VOTE: THE CATCHER IS THE RYE:Holden corrupted and cold hearted, or is he a confused innocent, sick child?

Question

Is holden corrupted and cold hearted, or is he a confused innocent child who is sick? Answer this question and support your answer with three incidents from the book!

Answer 1

"Catcher In The Rye"! Maybe if you can't read the title, you can't understand the book?

Answer 2

A good question. Holden Caufield has been a literary figure many have identified with. Before directly answering the question I would primarily characterize him as immature and self destructive. The fact that he has much potential and squandered it is so unfortunate. He could be seen as a rebel without a cause. Conformity in life on matters that do not require compromising does not seem wrong or manipulative. In my view this is Caufield's great shortcoming. He is immature, impractical.

Now directly to the question the characteristics I believe Holden Caufield has are in no way corrupt and cold hearted. At worst he seems not to choose to relate well to most people. I therefore between these two extremes, choose the latter.

Examples: overreacting to people's pertintious praise of French women singers in lounge,flunking out in college (horrible essay question in history on Eyptians), unnecessarily unpleasant to cute girl friend, petty response to reasoned English teacher's wise advise to get more focused and avoid a fall (Holden was wrong about the old teacher just patting his head while sleeping, a harmless gesture only of fatherly concern).

Answer 3

that's hard to say...i think both would fit well but since they clash...i would have to go with confused and corrupted

1. he wants to save the children from the bad stuff in society because he knows how it is to be "corrupted"

2. he is just confused and doesn't know what to do and really where to go alone in the city....he encounters his creepy teacher, calls a prositute but doesn't do anything....c'mon, i'd be freaked out

3. he meets the two nuns, he doesn't call them "phonies" as he does most everyone else in the book because nuns are "pure" and that kind of shows how a he is a child because children are innocent, and it also shows that he values innocence.

Answer 4

I can't pick just three incidents that showed how annoying Holden was because he showed that throughout the whole novel. I hated that book...