The Catcher in the Rye free essay sample

What is the significance of the title/poem The Catcher in the Rye? The world of adulthood or as the protagonist declares the world of phoniness is the place without a single gram of innocence. In The Catcher in the Rye†, by J. D Salinger, readers can perceive different significance about the title of the book, because of life experiences, culture, among others. J. D Salinger used the title of the novel to transmit the most important quality of Holden’s helpful persona toward kids by using an allusion to a Robert Burn’s poem, which reveals crucial information about the meaning of the title.The title The Catcher in the Rye is a symbol of the protagonist’s desire and dream to sustain the innocence of all kid. There are many reasons why people in a society perceive different meaning of the significance of the novel The Catcher in the Rye. a. The Pneumonia fantasy. b. The Bullet fantasy. c. The death wish. Concluding sentence: It is clear that his depression is so intense that daydreaming about being dead is much easier to Holden than to face his reality. III. Drinking as a cope out. Topic Sentence: Whenever Holden is feeling really depressed and really sad, he tends to ask people for drinks. a. Inviting people to cocktails b. Meeting with random people Concluding Sentence: Holden is just looking to feel nothing and alcohol creates that effect on him. IV. Rejection towards sexuality and intimacy. Topic sentence: It is clear that Holden is a complete social outcast and inadequate, it is pretty obvious that he would have problem with intimacy and sexuality. a. The visit of the prostitute. b. The conversation with Carl Luce. Concluding sentence: Typically Holden would get depressed because he was acting on an impulse that only adults –perverts would have. He just does not want to deal with the situation of growing up. V. Conclusion Topic Sentence: In overall, the novel shows different examples in which readers can clearly identify that Holden has an existential crisis, which he is unable to handle. The inability to cope with the frustration and pain the crisis creates in his life, makes Holden choose the path of becoming numb to everything and everyone. a. Children’s capabilities. b. Adults responsibilities. c. Holden’s way of coping. Concluding sentence: Holden choice of being forever a child was an idea to escape from his problems, which then converted in a serious depression that resulted in an existential crisis to which Holden thought Numbness was its solution. Rebeca Hernandez Guillen A73148 LM- 1472 Rhetoric III Prof. Adriana Jimenez 3 September 2012 Holden is fleeing the world Whenever a person is out of the ordinary and is perceived as different or abnormal it is possible that he or she has underwent some traumatic event. Holden the main character in the novel The Catcher in the Rye, after the death of his brother closes himself to the world. Allie, Holden’s brother was his favorite person in the world. Allie was pure, honest, the nicest and the most intelligent member of the family. And since Holden loved that Allie was a child (11 years old when he died), he became fixed with the idea that children were perfect; thereby, hating the idea of becoming an adult. He is completely intolerant to â€Å"phony† people; he believes adults are perverts and liars. Therefore, he prefers to relate mainly with kids. As Holden develops his theory of staying forever as a child, he falls into a depression that makes him inadequate for social interaction with adults. As a result, he is force to lose all attachments to people, particularly adults. This depression is the manifestation of his existential crisis: should he stay as a child, or just continue on the course of life? Holden is only 16; he is a man-child, failing to cope with these feelings of uncertainty. Hence, he creates mechanisms of defense to barely be able to function in society. Each one of these mechanisms is a constant manifestation of his desire to feel nothing opposed to feeling doubt and frustration because of his dilemma. Al throughout the novel, Holden takes certain attitudes and acts on them trying to deal with his crisis, resorting to a constant seek of numbness, which can be easily identified with his tendency to fantasize about death, his rejection towards intimacy and sexuality, and his excessive drinking. Holden social inadequacy results in a lot of confusion, and stress in his life; therefore, he constantly has these fantasies in which he undergoes physical experiences that take him to meet his death. At some point Holden is so confused that he even identifies with James Castle who commits suicide in the story. James was also an outcast who instead of fight his reality, thought it was better to escape it. â€Å"So Stabile, with about six other bastards, went down to James Castle’s room [†¦] and tried to make him take back what he said, but he wouldn’t do it. So they started in on him. I won? tell you what they did to him [ ] Finally what he did, instead of taking back what he said, he jumped out the window† (170). In several passages of the novel, we are able to identify Holden’s dead wishes. When Holden arrived at Central Park, and began to walk in the surroundings, he all of a sudden imagined that he is going to get sick and die. And he even, thinks about his funeral. This happened right after he had a catalyst moment I which he was feeling so blue that he broke his little’s sister present. He was in the park feeling extremely cold. â€Å"That worried me. I thought probably I’d get pneumonia and die. I started picturing millions of jerks coming to my funeral and all[†¦]I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something† (154;155). In