Cruelty is a vice of many motives. A cruel act is one that inflicts pain, suffering, and difficulty on others. Some of the motives that create cruelty are explored in the novels The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Ender’s Game, and The Catcher in the Rye. Although the characters are in these novels are in different situations, they each experience cruelty in a variety of forms. People use to cruelty to express their fear of change, manipulate others to go beyond their limits, and create new images. People are cruel because they are afraid of change. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a novel that follows Junior, a 14-year-old boy living on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to receive a better education, Junior makes the bold decision to leave the reservation school and attend Reardon, a school full of white kids in a town neighboring the reservation. Many members of the community do not understand Junior’s decision and are angered by it. When Junior goes trick-or-treating on Halloween night, he experiences …show more content…
The Catcher in the Rye is the narrative of a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield, and his recollection of the events that lead up to his mental decline. Throughout the novel, Holden focuses on the “phoniness” of the people around him. In one example, Holden recalls a mishap that occurs with his roommate at Elkton Hills, one ofthe many boarding schools he has attended. His roommate, Dick Sagle, feels insecure that he is not able to afford the nice things that Holden has, such as his suitcases. His insecurity about the issue causes him to act begrudging and resentful towards Holden. “He was always saying snotty things about them, my suitcases, for instance. He kept saying they were too new and bourgeois… Everything I had was bourgeois as hell. Even my fountain pen was bourgeois. He borrowed it off me all the time, but it was bourgeois anyway” (Salinger, ch.
In the story The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. This story is about a teenager who feels misplaced in life and is unhappy with his surroundings. The main character, Holden Caulfield, hops around from school to school taking us on his adventure from school in Pennsylvania to his house in New York City. If Holden, or a child like him were to attempt this by themselves today they wouldn 't succeed like Holden did. In the story Holden does many crazy things that a teenager wouldn 't be able to do .
The Catcher in the Rye, Jerome D. Salinger’s one and only full novel, was written in 1951. Since then, it has sold more than 65 million copies and translated into most of the world’s major languages. This book tells the story of Holden Caulfield, a 16 year old who can’t seem to be able to stay at one school and despises the “phoniness” of adult-life. One day, he must grow up, but Salinger is there to lead him throughout the book. Salinger uses symbolism to convey a maturation theme in his work.
Holden Caulfield dreams of being a “catcher in the rye”. This job would entail preventing small children from accidentally skipping, running, or hopping off a cliff. We are led to believe that the edge of this cliff is adolescence, with adulthood waiting below, claiming the innocence and joy of those who fall victim to it. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden frequently expresses his thoughts, including thoughts on politics, Lillian Simmon’s “knockers”, phonies, and the loss of innocence. He seems almost fascinated with innocence, whether he recognizes it or not.
In JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist Holden Caulfield learns that running away from his problems won't fix them. Through his interactions with other characters and a moment of clarity, Holden sees the importance of finding a purpose, protecting, and caring for the people he loves. Holden deals with the difficulties of being a teenager and growing up in a world that can be hard to understand and handle. Holden’s brother Allie’s death, being expelled from Pency Prep, and the encounter with Mr Antolini are all events in the book that shape Holden. Salinger's book talks about feeling alone, figuring out who you are, and trying to find where you belong in the world.
The Catcher in the Rye Thematic Essay Imagine living a lonesome life, full of fear and little hope of better days to come. Imagine the toll this would take on a person’s life and how they develop as a person. For Holden Caulfield, the main character of J.D Salinger’s classic The Catcher in the Rye this, is his reality. Holden is a sixteen year old troubled boy suffering through major mental issues and living a rather a depressing life for a teenager. Throughout the novel he goes through many hardships that only worsen his depression making him feel hatred towards his seemingly hellish world.
“What I liked about her, she didn't give you a lot of horse manure about what a great guy her father was. She probably knew what a phony slob he was.” (Salinger 3) Throughout the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a sixteen-year-old boy living in a world full of ‘a bunch of phonies’. As he feels a lingering sense of loss over his life; he does not want to grow and be a complicated adult, acting like everyone else.
