Holden Caulfield

Paper Summary:

Many people find that their dreams are unreachable. This paper examines how Holden Caulfield realizes this in J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye". As Holden tells his story, he recounts the events since leaving the Pencey School to his psychiatrist. It looks at how at first, Holden sounds like a typical, misguided teenager, rebellious towards his parents, angry with his teachers, and flunking out of school. However, as his story progresses, it shows how it becomes clear that Holden is indeed motivated, just not academically. He has a purpose: To protect the young and innocent minds of young children from the "horrors" of adult society. He hopes to freeze the children in time, as wax figures are frozen in a museum.

From the Paper:

"Holden wants to protect the innocence of his sister and every other innocent child in the world. Before Holden meets Sally for their date, he stops in front of the Museum of Natural History and begins to reminisce. He thinks about the way he visited the museum when he was younger. He also tells that every time one visits the museum, he is changed in some way, but the figures in the exhibits always stay the same. He wants to be able to preserve some things in the glass: "Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone," (122). "

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• Book Review # 119534 : "Development of Morals and Integrity of Holden Caulfield"
• Analytical Essay # 66637 : "Holden Caulfield and Seymour Glass"

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