The outsider, Holder Coalfield is responsible for his own alienation. How far would you agree? Focus on chapter 1-7 Define outsider -3 lines Every paragraph - AAA argument AAA methods and terms AAA context Quotations Holder Coalfield from the outset is an outsider and alienated from society. The technical term for an outsider is a person or thing excluded from or not a member of a set, group. We see that Holder is not really part of the society around him, from Pence Prep at the start of the novel to when he travels to New York. The role of the outsider In literature Is a vital one.
Slinger often employs Holder's point of view to show post war America which could be a cause of part of his alienation. Holder In 'The Catcher and the Rye' gives a narration through the eyes of one who Is "so close yet so far" In terms of fitting In to the society In which they supposedly already belong. I believe that Holder's unique character and look on other people makes him an outsider and that yes, Holder is responsible for his own alienation. I believe that one of the most important aspects of his outsider status is that Holder is an outsider cause he isolated himself from the other not because others avoid interacting with him.
We can see this from Holder saying 'practically the whole school was there apart from me. ' This was Holder choosing now to go down to the game ,to walk off Saxon hill, this is proof of others not excluding him, this shows his alienation may be down to him. In other words Holder voluntarily became an outsider. We also see that Holder's expectations for humanity are too high, so hardly anyone meets his standards; therefore, he dislikes most people and stays away from them.
Order custom essay The outsider Holden Caulfield is respo with free plagiarism report
He only mess to see and plan point out the negative sides of a surrounding or a character for example when Holder talks about Ackley 'Ackley Is dirty, pimply, and all-around unhygienic. ' this shows him making judgments of other people, trying to find a way and reason to alienate himself from them. He accuses a lot of other characters of being corny and phony.. In Holder's eyes, a "phony" is someone who embraces the world's mundane demands and tries to make something out of nothing-?that is, Just about everyone who studies in school or who puts on airs in order to do a Job or chive a goal.
Holder thinks the headmaster 'Mr. Has' of his old school 'Election Hills' is a phony because he is fake'. Holder mentions that the headmaster 'only talks to attractive parents at school events'. He said the headmaster would only 'shake hands 'and 'smile at the fat or ugly parents' and then he would walk away from them and' talk for hours to the attractive student parents'. He also partly blames the headmaster for the entire fastness of the school. He said the pamphlet and commercials show happy men playing polo and he never once saw a horse on the repertory.
This negative attitude and unusual outlook on people serves as a basis of exclude himself from thermopile. Holder labels almost everyone a "phony," excepting Phoebe, Allele, and himself Holder understands on some level one of the most profound truths of mortal life: the superficial matters little because it will not last, yet it is made to seem so much more important. Meanwhile, all around him, he must watch superficial people win honors through their phoniness. We can see He then holds his deepest contempt for those who succeed as phonies: Seedeater, the
Headmaster, and all the boys who treat school as if it is a club to be ruled by Social standing. All Holder wants is some authentic living, to hold on to someone like Phoebe or Allele who knows nothing of the world's superficiality and therefore is not tainted by it, but he is afraid to make it too real out of the Justified fear of one day losing them forever. This shows him alienating himself from everyone who he considers a phony. Many people think that Holder's quality for looking at the negative in people is bratty or snobby or arrogant, but I feel that Holder is Just captioned that there are not more good people in the world.
For such reason, it is hard for Holder to like someone and find someone who could really be considered a friend someone who is with him in his own world. Holder is very lonely, and his adolescent loneliness seems to run much deeper than the feelings so commonly felt at that age. At the same time, Holder takes few steps to mitigate his loneliness and alienation. Whenever he feels the urge to meet someone, to call up a girl, to have a social experience, he ends up sabotaging it before he can get hurt.
He thus protects myself so fully that he effectively shuts off any possibilities of alleviating his own loneliness, still alienating himself. He wants to call Jane, for example, but he hangs up before she gets on the phone. Pushing people away sees him being more and more alienated, but we can see his reason for this may be him willing to endure it rather than eventually face the ultimate, devastating feelings of losing another person like Allele. We can see that, after his younger brother Allies death, Holder turned into a permanently discontent individual.
He views became more skeptical and more hymnal of others, casting them out of his life this may be the cause of him beginning to isolate himself. To different readers we can see how Holder's alienation and the reasoning can change, people blame it on society, post war America, Pence prep or the middle class but I believe it is Holder's family background and unfortunate experience related to his family serves as a one of the causes of Holder being an outsider as well as his skeptical and cynical attitude which isolates Holder from the others, thus making him a social outsider and, alienating himself from the world.
Cite this Page
The outsider Holden Caulfield is respo. (2017, Nov 05). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/the-outsider-holden-caulfield-is-respo/
Run a free check or have your essay done for you