.Holden is alienated from society. He feels that no one understands him and that everyone is a â€Å"phony†. He thinks that no one is honest, and everybody wants to be something else. He feels that the only person who understands him is Phoebe. He does not have relationships with girls, or anyone because he feels that he is the only genuine person in the world.. Holden has to deal with loss. He loses his brother, Allie, to leukemia, and feels a tremendous loss. Allie wrote poems on an old baseball glove, and Holden cherishes this, and speaks about it in great detail.His brother D. B. lives in Hollywood, and is a screenwriter. Holden regards him as a â€Å"phony† and has little contact with him. He regards D. B. as a figurative prostitute, who writes only to make money, and not for intellectual redemption. Another issue in Catcher is betrayal. Holden constantly feels betrayed, and that is a possible cause of his problems. Early in the novel, Mr. Spencer betrays him. He was one of the few teachers at Pency that Holden liked. Spencer broke the news of Holden's expulsion, and Holden felt betrayed.Stradlater betrays Holden by dating his best friend, Jane, whom Holden also had a crush on. When Holden returns home to see Phoebe, she is disappointed in him that he failed out of Pency. He thinks that she should accept him unconditionally, so he feels betrayed. Writer Bruce Brooks held that Holden's attitude remains unchanged at story's end, implying no maturation, thus differentiating the novel from young adult fiction. In contrast, writer and academic Louis Menand thought that teachers assign the novel because of the optimistic ending, to teach adolescent readers that â€Å"alienation is just a phase. While Brooks maintained that Holden ac ts his age, Menand claimed that Holden thinks as an adult, given his ability to accurately perceive people and their motives such as when Phoebe states that she will go out west with Holden, and he immediately rejects this idea as ridiculous, much to Phoebe's disappointment. Others highlight the dilemma of Holden's state, in between adolescence and adulthood. While Holden views himself to be smarter than and as mature as adults, he is quick to become emotional. â€Å"I felt sorry as hell for†¦ † is a phrase he often uses. Peter Beidler, in his A Reader's Companion to J.D. Salinger's â€Å"The Catcher in the Rye†, identifies the movie that the prostitute Sunny refers to in chapter 13 of The Catcher in the Rye. She says that in the movie a boy falls off a boat. The movie is Captains Courageous, starring Spencer Tracy. Sunny says that Holden looks like the boy who fell off the boat. Beidler shows (see p. 28) a still of the boy, played by child-actor Freddie Bartholom ew. The novel's philosophy has been negatively compared with that of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Each Caulfield child has literary talent: D. B. writes screenplays in Hollywood; Holden also reveres D.B. for his writing skill (Holden's own best subject), but he also despises movies, considering them the ultimate in â€Å"phony†, and describes D. B. ‘s move to Hollywood to write for films as â€Å"prostituting himself†; Allie wrote poetry on his baseball glove; and Phoebe is a diarist. This â€Å"catcher in the rye† is an analogy for Holden, who admires in kids attributes he struggles to find in adults, like innocence, kindness, spontaneity, and generosity. Falling off the cliff could be a progression into the adult world that surrounds him and that he strongly criticizes.Later, Phoebe and Holden exchange roles as the â€Å"catcher† and the â€Å"fallen†; he gives her his hunting hat, the catcher's symbol, and becomes the fallen as Phoebe becomes th e catcher. Holden is an atypical teenager. He is alienated more than most adolescents. He also is in the midst of an identity crisis. All teenagers go through these phases, so everyone can relate to Holden to some extent. Holden is socially inept. Although he has many friends and acquaintances, he can not form lasting, meaningful friendships. Most teenagers, although they do have insecurities, are able to function in relationships. Holden does not mature through the novel.He actually regresses back to a child-like state of mind. He is constantly dwelling on the death of his younger brother, and avoids his parents, and feels like the only person he can talk to is his ten year old sister. Holden holds Allie and Phoebe in such high esteem because they are innocent. Holden's goal is to protect innocence in the world. When he hears the â€Å"Catcher in the Rye† song being sung by a little boy, he decides that he wants to be the person that keeps children from falling off a cliff. That cliff symbolizes the transition from childhood to adulthood, and he wants to keep them as innocent children, not phony adults. Catcher in the Rye The Theme of Phoniness in Catcher in the Rye Phoniness is a reoccurring theme used in J. D. Salinger’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by the main character Holden Caufield. Throughout the entire novel, the word â€Å"phony† is used many times by