"Catcher in the Rye"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the character, Holden Caulfield, comes to maturity over the course of Salinger's novel, "Catcher in the Rye", with witty humor and cynicism, moving from being depressed to finally being happy. The author points out the theme of idealism: Holden thinks everyone wants their kid to be the poster child of the "perfect kid" when, in fact, there is no such thing. The paper relates that Phoebe's reality check helped Holden realize that, no matter how hard you try and how much you care, you cannot change society; there will always be corruption.

From the Paper:

"In the beginning of the novel, Holden is very sarcastic toward everything. He is also cynical and has a hopeless outlook on life. Holden is being kicked out of Pencey Prep for failing all of his classes. Holden goes to his History teacher who begins lecturing Holden on his lousy term paper. Holden, however, sees only the comical part, "he was holding my paper like it was a turd or something", (11), because he can't take things seriously. Holden believes that everyone is phony or fake. On the train ride to New York, Holden meets one of his classmate's mothers. He lies to her and says how nice her son is. Holden can believe this woman doesn't know her son well enough to know he is lying, "that guy Morrow was about as sensitive as a goddam toilet seat", (55). Holden thing it's ridiculous that parents don't pay enough attention to their kids personality to know when someone is lying about their kid."

More papers on "Catcher in the Rye":

• Book Review # 146780 : "The Catcher in the Rye " - A Relevant Novel"
• Analytical Essay # 16439 : "Catcher in the Rye"
• Analytical Essay # 35247 : "The Catcher in the Rye"
• Book Review # 2915 : "J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye"

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