Analysis of Holden Caulfield

Holden Caulfield is the narrator and protagonist of the novel The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is troubled and a somewhat unreliable narrator, because although he can read other people very well, he often does not fully understand certain elements of others, whether it be their personalities, feelings, motives, or their entire character. Holden himself is an extremely judgmental character, setting nearly impossible standards that not even he can live up to. Holden ridicules the insecurities that people have, and says that they are boring and superficial. He sees adults in particular as truly bad people, and is convinced that nearly all adults are complete 'phonies'- fake and impossible for anyone to trust.

In Holden's opinion, adults are everything wrong with the world; symbolizing phoniness and distrust. While he sees the worst in adults, his opinion of children is completely the opposite. Holden views children and youth in general as symbols of pureness and innocence, and desperately wants to inhabit a world where he can forever have the simple life of a child. However, Holden does start to grow up, no matter how hard he tries to fight it off.

However unsettling Holden's outlook on life may be, there must have been factors in his life that influenced this. There are obvious signs that Holden is a troubled person- he fails out of several schools, he does not care about his future, and he is unable to connect with other people. There were two serious traumatizing events in Holden's past, the death of his brother Allie and the suicide of one of his classmates. While Holden tries to isolate himself away from contact, he is trying to protect himself. But really, he is only hurting himself more by pulling away and refusing to really try and connect with the other people that are present in his life.

It is obvious throughout the novel that Holden wants nothing more than to hold on to his childhood- which will eventually be his downfall in life. He dreads growing up, thinking that he too will become a phony, and because of this, he tries to regress. This ultimately leads to Holden's stay in a mental institution.