Holden, making phoniness appear to be one of the most dominant reoccurring themes. He describes numerous characters’ â€Å"fake† attitudes as phony. It seems to be the way Holden rationalizes that the world is a bad place and thus making him want to protect adolescence and keep them from being exposed to adults and this phoniness.But Holden actually appears to be a hypocrite. Holden Caufield believes all adults are phony, but as the novel shows, Holden is not immune from phoniness himself. Holden is constantly referring to people and situations as phony. One being shallow, fake, or superficial qualifies them as a phony according to Holden. Holden sees this â€Å"phoniness† everywhere in the adult worl d. Many of the characters in the novel are indeed often phony to keep up their appearance, so yes, people are phony and Holden is right, but he himself is guilty of the same things.The first time Holden mentions the phonies he brings up Mr. Spencer. He had disagreed with Mr. Spencer when he had told him about â€Å"life being a game†, and simply responded by saying, â€Å"If you get on the side where all the hot shots are, then it’s a game, all right—I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot shots, then what’s the game about? Nothing. No Game† (Salinger 8). Phonies, like his fellow students, are more interested in looking good than actually doing anything good. Holden often develops sarcastic phoniness, either out of his anger or as a complete joke.After Holden got in a fight with his roommate, Stradlater, he goes into his neighbor Ackley’s room. When Ackley does not let him sleep in his empt y roommate’s bed Holden says, â€Å"You’re a real prince. You’re a gentleman and a scholar, kid† (Salinger 47-8). This is a perfect example of Holden’s sarcasm and phoniness, especially since he had earlier admitted to how much he disliked Ackley. Throughout the novel Holden tell pointless lies, talks to girls he does not like, or agrees with things he in reality does not match his beliefs at all.For example, after Holden gives three women, whom he refers to as â€Å"witches† they eye at the table next to him he says, â€Å"That annoyed the hell out of me—you’d’ve thought I wanted to marry them or something. I should’ve given them the freeze, after they did that, but the trouble was, I really felt like dancing† (Salinger 70). These women are exactly the type of women Holden sees as phony as they were interested in movie stars and material things, and yet he still wants to dance with them, and also precedes to buy their drinks.Furthermore, in chapter 13, Holden accepts a prostitute for five dollars, he says, â€Å"It was against my principles and all, but I was feeling so depressed I didn’t even think† (Salinger 91). Holden even says right then and there it was against his â€Å"principals†, but he shows that he himself is superficial as well. Although he does not end up doing anything with Sunny, the prostitute, he accepted in the first place only to show that he is not a coward.Holden believes women like men who assert power–and if these men with power were anybody else but himself he would refer to them as phony. In summary, Holden Caufield is not exempt from phoniness himself. Phoniness to Holden is his way of describing someone who is fake, superficial, shallow, or a hypocrite, judged by his encounters with others. Holden shows throughout the novel that he, himself, is a hypocrite too. He lies to people, cheats people, judges people, and does things tha t he would not agree with if it were somebody else doing it. Holden is his own counterevidence. Catcher in the Rye Kathleen Cooley Ms. Bertram English 2 Honors 24 September 2009 The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is a famous novel written by J. D. Salinger. Taken place in New York City. The main character, known as Holden Caulfield, tries to discover the meaning of life and goes through many obstacles. In his tone throughout the story, he narrates and describes how certain people have an affect on him, also what they mean to him. As Holden Caulfield narrates the story, each character is given specialized details. What Holden sees in them, if they are phony or real. Symbolism is portrayed through the entire novel. Certain tatements are written as one object but represent a disguised meaning. Throughout the entire novel, Holden Caulfield always seems to ostracize everyone. He is always writing about others, how they look or what he feels for them. But never comes through to get close enough with someone emotionally. Holden does not have relations with anyone, he thinks everyone is phony. He always just seemed to be confused about life. Also he has not finished school, and all he is doing is wondering around every night around New York City. He should be trying to get back into school for a good education to have a bright future. When Holden writes about each of his friends or relatives he gives them specialized details. For example, He writes â€Å"I mean most girls are so dumb and all. After you neck them for a while, you can really watch them losing their brains. You take a