|
|
The Catcher in the Rye is a novel based on events that happen to the main character, Holden Caulfeild and how these events affect his mind, and the way he sees the world around him. These events ultimately end with Holden being placed in a mental hospital, or “rest home” recounting these tales he reveals all plots and events as they evolve in this short journey of his life, which he shares with us. Holden’s inner rival is his inability to fit into society. Throughout the novel, he is pitted against different characters, situations, technology, and the world in general. But Holden is really fighting himself, and until he learns who he is and finds a place for himself in the world, he cannot be at peace. Holden’s struggle for his identity seems to lie within a few main themes we see throughout the story. He seems to be failing in all traditional roles. He has been sent away to school, probably because he is a difficult son, as we hear in his conversation with Phoebe when he returns home. When she fears that her father will kill him, he rebuts “ No, he won’t. The worst he’ll do, he’ll give me hell again, and then he’ll send me to that goddamn military school” (Sallinger 216). He flunks out of school after school, because he refuses to do his work or try, as Phoebe notes in the same conversation “I suppose you failed in every single subject again” (Sallinger 217). We also realized this when Holden was having his conversation with Mr. Spencer before he left Pency, and Mr. Spencer reads the pathetic note that Holden had wrote at the bottom of his paper: “Dear Mr.
|
