Stubbornness In Catcher In The Rye

But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hotshots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game” (pg. 11, Salinger). This refers to the actor’s choice in words as well because she decided to use his already pompous tone to convene her character. The director used the quote from the book to create a character that would be difficult to talk to, as Holden’s perspective on life is

By portraying phoniness through Holden’s character, Salinger shows that Holden’s expectations for who is phony and who is not are not reasonable because Holden fails to meet the expectations

In his room, Spencer tries to talk Holden about his academic failures. Mr. Spencer told Holden that “life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one players according to the rules” (Salinger, 8) which means Holden that must learn to play by the rules. Although Mr. Spencer care for Holden a lot, he only seem to fail Holden. Holden returning to his dorm room before dinner because he didn’t want to listen to Mr. Spencer advice about life.

My favorite sentence from this reading had to be, "The arms were in sad shape, because everybody was always sitting on them, but they were pretty comfortable chairs." (Salinger 18). In the short sentence, I furthermore get a glimpse of Holden's voice and personality, this time by seeing him contradict himself. He describes how sad looking and beat up the chair is, yet goes on to say how nice and comfortable it is. This to me is a very important clue to Holden's overall personality in regard to life.

At first, Holden takes Mr. Spencer's advice as unfair and bias saying, " Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are. " With the intent to benefit Holden, Mr. Spencer harshly responds to Holden’s comment making him feel hurt, and reflect on Mr. Spencer’s words " He said it pretty tough, too, for him."

Salinger, Holden Caulfield is kicked out of Pencey University because of his inability to show initiative in his schoolwork. After receiving the news that he must leave, Holden visits his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, in order to say goodbye. During their conversation, Mr. Spencer tells Holden, "Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules" (Salinger). After hearing that, Holden does not agree because he recognizes that life's game is an unfair one, one that is rigged and where one can easily have a better chance at winning than another.

Holden often treats life like a game by not taking it too seriously, even when he should. He gets kicked out of many schools

In the beginning of the novel Salinger portrays Holden as an antisocial person who is often seen alone and describes the world as a “ world full of phonies” one example of this is at the beginning of the book wherein the scene where Holden is standing on a cliff looking down at the people below “Anyway, it was the Saturday of the football game. … I remember around three o 'clock that afternoon I was standing way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill. … You could

Holden’s Struggle To Find Himself: Throughout the novel, The Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden struggles to find himself and who he truly is in order to be happy. His struggles relate to many things that he does or say in particular. Holden lacks with a social status with women and his family, whether it’s a relationship or being antisocial. Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield experiences the complexities and struggles involved with both physical and emotional relationships.

In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a peculiar character portrayed as a skeptic living in “a world of phonies” in circa 1950. These personality traits can be seen through his doubts of society as well as his way of thinking and acting toward others. He also demonstrates a lack of responsibility adding to his role as a slacker. Holden flunks out of school repeatedly and has no desire to confront his parents. He mopes around the city for days, delaying the inevitable punishments he’s sure to get.

The conflict of the story is internal, because it revolves around Holden’s struggle between wanting to stay as an innocent child and reject the “phony” world of adults, and his desire to become

Salinger hints the contrasting view of an adult and an adolescent when old Spencer talks to Holden. Spencer connects life with a “game” (Salinger 8). He makes this comparison to stress the fact that life is amusing and systematic. However, Holden describes life as a “crazy cliff” (Salinger 173). Although Holden tries not to express his emotions throughout the book, fear still seeps through his emotional shield when he discusses about his adulthood with Phoebe.

This is exactly what Holden grows to detest whilst attending Pencey, the conformist culture he was forced into, which Holden describes as “corny” (Salinger, 19) or “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?”

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