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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page essay that discusses the mental stability of Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. The writer focuses on Holden's fascination with innocence and his fear of transitioning in adulthood. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khcatsal.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
teenager who resists and fears the processes of maturation that are quickly taking him into the adult world (Hirsch, Kett and Trefil 99). In the late 1940s/early 1950s, which is
the period that book reflects, deviation from accepted societal norms was viewed as mental illness. While Holden Caulfield, the novels protagonist, is not insane, he is a very disturbed youth
who continues to grieve for his younger brother and who also needs counseling to overcome his fears of transitioning into the adult world. The primary source of tension in
this narrative is that Holden prefers the "innocence and secrets of childhood to the world" of adults (Parker 4). As Holden incorporates innocence in his own persona, he is a
very appealing adolescent. Alfred Kazin once commented in Atlantic Monthly that Catcher in the Rye, was a work "so full of Holdens cute speech and cute innocence and cute lovingness
for this own family that one must be an absolute monster not to like it" (Salzman 12). However, Holdens obsessive fascination with innocence and maintaining childhood innocence prevents him from
moving on in life. Holden wants to be the "catcher in the rye" (Salinger 224), which is a phrase that he remembers from a childrens song and believes to
mean a person who saves children from going over a precipice. As this indicates, he wants to be a "savor/ defender of the innocent" (Takeuchi 164). Salinger presents Holdens obsession
in various ways, such as indicate that he likes to keep things in their pristine state. This is why he does not throw a snowball at either the white car
or the white fire hydrant (Takeuchi 164). At the natural history museum he expresses the opinion that things, and by implication people as well, should be kept the way
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