Catcher in the Rye Final Essay

By: Nick Swetkowski

A Famous actor by the name of Will Smith once said, Throughout life
people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal
with the things they do, because hate in your heart will consume you too
(Smith). This quote truly represents Holdens view on life. I believe that
Holden has had multiple bad experiences in his life that have caused him to
not only hate adults but humanity itself. Holden seems to have a lot of anger
built up inside of him that he doesnt know how to get rid of and that is what
his problem is. The way he feels has been crippling him ever since his
brother died and there is no one to communicate with because he doesnt
like talking to anyone at school. Also, there is no one to talk to because he
thinks everyone is a phony. While on the other hand, he cant talk to anyone
in his family because he will get yelled at for dropping out of school. All the
problems in Holdens life are caused by his family, his school life, and how he
is treated by people. These things are the true reasons why he looks down on
life and doesnt care/like anyone or anything in life.
Holdens main source of hatred comes mainly form conflicts in his
family. Everything first began when his brother Allie had passed away. This
was a few years before the time in which Holden is representing in the story.
During the time of Allies death, Holden took all his anger out in the garage at
his house. This is represented when he had said, I broke all the windows in
the garage (Salinger 39). This quote shows just how much anger and

sadness Holden keeps bundled up inside of himself. But this isnt the end of
his anger being described. Later on in the novel, Holden tells the reader that
he would rather sit on a nuclear bomb then live a normal life. He specifically
said, Anyway, I'm sort of glad they've got the atomic bomb invented. If
there's ever another war, I'm going to sit right the hell on top of it. I'll
volunteer for it, I swear to God I will (Salinger 141). That quote shows just
how messed up Holden truly is. He is beginning to think darker and darker
thoughts as he continues to tell the readers about his life. It gets so bad to
the point where he begins to get mad at Phoebe. This shows just how
destroyed Holdens perspective on life is because he continuously told us all
throughout the book that we would like his sister and that she is the only one
he can truly talk to.
Throughout the book, we not only see that Holden is affected
emotionally because of things that have occurred with his family but also
because of school. From what Holden had told us, he has been to multiple
schools all at the expense of his parents. He continuously fails out of school
because he doesnt put enough effort into learning the material that is being
taught in each class. This could be because he has a mental disability but we
know for a fact that the teachers have tried to help him learn. We know this
when we hear that teachers are concerned about where he is going in life
since he keeps getting kicked out of schools. This shows they truly care
about his well-being and his future. Since the teachers are trying, this shows
that its not the school system its Holden. He cant hold himself together

and learn what he needs to that will allow him to succeed. Instead he hates
school and doesnt care about his grades but he will write papers and do
school work for others. He allows others to use him so he doesnt feel
completely worthless. If Holden didnt have to go to school and was able to
stay home, he would be able to recover from his brothers death instead of
being shipped away and worrying about all the things that are associated
with going to school.
Not only did his family and his school life hurt him but Holden was also
effected a majority of the time by how other people treated him. Throughout
his story he talks about multiple people including his roommates at school
along with different adults he had encountered throughout his journey after
he failed out of school. In my opinion, from seeing some of the people that
Holden had met, he has the right to hate everyone and everything. All the
people he had met like Maurice, the taxi drivers, and the girls at the club all
treated him so rudely. They rejected him by not answering his questions or
not speaking to him in general. Also, he was brutally beaten by Maurice
which was probably one of his worst experiences since he had left Pencey.
But in reality, no matter what happened, he shouldnt hate everyone and
everything because it isnt everyones fault that a few people may have
mistreated him throughout his journey. If he would have made the right
choices and not have gone to bars and done bad things, then he wouldnt
have met those awful people, but he did. Not only was he mistreated by
those people but he was also inappropriately touched by a teacher and it can

be assumed that his dad touched him as well. This was shown when Holden
says, When something perverty like that happens I start sweating like a
bastard. That kind of stuffs happened to me about twenty times since I was a
kid (Salinger 193). This shows that Holden has been sexually touched before
by other male adults. The fact that he talks about it is rare but it is also said
that, Sexual abusers are more likely to be people we know, and could well
be people we care about (Parents Protect). This shows that it could have
more likely been his father that has sexually used him more than other
adults. This could also have truly changed how he sees life, because even
adults to him, are not safe to be around.
Overall, Holden has had multiple bad experiences in his life within his
family, his life at school and through different experiences he has had with
people. The experiences were not only throughout the time span that he had
shared with us, but also throughout his entire life, including the times he
would not shed light upon. I believe that Holden has had a rough life and that
is why he looks down on the world and everyone who inhabit it. The things
that have happened to him have truly impacted his life to the point where he
may not be able to recover without the help that he is receiving. Holden is a
young boy and still has much to learn about life, and everything that he
doesnt understand will come to him in time. Thats all he ever truly needed
to recover time.

Works Cited
Salinger, J. D., E. Michael Mitchell, and Lotte Jacobi. The Catcher in the Rye. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
Print.
"When a Child Tells About Sexual Abuse." Parents Rotect. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 June 2015. <http
%3A%2F%2Fwww.parentsprotect.co.uk
%2Fwhat_to_do_if_a_child_tells_about_abuse>.
"Will Smith Quote." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 08 June 2015.
<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/willsmith167213.html?src=t_hate>.