Catcher in the Rye Character Anyalisis-Holden

“If you really want to hear about it, you’ll probably want to know where I was born…”(Salinger, pg.1) In the first sentence of Catcher in the Rye Holden, one of the most unordinary characters ever in American literature, shows exactly the mentality Holden has had his entire life. Holden speaks as though you do not care and he doesn’t want you to care but, at heart that is the exact opposite of what he wants. The way Holden approaches everything in life is extremely unconventional, socially Holden has absolutely no idea how to interact with others. Throughout the story and most of his life Holden has been depressed. Holden has experienced many moves throughout his life because he has dropped out of so many schools, as for Holden’s past only one word can describe it unstable.

In every aspect of life Holden is abnormal, and the way he behaves is no exception. The most noticeable abnormal trait of Holden is he is an oxymoron. Holden is always analyzing other people worrying about what they are doing and how what they are doing is phony. Holden only points this out because deep down inside he knows he is phony just as much as the guy next to him. Holden is also extremely hard-headed when his pride or something believes in is on the line. A perfect example of this is when Holden spends the night with sonny and knows he only owes 5 dollars but Maurice wants ten Holden won’t just use his head and give it to Maurice instead he gets himself hurt and loses his money.

Holden is almost always Phony to the people interacts with. He always says something and really means something completely different. Holden just doesn’t want to make that person feel bad. Holden shows this throughout his life including when he is talking to Mr. Spencer. “Well, you could see he felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff.”(Pg. 12)

The mood of Holden through out his life has been depressed. Holden always dwells on the past thinking of things that have hurt him and relates it to the present. Holden can be completely happy and then see a girl that reminds him of Jayne and he would get depressed just because of what Stradlater may have done with her. Holden has absolutely no idea what they did together but Holden automatically assumes the worst and becomes depressed.

Holden has had an extremely rough past with many traumas in his life, the biggest being his brother Allie dieing of leukemia at the age of 11. Holden also has an older brother D.B. who went to war in Europe during WWII. Even though D.B. never was shot at or shot at anyone in the war and is now a writer in Hollywood making a lot of money, having a family member in a war can still be exceptionally traumatic for a family member.

Change of scenery has not been a problem for Holden. If a person met Holden on the street that person would think he was an exceptionally smart kid probably getting A’s in school. Holden is actually horrendous student having flunked or been kicked out of four prep schools. Holden does not understand why he should be in doing the work so he does not do it.

Holden’s Problems

A childhood that included a death of a sibling may cause problems mentally for an ordinary person but Holden is not an ordinary person. Holden is no slouch when it comes to having masses of problems. Holden’s main problem