Another Catcher In The Rye Essay, Research Paper
Here is an essay on "The Catcher in the Rye" Hope you will
be able to post it! Through Holden’s Eyes The Catcher in
the Rye has truly earned it’s place among great classic
works. J. D. Salinger created a literary piece that was
completely unique. The entire novel was written in the first
person view of the 17-year-old, Holden Caulfield. The
majority of the story is compiled of Holden’s rudimentary
monologue of ‘complexly simple’ thoughts, the rest utilizing
his relay of previous dialogue. That and the use of unique
punctuation, digressing explanations, and complex
characterization, transformed the simple plot into the
complex literary classic. The novel’s dialogue and
monologue alike, manage to relay the feel of natural
speaking such as: "I mean you’d be different in some way – I
can’t explain what I mean." The contractions; you’d and can’t
- since they are common in everyday language – establish a
very common and simple tone. Stress on the first syllable of
"different," reinforces the tone by demonstrating how
typically they speak, just as in reality. He uses dashes for
pauses and signaling associative digressions. Instead of
signaling pauses, commas are used mostly where
mechanically required, for instance: "So all of a sudden, I ran
like a madman across the street – I d*** near got myself
killed doing it, if you want to know the truth – and went in
this stationary store and bought a pad and pencil." Holden
Caulfield creates a thought provoking point of view. On the
surface many of his thought patterns seem unrelated and
straying from the topic. His association of topic with
digression is used almost constantly throughout the novel.
However, realizing that these digressions are very relevant
and even crucial to the topic allow the reader to gain true
insight to the character. His statements about his sister’s
intelligence, followed by explanations of how well she listens,
reveals Holden’s associations of intelligence with being quiet
and observant. Another example would be his tension
around the nuns. Even though he enjoyed the conversation,
he worried about being asked if he was Catholic. He stated
they "…would have liked it better if he were Catholic." This
gives insight to his discomfort with being judged morally, and
to his association of people of morals looking down on those
who don’t share them. In Holden’s descriptions and
thoughts, Salinger accomplished the most unique aspect of
the story’s point-of-view. Instead of using the popular -
however overrated – style of well refined thoughts and
flowery descriptions, Salinger describes things as they are
perceived upon a first impression. Naturally the human mind
does not instantly process first encounters or experiences
into drawn out rhetorical metaphors. We must think about
them first, relate and compare them to past experiences,
then form associations. This is based on Jean Piaget theory
of assimilating new situations, accommodating them with
previous knowledge, then forming generalizations for
understanding, called schemas. [Houghton-Mifflin
Psychology, pgs. 49-50] That is exactly how Salinger
describes Holden’s thoughts. Holden, like us all, has
difficulty explaining things until they have been thought
through. For instance, Holden observes Stradlater’s
grooming and his looks. Then he compares it to the way
guys look in yearbooks, and what parents say about them.
Last he concludes, through comparison, that Stradlater is the
kind of guy that your parents ask about. He states: "I’ve had
that experience quite frequently." In the more descriptive
writings of other authors, it is difficult to relate to the
complex associations. The majority of thought inspired by
these works can sometimes be just to figure out the point.
However, Salinger expresses the thought patterns of Holden
in the same inherent ways that all humans think, and through
that, relays a strong tone of realism and active thought.
Despite the lack of dazzling rhetoric, Salinger’s descriptions
are no less intricate. They inspire a more natural style of
analyzation that most can relate to easily. A more logical and
linear path, relating to typical primal human thought, is
followed instead of abstract reasoning and artistic
representation. Finally, the elements previously discussed,
and a few independent ones, will be used to examine the
characterization of Holden Caulfield. Such as how
Caulfield’s tendency toward constant introspection and
analyzing of his world, his digression of topics, and the
nature in which he speaks, gives us clues to his character.
