The Chamber Essay Research Paper The Catcher

The Chamber Essay, Research Paper The Catcher in the Rye Author: J. D. Salinger In this book, the main character, Holden McField, tells the story about what happened during his Summer vacation. Holden is a sixteen-year-old boy who has flunked out of a private prep school. Because he is afraid that his parents would find out this fact, he goes to a hotel in Las Vegas instead of going home after he leaves school for Summer vacation. In Las Vegas, many things happen to him within a few weeks. For example, he goes to the hotel bar and meets two women after he first arrives there. The women go away soon after he fails to talk with them, and Holden feels lonely and depressed. He goes to another bar to find someone to spend some time with, but he fails to find anyone to talk to and

comes back to the hotel feeling more intent on finding a woman. In the hotel, he meets a prostitute, but he sends her back without having sex because he has trouble with his “clavichord”. He was further disappointed when she tries to rob him of his money even though he tried to have sex with her. In the next morning, he has a date with an old girl friend, and asks her to give him her car so that he can drive to the Ivory Coast. However, she tells him he is “too cute” and then leaves him. Holden meets some more people later, but they also cannot solve his problems, and he feels more and more depressed and lonely. He finally decides to run away and live as a forest ranger who will not need to communicate with anyone but the bears. Before leaving, he goes to say good-bye to

his little brother, Jason, who he admires the most. While talking and playing with him, Holden changes his mind and decides to rejoin his family and because he realizes there are many things that he cannot solve by himself, and he knows that his father can solve everything for him. His fater, being a casino owner, has taught Holden everything he knows and can help him out now. The theme of this novel is how schools are corrupted by society. Holden thinks everybody who is grown up is immature because their behavior and advice are all superficial. The title of this book is based on an old game where someone catches children from jumping off a field of rye into a pit of spikes. This symbolizes that Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye because he wants to protect the small

things, especially to prevent small children from losing their lives and becoming corrupted by school as they learn about diferent subjects. Holden Caulfield is an amusing character because he talks about everyone without any respect, but with much irreverence to himself. This is shown thorough the language he uses which includes slang and swear words. Even though Holden believes in the institutions of society, he is a pessimistic character because he seems to find something dangerous in almost everything and everyone. For instance, his old girlfriend Stephanie has a tendency for violence when the subject of sex is touched upon. He is also a depressed character because he feels dormant most of the time, and he never finds any place where he feels comfortable, except for the Cozy

Inn. He doesn’t fit into society because of his profound genious and superfluous intellect This is shown very well when he says: “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, nobody’s around- nobody big, I mean- except the big bully. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy pit. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go into the pit- I mean if they’re running and they don’t look they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be.” This shows Holden’s compassion and sensitivity very well, but it also shows