... a tragic-comedy. I came to choose it because I heard it is about a boy who is around my age. In this book, the main character, Holden Caulfield, tells us a story about what happened during his Christmas 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 ... rejoin his family and because he realizes there are many things that he cannot solve by himself. The theme of this novel is how innocence is corrupted by society. Holden thinks everybody who is grown up is a phony because the...

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

... faces a self-identity struggle and is uncertain of his beliefs. Salinger portrays the difficulties that go along with the "coming of age" through Holden Caulfield's point of view. In The Catcher and the Rye, J.D. Salinger expresses through Holden Caulfield's first person point of view on how a teenager struggles with the rules of society, growing up, and forgetting about the past. Holden's background history is the leading cause of his struggles to find a pathway to ... to everyone else. Holden feels guilty for letting Allie die and having his youth stripped away from him. The reader ca...

• Word Count: 930
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... , but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." This not only makes you feel like he is talking to you, but also gives you a feel for Haden's language, age, and attitude. Salinger leaves you wondering if maybe some occurrences within the story are personal memories that occurred throughout his childhood. Salinger quoted a passage from Dostoevski, " Fathers and ... teachers, I ponder "What is Hell?" I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love." This quote says it all when it comes ... Burns was actually about meeting a girl and if he should kiss her...

• Word Count: 628
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... increasingly tormented by the memory of his younger brother Allie's death, and his life is complicated by his sexuality. He wants to see his sister Phoebe and his old girlfriend Jan Gallagher, but instead he spends his time with Sally Hayes, a shallow person Holden's age, and Carl Luce, a pretentious Columbia student Holden treats as a source of sexual knowledge. ... unbearably painful; his cynicism is his attempt to protect himself from the pain and disappointment of the adult world. As the novel opens, Holden stands poised on the cliff separating childhood from adulthood; his damaged i...

• Word Count: 1065
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... is nothing usual for boys that age. A good number of high school aged boys act like they are still in junior high. It is not something to judge sanity on. If that was the case, almost half of the high school male population would be put in a mental institution. Holden wants to be the protector of the innocence. He does not want to see the young grow up in a phonie ... world to become phonies with jobs they do not like for a salary that is not reasonable. Holden complains throughout the whole book. So what? He has something to complain about. Some people just have to complain ... about ...

• Word Count: 901
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... character is Holden Caulfield. He is a teen- age boy who goes through some major changes. His life is taken over by isolation and depression. This is all caused by his attitude towards others, his failure to accept the world around him and his various obsessions with sex and alcohol. Holden is not able to ... everyday society. He keeps failing at everything he attempts. Part of his problem is that he was deeply affected by the death of his brother Allie. He really misses him and this leads him to not want to face the adult world, but to go back to the innocence of his childhood. His pro...

• Word Count: 811
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School