girl when she really gets passionate, she just hasn't any brains. † (Salinger ch. 13 pg 92). Holden explains his thoughts about girls, witch he does not have any feeling for. He does not really have any feelings for anyone not just girls, but for his family also, since he’s really not with them or in contact with them anyhow. Symbolism plays a major role in this novel. Holden writes about objects, but are really given disguised meanings. An example â€Å"My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He was left-handed. The thing that was descriptive about it, though, was that he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere. In green ink. He wrote them on it so that he’d have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat. † (Salinger ch. 5 pg 38). Notice how he writes descriptive details about the mitt. As if it is more important to him than it is to Allie, his brother that is dead now. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is a great example for tone, character, and symbolism. There are many examples that are given throughout the entire novel of these rhetorical devices. As Holden is growing from a little boy to a young adult, He is very confused about his life and really has no idea where he is going in his future. He writes about the many obstacles that he is going through. As if He is trying to give the reader a message and that message is, for your life, it is your own story and you have to write the pages and complete it. . Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is written in a subjective style from the point of view of its protagonist, Holden Caulfield, following his exact thought process (a writing style known as stream of consciousness). There is flow in the seemingly disjointed ideas and episodes; for example, as Holden sits in a chair in his dorm, minor events such as picking up a book or looking at a table, unfold into discussions about experiences. Critical reviews agree that the novel accurately reflected the teenage colloquial speech of the time. Holden is six feet two and has grown six and a half inches in the last year.He's a heavy smoker and wears his hair in a crew cut. People mistake him for being 13 even though he's 16 and has a headful of gray hair. Holden's appearance is that of an adolescent who's not just too young or too old for his age, but somehow both at once. Holden has just failed out of Pencey Prep. The only subject he passed was English, as he reads a lot on his own. The novel follows Holden' s last few days at Pencey and the events that happen afterward, which lead to his hospitalization and psychoanalysis. The Catcher in the Rye is the story of Holden Caulfield during these crucial days, as told by Holden.Holden is alienated from society. He feels that no one understands him and that everyone is a â€Å"phony†. He thinks that no one is honest, and everybody wants to be something else. He feels that the only person who understands him is Phoebe. He does not have relationships with girls, or anyone because he feels that he is the only genuine person in the world.. Holden has to deal with loss. He loses his brother, Allie, to leukemia, and feels a tremendous loss. Allie wrote poems on an old baseball glove, and Holden cherishes this, and speaks about it in great detail.His brother D. B. lives in Hollywood, and is a screenwriter. Holden regards him as a â€Å"phony† and has little contact with him. He regards D. B. as a figurative prostitute, who writes only to make money, and not for intellectual redemption. Another issue in Catcher is betrayal. Holden constantly feels betrayed, and that is a possible cause of his problems. Early in the novel, Mr. Spencer betrays him. He was one of the few teachers at Pency that Holden liked. Spencer broke the news of Holden's expulsion, and Holden felt betrayed.Stradlater betrays Holden by dating his best friend, Jane, whom Holden also had a crush on. When Holden returns home to see Phoebe, she is disappointed in him that he failed out of Pency. He thinks that she should accept him unconditionally, so he feels betrayed. Writer Bruce Brooks held that Holden's attitude remains unchanged at story's end, implying no maturation, thus differentiating the novel from young adult fiction. In contrast, writer and academic Louis Menand thought that teachers assign the novel because of the optimistic ending, to teach adolescent readers that â€Å"alienation is just a phase. While Brooks maintained that Holden ac ts his age, Menand claimed that Holden thinks as an adult, given his ability to accurately perceive people and their motives such as when Phoebe states that she will go out west with Holden, and he immediately rejects this idea as ridiculous, much to Phoebe's disappointment. Others highlight the dilemma of Holden's state, in between adolescence and adulthood. While Holden views himself to be smarter than and as mature as adults, he is quick to become emotional. â€Å"I felt sorry as hell for†¦ † is a phrase he often uses. Peter Beidler, in his A Reader's Companion to J.D. Salinger's â€Å"The Catcher in the Rye†, identifies