The Catcher in the Rye: Comparing and Contrasting Characters In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main focal point is Holden Caulfield. Outside of him, there are a handful of other characters that are well developed and contribute to the maturation of Holden, one of them being Ward Stradlater. Although Holden and his roommate Stradlater share a few similarities, the two were arguably polar opposites, most prominently in their personalities, academics, and feelings towards each other. The novel is told through Holden’s perspective, so the reader gets to know other characters based on Holden’s view of them. Holden sees Stradlater as the cliche “popular guy” at school. His personality seems to be exactly the opposite of Holden’s. …show more content…
He recently got kicked out of his current school, Pencey Prep, due to “flunking” four subjects and not “applying” himself (4). When Holden has a talk with Mr. Spencer, it is also revealed that he dropped out of two other schools. “If I’m not mistaken, I believe you also had some difficulty at the Whooton School and at Elkton Hills” (13). It is also shown that Holden passed one subject, English. His interest in English is shown when he reads books in his dorm, talks about literature such as Romeo and Juliet with the nuns, and writes Stradlater’s composition for him. Holden also states that English was not a hard subject because the material taught at Pencey was the same at Whooton (10). His poor academic grades and low interest show Holden’s uncaring attitude towards school. This attribute of Holden is mirrored in Stradlater. He had a composition due Monday, but went out on a date instead. He ended up forcing Holden to finish his composition for him. Stradlater would have been “up the creek” if he did not complete the work, referencing that this is not the first time he has put off assignments (28). Ward seemed to not care too much about his grades, just as long as he passed. This attribute is shown when he tells Holden to write about anything rather than stating a specific topic. “‘Anything. Anything descriptive. A room. Or a house. Or something you once lived in or …show more content…
Based on Holden’s descriptions and views on Stradlater, it is clear that he is not fond of his roommate. “God, how I hated him” (42). Although Stradlater is not his favorite person on the planet, there is no clear indication that Holden hates him. Throughout their encounter at Pencey, Holden talks about Stradlater’s characteristics in a friendly way. Holden admitted that he thought Stradlater was handsome, he was somewhat friendly, and Holden “didn’t have to explain every goddamn little thing with him” (33). He also allowed Ward to borrow his jacket and wrote his composition instead of refusing. Even though Holden thought Stradlater was a phony, he still had some respect for the guy. Stradlater on the other hand did not seem to care for Holden all too much. They interacted a few times in their rooms and in the can, and Stradlater mostly ignored Holden. “Stradlater wasn’t hardly listening. He was combing his gorgeous locks” (32). The main reason he kept up a conversation with Holden was to ensure his composition would be written. “Listen. Are ya gonna write that composition for me? I have to know” (29). When Holden gets fed up with Stradlater and starts a fight, he had no problem beating Holden up. “But my nose was bleeding all over the place. When I looked up, old Stradlater was standing practically right on top of me…’Why the hell don'tcha shut up when I tellya to?’”
That was after Stradlater and Holden were talking about his previous date with Holden’s friend Jane Gallagher who he also cared about emotionally. Before that event Holden also couldn’t remember what had happened previously either. When Stradlater came back from the date, Holden stated he had difficultly remembering things that happened or what he was doing. These are very clear signs of the avoidance symptoms in his
It’s not that holden couldn’t do the work that he was given, he could just careless about it. He was more into sports like the fencing team and occasionally girls. Holden also thought that “ It was a terrible school, no matter how you look at it.” Which was found on page five, paragraph two. If holden liked the school better maybe he would have applied himself more and actually did the work he was given.
Holden also finds flaws in his roommate, Stradlater. Although Holden admits that Stradlater was seen as "a Year Book kind of handsome guy," Holden still emphasizes how much of a "secret slob" he is. He talks about the razor Stradlater uses as "rusty as hell and full of lather and hairs and crap." He also says that, "the reason he fixed himself to look good was because he was madly in love with himself." This confirms how pessimistic Holden's description of Stradlater was, saying he was disgusting and vain despite being good-looking.
