The Catcher in the Rye - Character Analysis: Holden Caulfield

Holden is a character that every reader loves, but is totally alone. And he knows it. He has a very odd personality. He is obviously very judgmental of everyone, but at the same time he is always looking for the people he hates to be his friend when he really needs one. Holden is caught right in the middle: he judges everyone, then sorta kinda tries to reach out but in the end gets shut down and ends up upset. Throughout the story, Holden is so eager to make people happy. That is one of the reasons that he is the hero of the novel. He always helps people out or makes them happy, but they never return the favor. He constantly gets walked all over. And what is the result? Take, for instance, what he did as soon as he got off the train in New York. He ran into a phone booth and stood in it for 20 minutes trying to figure out who he was going to call, and then never called someone! 20 minutes and he couldn't think of a single person to call? But even after he gets taken advantage of, he never makes it seem like he is a victim. He is just so eager to make friends and please people.

One thing that is an advantage to the writing style that Holden is the narrator is that the reader is able to know exactly what Holden thinks, and he really doesn't think too highly of...well....anyone. He kept calling everyone "phony." But why? Calling everyone phony is a defense mechanism for Holden. If he calls everyone phony, he can feel better about himself when they turn him down. Holden is such a complex character that you must take every aspect of the story into consideration when evaluating his character. And what's this about his goal in life to be "the catcher in the rye?" Obviously, that is impossible. He can't save every child in the world. But everything starts to fit together when you think about his life goal. He acts childish because children are the people he can relate to best. When he finally does have to grow up, he wants to protect the only people that were nice to him by being "the catcher in the rye."

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Print.