The Catcher In The Rye :: essays research papers

Holdens JourneyAs we pass through this life it is our business to discover our destiny. Some of us go to college and become Doctors, Lawyers, Architects. Others of us encourage the finer things in life and find our places on farms and Dude Ranches. The headspring is, every living creature has a place in this mankind and we are ultimately steered in its direction. Holden Caulfields voyage began when his brother died of Leukemia. Holden was emotionally destroyed by the loss of not only his brother, but his silk hat friend also. The fact that his parents couldnt accept Holdens pain and that they all the same sent him to a shrink for it, proved to Holden that his parents didnt care as much as they were supposed to. As Holden grew up, he found himself flunking knocked out(p) of school after school, never being able to stay in one place. This calamity was caused by either his overwhelmingly powerful horror for people or because there was a conflict of interest in the midst of him and the school itself, about who they were trying to make him. Holden was also starting to clear people as who they authentically were. Many of us in this founding accept people at face value and never really take the time to see through the infinite masks that make up a personality, or a first impression. Holden however, took the time to understand who a person really was, and how fake they really were being. This changed his life enormously, as it would anybodys, because as soon as he could understand how much of a fake a person was being and who they truly were, he didnt suffer to feel inferior, scared or cast out by that person. I think these views of life could have actually been caused by his brothers death. I think that when his brother died, his parents might have become phonies themselves. You must understand that when a parent loses one of their own creations they feel as if they have lost a part of themselves and cannot strive to go on. I think many parents find it easier to conceal their feelings inside of themselves, thus decorous what Holden could view as a phony. He didnt understand wherefore his parents had to bottle it all up (which he thinks is wrong) and why he was virtually punished for expressing his feelings freely (which he feels is the right thing to do).