EReadings: Person of the Issue

~ Who Is Holden Caulfield? ~

Holden is a 16 year old junior in highschool... Well kind of. He was kicked out of four other highschools before he came to Pencey Prep. Inevitably, he was eventually kicked out of that school, because of his lack of responsibility toward his educational career. However, Holden's personality goes deeper than that of a trouble maker who can't even stay in one school.
Holden is emotionally unstable. One major incidents in his past has affected his future. The death of his younger brother, Allie Caulfield. Holden lives with this tremendous guilt over his death. He feels he could have prevented it. He once told his younger sister, Phoebe, that the one thing he wanted to be was a Catcher in the Rye. This big field full of little children, and the only adult was him. His job was to catch the children before they fell over the hill.

One thing about Holden is that he despises "phony" people. He hates how people will act just to impress someone, or just because it's how everyone else acts. The one group that he despises the most are the "Hotshots." What's ironic about this is that Holden is a hotshot himself. There to lies a guilt. He feels foolish critising everything everybody else does, yet he is hypocritical by doing the same thing.

We can all see it. Holden Caulfield is a depressed young man. One of the things due to this is the loneliness he feels in the world. This loneliness compels him to do many things, that would most likely go against his morals. For example, he goes on a date with Sally Hayes. This is a girl who Holden claims is "stupid." He is also a plentiful liar. He can stir up stories without even thinking about it. This to goes with his hatred of phoniness.

All Holden wants, is to be loved and known in the world. He doesn't want to be alone anymore. He doesn't want to be phony anymore. He doesn't want to live in a society where it would be natural to be phony. He is constantly talking about running away, and start a life elsewhere. But that would only add onto his already existing problems. Despite what he thinks, Holden is always looking for a new relationship, only to bail out of it at the last second.