The Catcher in the Rye, a timeless classic by the famous J.D. Salinger brings you back into New York City in the 1950s. It's about a boy named Holden, Holden Caulfield. Holden attended a school named Pencey in Pennsylvania, before getting kicked out for his terrible academic performance. Pencey was not a place Holden loved, it was filled with a bunch of "phonies" as Holden says, like his classmates Ackley, Stradlater, and teacher Mr. Spencer. After leaving "phony" Pencey, he head out to New York City with out telling anyone where he's headed. Except knowing that he will only know what adventure he has ahead of him.
Holden is a crazy kid with many problems, mostly internal. His problem best describes as man vs. himself. Man, or Holden vs. himself seems to be a big problem- he's faced with a bunch of "phonies" everywhere around him and his idea of phonies is just ruining him causing him to do things such as running off to NYC. Another would be himself against society, that no one is good for him. He believes everyone to be "phonies" and that he cannot relate to anyone. His family even takes a toll on his problems, Allie his brother died of leukemia at 11, his sister Pheobe leaves him worried and DB his older brother impression on Holden leaves him even more cracked. His externals man vs. society seem to lead him to man vs. himself, his surroundings are ruining him. In the inside.
Holden is alone in the whole story so far except for a few parts. One person that is always apart of his life would be Allie. Allie, his dead brother. Allie's death took a terrible effect on Holden, it left him thinking everyone is a "phony", he can't trust anyone. His death also causes Holden to be more close to his little sister, Phoebe. He's afraid of losing her like he lost Allie, he doesn't want to be a bad example to her as he loves her too much. And lastly, Allie leads to Jane. Jane is Jane Gallagher, a girl who was neighbors with Holden and who he liked for a while. Allie bought Jane closer to Holden, she was the first person to get close to him after Allie's death. Even if Allie is dead, he's still a very important part because he brought Holden close to everyone. Also because he brought Holden's internal problems.
Allie is a pretty big influence on Holden for quite a lot of reasons. Allie's death made him understand, or think what's real and what's not- who's phony. He brought Holden closer to a lot of people. But, mostly because he is the main cause of Holden's internal thinking/problem. Allie was actually the reason Holden even ran away to NYC. The night Stradlater asked Holden to write an English composition, he wrote about a baseball glove, something valuable to Allie. When Stradlater thought it wasn't good enough, his mind set on phonies and just leaving. Again, even though Allie is not a vital part in the book, he is in Holden's heart where he will remember Allie, his 11 year old leukemia dead brother.
Zarrin Syeda 813.