To Kill a Mockingbird There is much cruelty in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The meaning behind the title to destroy the innocent. Destroying the ones who don’t know any better because they haven’t learned. The innocence was taken away from Jem, Scout, and Dill once they found out what was really going on in the real world around them. The cruelty in this novel is caused by killing the mockingbird victims.
Holden is the narrator and protagonist of J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye. He is a junior that has recently been expelled from Pencey Prep due to failing and not trying in academics. This sheds light on his overall character and exemplifies the idea that Holden does not think to the future but looks to the moment to find peace never finding it but at the same time he dreads his past experiences. The idea of this also adds to the truth that his critiquing almost everyone that he ever gets in contact with and calling them a phony or a sellout, is a form of coping. He is coping with his undiagnosed and unrecognized mental illness and getting over his unbothered attitude that has and will keep putting him in situations that he himself
The Catcher in the Rye is a story about loner Holden Caulfield who recounts his past few days where he was kicked out of school, left to visit New York, and shares his thoughts on almost everything in his everyday life, such as women and his dreams to be a catcher in the rye. First, to establish the shabby setting, Salinger uses similes. When Holden travels to his former teacher's home, he sidetracks from his original thought to complain about the bed he is sitting on. Salinger writes Holden thinking, "'It is. I was.
From the outset, I have to say that “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger has been one of the most important and influential pieces of literature I have ever read. At its core, the book is a superb coming of age novel which discusses several extremely powerful themes such as the difficulties of growing up, teenage angst and alienation and the superficiality, hypocrisy and pretension of the adult world. These themes resonated deeply with me and were portrayed excellently through the use of powerful symbolism and the creation of highly relatable and likable characters. One such character is Holden Caulfield whom the story both revolves around and is narrated by.
The postwar setting in J. D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye influenced the main character Holden Caulfield feelings of disillusionment during a time when conformity left many postwar adults fearing communism in a growing postwar economy. The novel illustrates the main characters’ experiences from the time he is expelled from boarding school over a period of three days. Upon his premature departure from the school, due to a fight with his roommate, Holden makes his way to New York City, where he meets various people in hopes of gaining a form of acceptance and understanding from them to help his troubles (Kirkwood 29). As a result, his needs are deprived, as Holden feels he does not fit anywhere; believing that all the people around him are
The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” was about the journey of a adolescent boy finding his way to adulthood. In the book Holden Caulfield was unsuccessful in finding his way to adulthood. Holden’s attitude in the novel throughout his journey was very immature. He also can't accept the fact that innocence can’t be forever protected. Lastly, Holden calls everyone a phony when in reality he is the real phony.
Alienation as Self-Protection in The Catcher in the Rye Throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye, there are many themes, motifs and symbols that emerge and develop along with Holden, the protagonist, and the plot. Though the most significant theme is alienation as means for self-protection. In many instances, Holden isolates and alienates himself from his peers and the world in order to protect his morals and his self-imposed superiority. The first evidence of this alienation occurs when Holden speaks to his history teacher, Mr. Spencer. While talking about Mr. Thurmer’s lecture, Holden begins to ponder the “right side”, stating “if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s the game about?”
In a world filled with contradictions and challenges, the absence of love forces many to attach meaning in anything they can find. The Catcher in the rye is the odyssey of a young boy named Holden Caulfield who faces many challenges, compounded by a childhood that lacked affection and love. Salinger describes Holden’s lifestyle as one that possess many troubles. Throughout the novel it is evident that Holden’s character develops from someone who is detached from the world, to someone who learns to understand why things are the way they are. The absence of love forces Holden to attach to anything or anyone he deems important, and due to that he finds it difficult to express his feelings, and finds it difficult to respond to affection.
Purpose: To show how a small change in choice could affect holden’s life The Catcher in the Rye is about Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy from New York. The novel starts with Holden, writing in his book, hinting that he is in some sort of mental facility .Even though he comes from a wealthy family,because of his loss of interest in studies,and low grades, he gets expelled from all schools he has studied in .Holden leaves his final school, Pency Prep and decides that he will stay in New York City until his parents learn of his expulsion and “cool down” .Most of the novel is dedicated to Holden’s time in the city, Holden lives in a hotel room for a few days during his stay .Holden then starts meeting with people that he used know, some strangers and goes to places with. From his conversations, he