the movie that the prostitute Sunny refers to in chapter 13 of The Catcher in the Rye. She says that in the movie a boy falls off a boat. The movie is Captains Courageous, starring Spencer Tracy. Sunny says that Holden looks like the boy who fell off the boat. Beidler shows (see p. 28) a still of the boy, played by child-actor Freddie Bartholom ew. The novel's philosophy has been negatively compared with that of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Each Caulfield child has literary talent: D. B. writes screenplays in Hollywood; Holden also reveres D.B. for his writing skill (Holden's own best subject), but he also despises movies, considering them the ultimate in â€Å"phony†, and describes D. B. ‘s move to Hollywood to write for films as â€Å"prostituting himself†; Allie wrote poetry on his baseball glove; and Phoebe is a diarist. This â€Å"catcher in the rye† is an analogy for Holden, who admires in kids attributes he struggles to find in adults, like innocence, kindness, spontaneity, and generosity. Falling off the cliff could be a progression into the adult world that surrounds him and that he strongly criticizes.Later, Phoebe and Holden exchange roles as the â€Å"catcher† and the â€Å"fallen†; he gives her his hunting hat, the catcher's symbol, and becomes the fallen as Phoebe becomes th e catcher. Holden is an atypical teenager. He is alienated more than most adolescents. He also is in the midst of an identity crisis. All teenagers go through these phases, so everyone can relate to Holden to some extent. Holden is socially inept. Although he has many friends and acquaintances, he can not form lasting, meaningful friendships. Most teenagers, although they do have insecurities, are able to function in relationships. Holden does not mature through the novel.He actually regresses back to a child-like state of mind. He is constantly dwelling on the death of his younger brother, and avoids his parents, and feels like the only person he can talk to is his ten year old sister. Holden holds Allie and Phoebe in such high esteem because they are innocent. Holden's goal is to protect innocence in the world. When he hears the â€Å"Catcher in the Rye† song being sung by a little boy, he decides that he wants to be the person that keeps children from falling off a cliff. That cliff symbolizes the transition from childhood to adulthood, and he wants to keep them as innocent children, not phony adults. Catcher in the Rye Kathleen Cooley Ms. Bertram English 2 Honors 24 September 2009 The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is a famous novel written by J. D. Salinger. Taken place in New York City. The main character, known as Holden Caulfield, tries to discover the meaning of life and goes through many obstacles. In his tone throughout the story, he narrates and describes how certain people have an affect on him, also what they mean to him. As Holden Caulfield narrates the story, each character is given specialized details. What Holden sees in them, if they are phony or real. Symbolism is portrayed through the entire novel. Certain tatements are written as one object but represent a disguised meaning. Throughout the entire novel, Holden Caulfield always seems to ostracize everyone. He is always writing about others, how they look or what he feels for them. But never comes through to get close enough with someone emotionally. Holden does not have relations with anyone, he thinks everyone is phony. He always just seemed to be confused about life. Also he has not finished school, and all he is doing is wondering around every night around New York City. He should be trying to get back into school for a good education to have a bright future. When Holden writes about each of his friends or relatives he gives them specialized details. For example, He writes â€Å"I mean most girls are so dumb and all. After you neck them for a while, you can really watch them losing their brains. You take a girl when she really gets passionate, she just hasn't any brains. † (Salinger ch. 13 pg 92). Holden explains his thoughts about girls, witch he does not have any feeling for. He does not really have any feelings for anyone not just girls, but for his family also, since he’s really not with them or in contact with them anyhow. Symbolism plays a major role in this novel. Holden writes about objects, but are really given disguised meanings. An example â€Å"My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He was left-handed. The thing that was descriptive about it, though, was that he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere. In green ink. He wrote them on it so that he’d have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat. † (Salinger ch. 5 pg 38). Notice how he writes descriptive details about the mitt. As if it is more important to him than it is to Allie, his brother that is dead now. