Holden's Lack of Perfection in The Catcher In The Rye Essay

The Catcher in the Rye

In this book Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, Holden Caulfield the protagonist and narrator is a teen that struggles a lot with society. Some people think Holden is a conceited snob, while others view Holden as a Christ like figure. In my opinion Holden is a Christ like figure; he does do some things and says things that do make it sound as if he really is a Christ like figure. For example he stayed a virgin even though he had the opportunity to lose his virginity; this for most religions represents purity. And another thing he says is that he wants to be a catcher in the Rye to save the kids lives so that they wont fall off the cliff.

I dont think Holden is as perfect as he wants to be I think he only judges people and calls them a phony, because he probably does things like they do that he hates doing himself. Theres parts in the book were Holden acts like a phony and sometimes is a hypocrite , he contradicts himself, for example when he tells he hates the movies but then again he also tells that he likes attending them with her sister and with his friends. I cant say Holden is a phony because he judges people in his mind and he admits hes a liar, his attitude is like many people. Yes Holden does criticize people a lot but he never tells them and he never hurt anyone.

Holden does show comparison throughout the book, invites a prostitute over to his hotel room. Instead of paying her for sex, he feels bad for the prostitute and pays her without having sex with her.

Holden also tells a mother of a real jerk that her son is a real good, popular kid. This may be seen as lying, but he made someones day. Holden loves his sister because shes not a phony like the others.

I dont think it was Salingers intention to make Holden a Christ like figure because Holden mostly talks about his issues with society and criticizing phonies. He makes Holden look like a confusing teen trying to find himself, because hes ostracized a lot by society. He focuses a lot on Allies, and he feels guilty for not spending a lot of time with Allie this probably explains why he wants to be the Catcher in the Rye because he couldnt prevent Allies death, he can now save lives of other innocent children.