Analysis of Holden Caufield

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and being someone your not. Yet, he went to the movies pretty often which again shows me his hypocritical side.

The second theme is the most important because it shows us his transition phase from childhood to an adolescent to finally understanding adulthood. The first place I read where Holden starts to shut himself out from the world, is with Allies death. Holden caused himself physical pain by punching windows in his garage to avoid the emotional pain that comes with a close death, people who we call "cutters". I guess the reason why Allie means so much to Holden is because Allie is now preserved as a true innocent, never will he be affected by the phoniness of the world. In chapter 10 he talks a bit more about Phoebe, his younger sister. He can’t say anything bad about her. He even appears charmed by her faults, such as misspelling the name of her girl detective in the story she writes. Holden even compares her to Allie. These two characters, along with Jane Gallagher, represent for Holden a sense of childhood and innocence. Jane Gallagher continues to occupy a great deal of Holden’s thoughts, and the stories about her reinforce other themes that emerge throughout The Catcher in the Rye. The story about Jane Gallagher is there to remind the reader that Allie’s death has had a major effect on Holden. For Holden, information about Allie remains secretive and private, to be shared only with certain people. This also gives more weight to the earlier chapter in which Holden writes a paper about the baseball mitt for Stradlater. This information, which he once considered to be so private, emerges as part of an essay written for others, indicating that Holden has been repressing certain emotions concerning his brother’s death that may eventually emerge. Jane’s role in the play may not have been a big one for the plot, but it is pretty significant

towards Holden’s mentality. He believes that Jane Gallagher has been abused by her alcoholic stepfather. This only strengthens Holden’s idea that all authority figures are dangerous. This also elaborates part of the reason why Holden has such a jaded view of sexuality. He may associate it with actions such as Mr. Cudahy’s predatory behavior toward Jane. Phoebe is still a child, Allie never had the chance to mature, and Jane exists for Holden as an innocent girl playing checkers. Those characters that represent an adult sensibility serve primarily as targets for Holden’s jokes.

Almost all of the insight Caulfield spoke of were things that would not have been taught to him. Such as repeatedly displaying understanding of human nature, pretensions, and thought processes. However, despite his intuition, he applies his often cynical and pessimistic reasoning to almost everything. This fact illustrates ignorance and a level of immaturity.