... there aren't any hot-shots" there is "nothing" and there is "no game" Page 8. Holden begins to play this game as soon as he leaves Pencey with that attitude. He is on the side where there aren't any hotshots. His opponent is society, and all of its phonies that it is composed ... is a phony that he cannot stand. She asks Holden to come and join her and her boyfriend at their table. Holden doesn't wish to and leaves the nightclub right away. Holden reveals much about his internal struggle by acting in this manner. He struggles to find someone to open up to and when ... him, but Carol on...

• Word Count: 2903
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... after the loss of the other. Another example of Caulfield's inability to cope with the loss of a son is how he drinks and smokes often to relieve stress and frequently leaves the bottles and cigarette butts lying about the house. This habit of Caulfield's seemingly induced Holden to start drinking and smoking himself and erroneously taught Holden that this habit was ... a most positive manner. However, Spencer gives Holden "phony" advice on how to be successful and not necessarily happy in life. At the time that Holden comes to visit before he leaves, Spencer presents himself poorly, wi...

• Word Count: 1058
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... . He immediately gets defensive and calls her "a royal pain in the ass". Holden attempts an apology but Sally starts to cry and Holden leaves without her.A more mature way for Holden to handle the situation would have been tosit through the play and tell Sally he enjoyed and also ... of rye with children playing right next to a cliff. As the children come closer to the cliff he wants to catch tem and stop them from falling off the cliff. This statement has a deeper meaning, it is this. Children start out pure and honest, as they grow into adults society pollutes ... as a supremely irritat...

• Word Count: 1551
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... and pure. An example can been seen in the scene where Holden wants to be the "Catcher" in the Rye and stops children falling off the Cliff, which could also be symbolised as Holden wanting to catch children from falling into adulthood. Another conflict he has is with women, in his journey he meets many women and when he meets them, he ... the courage to tell his father what he wants, but he is shouted down by his father and slumps back onto the crouch in a position of defeat. Mr Perry then leaves his room then the scene changes to Neil's dark room, moonlight is coming through the window...

• Word Count: 1633
• Approx Pages: 7

... eventually going to hurt himself. Antolini continues pleading with Holden and tells him that "this fall I think you are riding for - it's a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn't permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom" (243). Holden listens intently to his teacher and Antolini gives him a quote to think about. The quote is from Wilhelm Stekel ... Holden is "in love with knowledge" (245). Holden then decides to spend the night at Antolini's and after falling asleep is awakened by the touch of someone's hand on his head (249). Holden becomes extremely uncomfort...

• Word Count: 912
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... introduces himself to Mrs. Morrow as Rudolf Schmidt, using the name of his dorm's janitor. Other childlike characteristics of Holden are his carelessness to do well in school. When he leaves Pencey and wanders the city, he is not nearly has independent as he pretends to be. Physically and mentally he is caught on the border between childhood and adulthood. The ... are several times when Holden feels like he is going to disappear. When walking to Mr. Spencer's house Holden becomes terribly cold. The cold weather symbolizes Holden loosing himself and falling into abyss. He is haunted by t...

• Word Count: 2258
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... of school. Holden is motivated, just not academically. Holden begins his story misguided and without direction. After flunking out of the Pencey School, Holden decides to leave early. Before he leaves, though, he visits his teacher, Mr. Spencer. Mr. Spencer and Holden talk about his direction in life: "Do you feel absolutely no concern for your future, boy?" "Oh, I feel some ... into a hotel where he invites a prostitute up to his room. He gets nervous and just wants to talk and decides not to have sex with her. She gets mad and leaves, but not before getting into an altercation with Ho...

• Word Count: 1143
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... of a private prep school. Because he is afraid that his parents would find out this fact, he goes to a hotel in New York City instead of going home after he leaves school for Christmas vacation. In New York, many things happen to him within a few days. For example, he goes to the hotel bar and meets three women after he first ... with an old girl friend, and asks her to flee from this corrupt world and live in the woods with him. However, she tells him he is crazy and then leaves him. Holden meets some more people later, but they also cannot solve his problems, and he feels more and mor...

• Word Count: 859
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... accepting, his status as an adult. But the key step is when his sister is on the carousel and when he says nothing even if he is scared of her falling: all the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she"d fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say ... knows that everybody must make this change from childhood into maturity. Since change is inevitable, Holden learns to deal with it and accepts his responsibilities. By the end, the books leaves most reader wondering whether or not Holden Caulfield finally succeeds in his dream of becomi...

• Word Count: 1843
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... story of Holden Caulfield's fall into depression. As every page turns, Holden does something that pulls him down further into his depression. Without his sister Phoebe, he would have kept falling until he hit rock bottom. Holden's fall seems to begin at an early age, since he refers to his early days as "my lousy childhood" (Salinger, 1). He is very vague ... , Holden says yes, his excuse to himself being that he was depressed. When she comes to his room, Holden ends up chickening out and becoming more depressed. Soon after she leaves, she comes back with the elevator man, Maurice. Mauri...

• Word Count: 1764
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... I like to call it Holden's journey to finding himself. This kid is so screwed up in the head it really isn't funny. This kid has breakdown after breakdown. After he leaves Pency Prep he is on this train and recognizes one of his fellow classmates mother. He tells this woman all these lies about her son. Although they are lies she ... going to cause because of him being expelled from school. He tells her later that he wants to be a catcher in the rye. So he can prevent careless children from falling over the edge while playing in the field. Phoebe corrects him and tells him that he has "...

• Word Count: 1251
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School