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is a great example for tone, character, and symbolism. There are many examples that are given throughout the entire novel of these rhetorical devices. As Holden is growing from a little boy to a young adult, He is very confused about his life and really has no idea where he is going in his future. He writes about the many obstacles that he is going through. As if He is trying to give the reader a message and that message is, for your life, it is your own story and you have to write the pages and complete it. . Catcher in the Rye The Theme of Phoniness in Catcher in the Rye Phoniness is a reoccurring theme used in J. D. Salinger’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by the main character Holden Caufield. Throughout the entire novel, the word â€Å"phony† is used many times by Holden, making phoniness appear to be one of the most dominant reoccurring themes. He describes numerous characters’ â€Å"fake† attitudes as phony. It seems to be the way Holden rationalizes that the world is a bad place and thus making him want to protect adolescence and keep them from being exposed to adults and this phoniness.But Holden actually appears to be a hypocrite. Holden Caufield believes all adults are phony, but as the novel shows, Holden is not immune from phoniness himself. Holden is constantly referring to people and situations as phony. One being shallow, fake, or superficial qualifies them as a phony according to Holden. Holden sees this â€Å"phoniness† everywhere in the adult worl d. Many of the characters in the novel are indeed often phony to keep up their appearance, so yes, people are phony and Holden is right, but he himself is guilty of the same things.The first time Holden mentions the phonies he brings up Mr. Spencer. He had disagreed with Mr. Spencer when he had told him about â€Å"life being a game†, and simply responded by saying, â€Å"If you get on the side where all the hot shots are, then it’s a game, all right—I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot shots, then what’s the game about? Nothing. No Game† (Salinger 8). Phonies, like his fellow students, are more interested in looking good than actually doing anything good. Holden often develops sarcastic phoniness, either out of his anger or as a complete joke.After Holden got in a fight with his roommate, Stradlater, he goes into his neighbor Ackley’s room. When Ackley does not let him sleep in his empt y roommate’s bed Holden says, â€Å"You’re a real prince. You’re a gentleman and a scholar, kid† (Salinger 47-8). This is a perfect example of Holden’s sarcasm and phoniness, especially since he had earlier admitted to how much he disliked Ackley. Throughout the novel Holden tell pointless lies, talks to girls he does not like, or agrees with things he in reality does not match his beliefs at all.For example, after Holden gives three women, whom he refers to as â€Å"witches† they eye at the table next to him he says, â€Å"That annoyed the hell out of me—you’d’ve thought I wanted to marry them or something. I should’ve given them the freeze, after they did that, but the trouble was, I really felt like dancing† (Salinger 70). These women are exactly the type of women Holden sees as phony as they were interested in movie stars and material things, and yet he still wants to dance with them, and also precedes to buy their drinks.Furthermore, in chapter 13, Holden accepts a prostitute for five dollars, he says, â€Å"It was against my principles and all, but I was feeling so depressed I didn’t even think† (Salinger 91). Holden even says right then and there it was against his â€Å"principals†, but he shows that he himself is superficial as well. Although he does not end up doing anything with Sunny, the prostitute, he accepted in the first place only to show that he is not a coward.Holden believes women like men who assert power–and if these men with power were anybody else but himself he would refer to them as phony. In summary, Holden Caufield is not exempt from phoniness himself. Phoniness to Holden is his way of describing someone who is fake, superficial, shallow, or a hypocrite, judged by his encounters with others. Holden shows throughout the novel that he, himself, is a hypocrite too. He lies to people, cheats people, judges people, and does things tha t he would not agree with if it were somebody else doing it. Holden is his own counterevidence. Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is written in a subjective style from the point of view of its protagonist, Holden Caulfield, following his exact thought process (a writing style known as stream of consciousness). There is flow in the seemingly disjointed ideas and episodes; for example, as Holden sits in a chair in his dorm, minor events such as picking up a book or looking at a table, unfold into discussions about experiences. Critical reviews agree that the novel accurately reflected the teenage colloquial speech of the time. Holden is six feet two and has grown six and a half inches in the last year.He's a heavy smoker and wears his hair in a crew cut. People mistake him for being 13 even though he's 16 and has a headful of gray hair. Holden's appearance is that of an adolescent who's not just too young or too old for his age, but somehow both at