another passage, Holden has this daydream about been shot twice. The second one happened in a bar. He was really drunk: â€Å"I started that stupid business with the bullet in my guts again. I was the only guy at the bar with a bullet in their guts†¦I didn’t want anybody to know I was even wounded† (150). In this passage it is very clear that again, he was feeling lonesome, depressed and went to a bar, and the first thing that comes to his mind is a death wish. The particularity of this passage is that we are introduced to a combination of two mechanisms of defense: drinking, and death fantasies. It is clear that his depression is so intense that daydreaming about being dead is much easier to Holden than to face his reality. Whenever Holden is feeling really depressed and really sad, he tends to ask people for drinks: â€Å"I certainly began to feel like a prize horse’s ass, though, sitting there all by myself. There wasn’t anything to do except smoke and drink† (86). He has a serious fixation on drinking. The funny thing is that Holden always looks to invite people that basically do not care about him to join him at the bar. There is one passage in which he actually invites his taxi driver to accompany him: â€Å"Would you care to stop off and have a drink with me somewhere? † (83). In another passage, he invites the owner of the bar Ernie’s: â€Å"the place was so dark and all, and besides, nobody cared how old you were. You could even be a dope fiend and nobody’d care† (85). So, instead to be able to get to a bar and interact with people he choose a bar where nobody would talk to him or even care enough to ask him if he was old enough to drink. On both occasions he is rejected, but at other times when he gets accompanied he cannot stop at one drink: â€Å"‘Have one more drink’, I told him. ‘Please. I’m lonesome as hell. No kidding†¦Boy, I sat at that goddam bar till around one o’clock or so, getting drunk as a bastard† (149-150). Drinking and passing out seems to be the only constant in his life. And for the readers, it becomes really clear that he does these kinds of seems always when he has encounter something that he really does not want to handle. In this sense he is always drinking to forget. Holden drinks to forget that he must become an adult. So he chooses to get wasted, and talk randomly to other people in the bar, who always end up being absolutely annoyed by him, which in turn is fine because he is not looking for a connection. Holden is just looking to feel nothing and alcohol created that effect on him. Now that is clear that Holden is a complete social outcast and inadequate, it is pretty obvious that he would have problem with intimacy and sexuality. If we remember, Holden wants to be a child. Children are very innocent, they know nothing about intimacy and of course they know nothing about sexuality. The problem with these two areas is that Holden in his crises tries to move forward and experience this but his confusion takes him back 10 spaces. For instance, Holden carries with him quiet an amount of doubts regarding sex. There is one passage in the novel in which he explicitly states it: â€Å"Sex is really something I really don’t understand too hot. You never know where the hell you are. I keep making this sex rules for myself, and then I break them right away† (63). It is very easy to understand why Holden feels this way about sex. He wants to be a child, but he is experiencing hormonal changes that make him curious about sex as well. Nonetheless, he is not mature enough for it, so basically when it comes to sex he act on his momentary impulses. The problem with this is that impulses come and go as they pleased, it is up to you to act on them or not. A very clear example of how sex is a delicate subject around Holden’s life is the passage about the prostitute. At some point in the novel Holden felt like he needed to get the sex â€Å"thing† over with. So, he called a prostitute to his room, but once she got there he did not have the courage to take the cards into action: â€Å"I know you’re supposed to feel pretty sexy when somebody gets up and pulls their dress over their head, but I didn’t I’ve had a rough night. Honest to God. I’ll pay you and all, but do you mind terribly if we don’t do it† (95-96). Meanwhile he gets a very strong impulse to have sex, and all of a sudden â€Å"the trouble was, I just didn’t want to do it†. Yet again, he tries to overcome some obstacles and when he cannot handle the outcomes he copes out: â€Å"I felt more depressed than sexy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (96). Typically Holden would get depressed because he was acting on an impulse that only adults –perverts would have. He just does not want to deal with the situation of growing up. In overall, the novel shows different examples in which readers can clearly identify that Holden has an existential crisis, which he is unable to handle. The inability to cope with the frustration and pain the crisis creates in his life, makes Holden choose the path of becoming numb to everything and everyone. In this sense, he resorts to create escapes route from reality as well: daydreaming about being death, rejecting personal contact and hiding in excessive drinking. All of Children are not capable of making serious decisions, they are very innocent, and whimsically. Children cannot figure out life, whereas adults have a responsibility to understand reality to try to explain it to children. Holden choice of being forever a child was an idea to escape from his problems, which then converted in a serious depression that resulted in an existential crisis to which Holden thought Numbness was its solution.