Many times throughout the book Holden uses substance abuse and arranges different activities as a distraction from his thoughts on his brother’s death. After Holden’s younger brother Allie died he was sent to a private school called Pency. Holden was later kicked out of school and went to live in New York until he could find the courage to tell his parents he had been expelled. Holden was feeling very lonely so he decided to go down to the bar at the hotel where he was staying. He called his old friend Carl Luce who went to Whooton school with him.
He himself is a phony. To give some context, When Stradlater came back from his date with Jane, Holden started asking him with questions. He then ends up in a fight with him and decides to go to sleep in Ackley's room. He explains why he was so mad saying “The trouble was, I knew that guy Stradlater's technique. That made it even worse.
The beginning of Holden’s journey starts with the innocence and naivety of childhood. Childhood is the stage that ignorance is bliss with no care in the world. Holden goes to a prestigious boarding school for boys and he believes that everyone in that school is a phony in some way. Holden is an observant character as he stays in the background, but he can also cause the most trouble. Like a child, he asks many questions and he is very curious to the point that he can be annoying.
Holden hates Ward Stradlater. He calls him a secret slob. Straddler was Holden’s roommate at Pencey Prep. Stradlater is a ladies man. Holden sees that he does not take take care of his belongings.
Holden cannot handle accepting blame for his shortfalls. This is evident in the way he retells his story. Holden repeatedly tells the reader outrageous claims about his character. However when he ends up coming short on these expectations, he backtracks his previous statements in order to shift the blame away from himself. When he first discusses his fight with Stradlater he says, “All I know was I
In the catcher in the rye Holden takes the risk of fighting Stradlater. " ...then [he] tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddamn throat open" (Salinger. 43) Holden knew that fighting is agents the school rule's, but he fought Stradlater anyway and the reason why he fought him is because Holden likes Jane, and he
As the book starts Holden describes his childhood and how he has been kicked out of several school and once more again from his currently school, giving a sense of irresponsibility and no care in the world. Holden later on mentioned slowly the loss of his brother due to leukemia and how he reacted outrageously by breaking the windows of his garage home. As a reader one would view that behavior as abnormal, but Peter Shaw descried it as a normal behavior for a fictional character in the 1950s and by mentioning that Holden, “is presenting in a somewhat different manner than are the sentimentalized young people in other novels if his period” (par. 3), admitting that Holden was somewhat of an outcast of a character even for its time he is still considered normal. Shaw also challenged the reader’s view of Holden by emphasizing that Holden is not a real person, but a fiction character developed in the 1950s and in fact a mad psychological character is normal and made the reading rather more interesting and acceptable during that time. As readers someone may come across as understanding Holden’s behavior due to a loss and everyone mourns differently and as Shaw said, “ the one period of life in which abnormal behavior is common rather than exceptional” (par.
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 Catcher in the Rye In the novel The Catcher in the Rye J.D Salinger writes about a teenager struggling to find his place within the existence of the reality of others. Salinger creates shocking events that lay out the foundation of the the main character Holden Caulfield’s life in the novel. Salinger uses Holden’s characteristics throughout the novel such as Holden’s stubbornness to establish a much bigger theme in the book along with many other symbols.
Holden states that he misses Stradlater and Ackley, even though, he picked fights with both of them. Holden emphasizes “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody” (234). This quote shows how much Holden has matured by the end of the book. Throughout the whole book, Holden calls most of the characters a “phony.”
Stradlater was scared he broke Holden’s skull. They were both being childish. Stradlater fought him because Holden kept bothering him about a glove when it really wasn’t about it. It was more
Holden was failing everything except English and showed that Holden only liked literature and how he does not care if he passes or fails any classes. Liking one subject is a good thing, but failing the rest is very bad. In the song by Avenged Sevenfold, you could tell they were feeling lost and confused in life because they say, “This ride that takes me