once. Holden has just failed out of Pencey Prep. The only subject he passed was English, as he reads a lot on his own. The novel follows Holden' s last few days at Pencey and the events that happen afterward, which lead to his hospitalization and psychoanalysis. The Catcher in the Rye is the story of Holden Caulfield during these crucial days, as told by Holden.Holden is alienated from society. He feels that no one understands him and that everyone is a â€Å"phony†. He thinks that no one is honest, and everybody wants to be something else. He feels that the only person who understands him is Phoebe. He does not have relationships with girls, or anyone because he feels that he is the only genuine person in the world.. Holden has to deal with loss. He loses his brother, Allie, to leukemia, and feels a tremendous loss. Allie wrote poems on an old baseball glove, and Holden cherishes this, and speaks about it in great detail.His brother D. B. lives in Hollywood, and is a screenwriter. Holden regards him as a â€Å"phony† and has little contact with him. He regards D. B. as a figurative prostitute, who writes only to make money, and not for intellectual redemption. Another issue in Catcher is betrayal. Holden constantly feels betrayed, and that is a possible cause of his problems. Early in the novel, Mr. Spencer betrays him. He was one of the few teachers at Pency that Holden liked. Spencer broke the news of Holden's expulsion, and Holden felt betrayed.Stradlater betrays Holden by dating his best friend, Jane, whom Holden also had a crush on. When Holden returns home to see Phoebe, she is disappointed in him that he failed out of Pency. He thinks that she should accept him unconditionally, so he feels betrayed. Writer Bruce Brooks held that Holden's attitude remains unchanged at story's end, implying no maturation, thus differentiating the novel from young adult fiction. In contrast, writer and academic Louis Menand thought that teachers assign the novel because of the optimistic ending, to teach adolescent readers that â€Å"alienation is just a phase. While Brooks maintained that Holden ac ts his age, Menand claimed that Holden thinks as an adult, given his ability to accurately perceive people and their motives such as when Phoebe states that she will go out west with Holden, and he immediately rejects this idea as ridiculous, much to Phoebe's disappointment. Others highlight the dilemma of Holden's state, in between adolescence and adulthood. While Holden views himself to be smarter than and as mature as adults, he is quick to become emotional. â€Å"I felt sorry as hell for†¦ † is a phrase he often uses. Peter Beidler, in his A Reader's Companion to J.D. Salinger's â€Å"The Catcher in the Rye†, identifies the movie that the prostitute Sunny refers to in chapter 13 of The Catcher in the Rye. She says that in the movie a boy falls off a boat. The movie is Captains Courageous, starring Spencer Tracy. Sunny says that Holden looks like the boy who fell off the boat. Beidler shows (see p. 28) a still of the boy, played by child-actor Freddie Bartholom ew. The novel's philosophy has been negatively compared with that of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Each Caulfield child has literary talent: D. B. writes screenplays in Hollywood; Holden also reveres D.B. for his writing skill (Holden's own best subject), but he also despises movies, considering them the ultimate in â€Å"phony†, and describes D. B. ‘s move to Hollywood to write for films as â€Å"prostituting himself†; Allie wrote poetry on his baseball glove; and Phoebe is a diarist. This â€Å"catcher in the rye† is an analogy for Holden, who admires in kids attributes he struggles to find in adults, like innocence, kindness, spontaneity, and generosity. Falling off the cliff could be a progression into the adult world that surrounds him and that he strongly criticizes.Later, Phoebe and Holden exchange roles as the â€Å"catcher† and the â€Å"fallen†; he gives her his hunting hat, the catcher's symbol, and becomes the fallen as Phoebe becomes th e catcher. Holden is an atypical teenager. He is alienated more than most adolescents. He also is in the midst of an identity crisis. All teenagers go through these phases, so everyone can relate to Holden to some extent. Holden is socially inept. Although he has many friends and acquaintances, he can not form lasting, meaningful friendships. Most teenagers, although they do have insecurities, are able to function in relationships. Holden does not mature through the novel.He actually regresses back to a child-like state of mind. He is constantly dwelling on the death of his younger brother, and avoids his parents, and feels like the only person he can talk to is his ten year old sister. Holden holds Allie and Phoebe in such high esteem because they are innocent. Holden's goal is to protect innocence in the world. When he hears the â€Å"Catcher in the Rye† song being sung by a little boy, he decides that he wants to be the person that keeps children from falling off a cliff. That cliff symbolizes the transition from childhood to