Companionship in The Catcher in the Rye

According to countless scientific studies, it is unquestionable that emotional trauma hinders the development of the human brain. Specifically, emotional trauma inhibits the process of maturity, Throughout the entire novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caulfield, struggles to develop mentally and is unable to act his age. The author, JD. Salinger, uses his own life experience and time period to provoke the age of conformity that he lived in, challenging young adults to ‘grow up’ quicker, as well as to create meaningful, ageless story to stress the value of relationships with others.

This novel incorporates several themes, as well as numerous symbols to accentuate these themes. Through the use of symbolism, Salinger draws attention to the dominant themes of isolation, apprehension for change, and the protection of innocence.

While these themes remain prevalent and important unconditionally throughout the novel, they all consolidate together to form a bigger picture. Whether it be physically, emotionally, mentally, or socially, people depend on each other for stability.

This message, Salinger emphasizes, is the vitality of companionship in humanity. The idea of isolation remains the most distinct overall, through symbols such as Holden’s red hunting hat and Allie’s baseball glove, but Holden’s need for isolation ultimately leads to continuous despair. On several accounts, Holden attempts to use his hunting hat as a wall of protection. For example, the first time it is mentioned, Holden claims, “ It only cost me a buck.

The way I wore it, I swung the old peak to the back – very corny, I’ll admit, but I liked it that way” (Salinger 24) He wears this hat the wrong way, intentionally Consistently, Holden feels that he must isolate himself from others by creating this delusion of everyone being phonyi Holden is undeniably obsessed with the distinction between individuality and phoniness.

Get quality help now

Doctor Jennifer

Verified

Proficient in: Catcher In The Rye

5 (893)

“ Thank you so much for accepting my assignment the night before it was due. I look forward to working with you moving forward ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

This is why Holden praises children, rather than adults. Children are consistently noted as being more creative and having a greater sense of individuality, In the beginning of the novel, Holden is asked to write a composition for his roommate Holden is left alone to write the paper when he decides to write it about his brother’s old baseball glove, “[in] he had poems written all over the fingers and pocket and everywhere [in] I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie”. He glorifies his brother’s authentic uniqueness and does not know how to cope with his death. It is clear that nobody was there for Holden after this traumatic event and it emotionally scars him.

They were dealing with their own grief, forcing Holden out of the picture After the loss of Holden’s younger brother, Allie, Holden loses the ability to form emotional connections and attempts to withdraw himself from the world. He alienates himself as a form of self-protection, although, his solitude only leads to more pain. Overall, the lack of companionship in Holden’s life only leaves him with more trouble and contributes to his diseased mind, Holden’s emotional distress follows him through the process of maturing and plays a key role in his fear of growing up and wanting to preserve the innocence of youth; at a time when he goes through a confusing transition, Holden needs a guiding companion Growing up can truly be a confusing time for teenagers, and facing it alone is even worse. The lack of companionship after the loss of Holden’s brother, Allie, creates a very lonesome world for Holden. He becomes skeptical of every adult around him to avoid addressing his own problems, Children hold a special place in his heart, especially Allie and Phoebe, In fact, in a discussion with Phoebe, on the night that he snuck into his own home, Holden admits.

Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all, 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, 1 have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – i mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they‘re going I have to come out and catch them. I‘d just be the catcher in the rye and all. Realistically, Holden really just wants to protect children from the reality and hardships of growing up, He wants to preserve their innocence and individuality. That is why he nearly has a panic attack when he sees a curse word written on the wall of Phoebe’s schooli This disturbs him because he fears the young, innocent Phoebe coming upon it, something that might replace her childlike thoughts with more mature ones.

It is not just Phoebe that he worries about growing up; he is always thinking of Jane, but he does not think of her like she really is, like a growing teenage girl in the real world, Holden always reverts back to thinking about her in the past, as he liked her, in order to protect himself, and his sacred idea of the ideal Jane, In one of Holden’s anecdotes about Jane, he explains how he and Jane would play checkers together, “She‘d get them all lined up in the back row. Then she’d never use them”. Though this could be a meaningless strategy in a game to others, Holden understands this as a personal example of Jane protecting things that are valuable to hert An example of that may be her sexual activity This is why Holden is so troubled by Jane going on a date with SLradlater, because of his infatuation with preserving youth. He sees sex as something only belonging to adulthood, a symbol of maturing, and he does not see Jane that way.