His level of intelligence is in no way reflected by his lack of
knowledge on trivial issues. He is adept at reasoning the
things around him. Almost all of the insight Caulfield spoke
of were things that would not have been taught to him. Such
as repeatedly displaying understanding of human nature,
pretensions, and thought processes. However, despite his
intuition, he applies his often cynical and pessimistic
reasoning to almost everyt
and a level of immaturity. This is obvious in his inquiry about
the ducks, thoughts concerning women, obscene graffiti, and
always getting a "pukey cab." Since the fact that his mental
health was brought up often with his thoughts of being crazy,
with statements like "I’m crazy, swear to God, I am…" and
references of psychological hospitalization in the beginning
and end, a psychological approach will be used to explain
his manner. Holden demonstrates tendencies associated with
both OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and bipolar
Disorder, consisting of swings between manic and
depressive states. OCD is characterized by obsessive
thoughts and their motivation of compulsive acts to relieve
the stress of the obsession. [Houghton Mifflin Psychology,
pg. 539] It is quite obvious that Holden is very obsessed
with detail. He also demonstrates a common symptom of
OCD, counting. At Grand Central Station, he mentions
repeatedly counting floor squares. Small details trouble him
endlessly. Once he becomes so obsessed with type of
luggage that his roomate has that he hides his own under the
bed. Bipolar Disorder, the more severe of the two, is the
most apparent in Caulfield. He displays an amazing amount
of symptoms of this Disorder. He suffers symptoms such as:
little need to sleep, difficulty remaining on topic discussions
(jumping from subject to subject), bursting with ideas and
insight, irritation with people who rationalize with them,
excessive spending of money, impaired decision making
(instances of people going to live on the streets), cynicism,
and paranoia. The mania will give way to severe depression,
in some cases, in a matter of hours. The examples of the
previous symptoms are demonstrated in Caulfield’s
monologuos thoughts and dialogue. The instances of his
jumping from topic to topic, and his insight and ideas, have
already been discussed. Holden comments on his "little need
for sleep" often like after the clubs close he says, "I wasn’t
sleepy or anything." A great amount of irritation is shown
toward Sally when she points out flaws in his plans of
running away. He becomes belligerent and tells her, "you
give me a royal pain in the a**." In the beginning he
comments on his abundant supply of money, but by the end
he is forced to borrow from his sister. He frequently pays for
peoples meals and drinks, donated money to nuns, and
offered anyone a drink "on him". A textbook example of his
impaired decision making was his plans to run away, pretend
to be mute, and build a cabin in the woods. His cynicism is
constant as he repeatedly generalizes everyone on the basis
of dress, status, and looks. The thoughts of always getting a
pukey cab and obscene words being everywhere are prime
cases of paranoia. Then in his swing to depression, he
comments on people making him depressed, his feelings of
being "lousy," and once expressed thoughts of suicide. When
he spoke of people coming to New York to get up early, he
voiced his wish to jump out of the hotel window. Holden
Caulfield, being afflicted with such handicaps, was doomed
to fail in school, and his breakdown inevitable. Living in a
time when clinical psychology would not come for a few
years, Holden was forced to cope with this on his own.
There was no one to go to for help, so his wish for it
manifested itself into the one thing he would like. So in his
subconscious wishes for control and help he said: "Anyway,
I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this
big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and 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 where their going I have
to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d
do all day. I’d just 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. I know
it’s crazy." The children represent all of his problems running
rampid in his game of life that "old Spencer" told him of in
the beginning. The absence of "big" people portray no one
being in charge, and him the lone "big" person, express him
as being souly in control. The playing in the rye field next to
a crazy cliff would depict his nearness to his fall, while being
oblivious to the danger. His one wish is to able to prevent
this, to be in control. Then after establishing his wishes he
considers it impossible by expressing thoughts of it’s
craziness. He is resolved that he cannot be in control, but it
is all he wants. In a world before alternatives to his painful
lifestyle, what can Holden do but blindly play the game in the
rye field, right beside his cliff of sanity. "But life is a game
boy. Life is a game that one must play by the rules."
Bibliography 3rd edition Psychology (Bernstein-Stewart,
Roy, Srull, & Wickens) Houghton Mifflin Company Boston,
Massachusetts 1994