adulthood, and he wants to keep them as innocent children, not phony adults. Catcher in the Rye In J. D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caulfield’s apparent madness and irrational behavior plays an important role. The decisions that Holden makes at the time seem un-normal and irrational to characters in the novel, but to the reader they seem wise and reasonable. One example of this behavior is the way Holden treats women. Throughout the novel he has the temptation to be with women, but he can resist his urges. He doesn’t want to be with a girl, just to be with a girl, Caulfield actually wants it to mean something.At the time people would have thought Holden was mad for passing up some of his opportunities with women, but when a reader reads about it, they feel like Holden is making the right decision. This helps the reader to believe that Holden is mature. When Holden donates the ten dollars he has to the nuns, some people may think that that was a large amount of money to spend on something, in which you get no gift out of. Even though Holden didn’t receive something physically back, he did receive something back mentally.Since he had felt guilty for the night before, he wanted to pay off his guilt. To some people it may seem â€Å"mad† to pay off your guilt, but to Holden it was what he needed to do. Madness can be determined differently through other peoples eyes, what one person may think is what is considered â€Å"mad†, another may find completely normal. The difference and the significance of the â€Å"madness† in the novel work as a whole because it shows how not thinking like everyone else isn’t a bad thing.Holden has a mind of his own, and he uses it to his advantage, making him a stronger and more independent individual. Holden carries himself in a very unique way, some people may think his decision are irrational, and some may think they are completely logical. Analyzing how â€Å"madness† works, and how â€Å"madness† is seen through dif ferent peoples eyes is difficult, but when it comes down to it, it is always going to be seen differently. Catcher in the Rye Kathleen Cooley Ms. Bertram English 2 Honors 24 September 2009 The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is a famous novel written by J. D. Salinger. Taken place in New York City. The main character, known as Holden Caulfield, tries to discover the meaning of life and goes through many obstacles. In his tone throughout the story, he narrates and describes how certain people have an affect on him, also what they mean to him. As Holden Caulfield narrates the story, each character is given specialized details. What Holden sees in them, if they are phony or real. Symbolism is portrayed through the entire novel. Certain tatements are written as one object but represent a disguised meaning. Throughout the entire novel, Holden Caulfield always seems to ostracize everyone. He is always writing about others, how they look or what he feels for them. But never comes through to get close enough with someone emotionally. Holden does not have relations with anyone, he thinks everyone is phony. He always just seemed to be confused about life. Also he has not finished school, and all he is doing is wondering around every night around New York City. He should be trying to get back into school for a good education to have a bright future. When Holden writes about each of his friends or relatives he gives them specialized details. For example, He writes â€Å"I mean most girls are so dumb and all. After you neck them for a while, you can really watch them losing their brains. You take a girl when she really gets passionate, she just hasn't any brains. † (Salinger ch. 13 pg 92). Holden explains his thoughts about girls, witch he does not have any feeling for. He does not really have any feelings for anyone not just girls, but for his family also, since he’s really not with them or in contact with them anyhow. Symbolism plays a major role in this novel. Holden writes about objects, but are really given disguised meanings. An example â€Å"My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He was left-handed. The thing that was descriptive about it, though, was that he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere. In green ink. He wrote them on it so that he’d have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat. † (Salinger ch. 5 pg 38). Notice how he writes descriptive details about the mitt. As if it is more important to him than it is to Allie, his brother that is dead now. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is a great example for tone, character, and symbolism. There are many examples that are given throughout the entire novel of these rhetorical devices. As Holden is growing from a little boy to a young adult, He is very confused about his life and really has no idea where he is going in his future. He writes about the many obstacles that he is going through. As if He is trying to give the reader a message and that message is, for your life, it is your own story and you have to write the pages and complete it. .