Consistently throughout the novel Holden is haunted by his own sexual confusion, which stems directly from his obstructed mental development and his loss of connections with others Holden himself is afraid to confront his own maturity and future All of these fears inspire his dream to be the Catcher in the Rye If Holden would have had a guiding light through his dark, tunnel visioned state of being, he could confront his fears and even turn his dream into reality by helping children like him. Holden’s fears influence nearly all of his choices, primarily his fear of change; this is why he finds comfort in the Museum of Natural History, While looking for Phoebe, he stops and revisits the museum, “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was” In this instance, Holden comes right out and clarifies what the museum means to him.

Holden loves the museum because it never changes, and he fears change, immensely. The museum represents his own fantasy world, where everything is simple, and nothing ever changes, In other words, Holden is troubled greatly by the loss of his brother and this hindered his chance at a normal upbringing His fear of change and loss prevent him from developing relationships, even with the people closest to him, as well as continuing to mature When Allie died, it was like everything had stopped for Holdent While Holden reminisces about the museum, looking for Phoebe, he articulates, “Certain things should just stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and leave them alone”. Here, he amplifies his distaste for change; he was thinking of Phoebe changing each time she goes there, and that terrifies him In Holden‘s mind, Allie remains the same, young and pure, and he had adapted to that He does not like to imagine the only person he truly likes to be different, to grow up, Holden has been stuck in the same place since Allie died and he thinks that everyone should be stuck with him.

He is afraid of several things, including becoming attached to someone to only have them taken away from him. It is apparent that he feels this way with Phoebe, which is because of his deep, genuine relationship with Alliei His fear halts him from developing relationships, leaving him completely alone He is alone, by his own actions, and his feelings of being abandoned, whether that abandonment was purposeful or not. Holden’s consistent loneliness throughout his life resulted in his prejudice of all change and attachment to others All of the challenges and feelings that Holden Caulfield obtains derive from the author, 1D. Salinger’s own personal experience, which all consolidate together to create an authentic, yet relatable characters. One of the key influences of any story is its setting, and in this novel the story takes place in the early 1950’s, after World War Two.

In a documentary dedicated to Salinger, an editor, and friend of his, describes the effect of setting, “Like the Civil War created Whitman, World War Two created in Salinger” (Salerno, Salinger), This period in time plays a huge role in the mind of the authorr Of course, this is not meant literally; World War Two gave Salinger a look into reality and a sense of maturity, as well as mental anguish. His real life experiences in the war and the culture of conformity in the 1950’s ultimately lead to Holden Caulfield‘s way of thinking, It is apparent that Salinger intelligently uses all literary techniques, but his writing style is truly unique, Unlike authors of his time, Salinger effortlessly conveys the honest attitude and critical thinking of a teenager, without actually being one His writing style is unique in the way that he uses curse words, slang, and humorr Frequently, Holden says things like, “I know what I‘m talking about,“ “I mean it,” “I’m not kidding,“ and a myriad of phrases that convey childlike thinking, yet express Holden’s own internal confusion within himself and the world around him.

All of these significant elements collaborate to create Holden, a maladjusted, coming-of—age boy trying to understand who he is, and how to connect with others to give his life purpose, showing readers that solitude through hardship is not, and should not, be the only way In conclusion, the message Salinger is trying to convey is quite clear, people need each other. Through various situations, symbols, and themes, the big picture is obvious. Each symbol contributes to Salinger’s message, Salinger emphasizes the significance of companionship, especially for people like Holden, Salinger incorporates his own personal feelings and experiences with Holden’s unique character to create a timeless story founded on the very understanding that people need each other, especially through adversity.

Holden suffered a great amount of emotional afflictions and was left all alone to deal with it Therefore, he attempts to cope by concocting a black and white world in which an individual is either phony or real, according to Holden‘s idea of how people should be i like children. This, of course, generates Holden’s loneliness. With the absence of companionship, the overcoming feeling of loneliness fills the void. His loneliness continues to contribute to his disturbed and confusing mental state, which only furthers his need for companionship By tying all of these symbols and themes together, Salinger eminently stresses the value of companionship within humanity.