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Julia Noel
Mrs. Orr
Honors English F
13 June 2015
In the book the Catcher in Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield, is
conflicted and depressed. Holden is a teenager in the 50’s fighting through the fog that his
world has become. Growing up and being constantly kicked out of boarding schools after
the death of his younger brother, Allie, Holden is struggling to find himself in a world of
unstable and unreliable truths. Holden goes on a week long adventure through New York
City to find out whether he is fleeing or staying put. Holden is plagued by overthinking
and second guessing, finding a stable ground in this world is not easy for him. Holden’s
relationship with society after the death of Allie causes Holden to fight to find his true self
all while battling against the engrained conditioning to be and do what people expect of
him.
The death of Allie created the twisting of Holden’s sense of reality. After Allie died,
Holden was a wreck. Something seemed so impossibly wrong to Holden that his reaction
was a violent one. Holden says “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me
psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don’t blame them.
I really don’t. I slept int the garage the night [Allie] died, and I broke all the goddamn
windows with my fist, just for the hell of it” (Salinger 50). The lack of blame in this
passage shows that Holden doesn't want anything to be more than his fault. He realizes that
the world doesn't like to blame themselves and would rather place the blame on someone
else. This thought process creates a mindset that will follow Holden for the rest of the book
as he goes around trying find out where true blame lies and being unable to find a middle
ground between himself and the rest of the world. Holden, who had previously viewed
Allie as the favorite child, feels the pressure from the hole that Allie’s death has left. In an
article from History Now, “The Catcher in the Rye: The Voice of Alienation”, by Timothy
Aubrey it is stated “The narrative suggests that in addition to his distant and neurotic
parents, an inhospitable environment precipitates his breakdown” (Aubry 3).This is the
birth place of the new Holden, the one that lives to be what people expect. Since his first
