Character image

Growth history

Character image

Relationship with Holden

Ackley: Holden's classmate has poor personal hygiene habits. He always doesn't take a shower or brush his teeth, and his clothes are always dirty. He is introverted and unwilling to communicate with his classmates. He is always alone. In the dormitory, he often clashed with Holden over trivial matters. For example, he did not pay attention to public health and littered in the dormitory. Holden reminded him, but he did not accept it and would argue with Holden. He also likes to create noise while Holden is studying or resting, affecting Holden. His presence further highlights Holden's incompatible state in school, making Holden feel more inconsistent with his surroundings.

Stradletta: Holden's roommate, handsome, charming smile and toned figure, is sociable, and is very popular among girls in school. He always wears fashionable clothes and pays attention to his appearance. But in Holden's eyes, he is hypocritical and selfish, focusing only on appearance and material enjoyment. After a brief meeting with Holden's friend, he was frivolous about Jane, and just regarded Jane as an object to show off, and completely disrespect Jane's feelings. This made Holden feel angry and dissatisfied, and the two had many fierce quarrels in the dormitory. Stradletta's behaviors and values ​​are very different from Holden, whose presence deepens Holden's understanding of the hypocrisy of school and adult worlds.

Daily life at Pansy Middle School: At Pansy Middle School, Holden faces boring courses every day. Mathematics teachers only focus on the derivation of formulas and the teaching of problem-solving methods, but rarely mention the application of mathematics in real life, which makes Holden feel that mathematics is a meaningless subject. When explaining literary works, Chinese teachers always analyze according to the contents of the teaching materials, and do not allow students to have different opinions, which makes Holden, who likes to think independently, feel depressed. His history teacher Mr. Spencer reads the script in class, his voice is monotonous and boring. Holden has no interest in this teaching method and often distracts in class, fantasizing about himself in a free and beautiful world. The students are full of hypocrisy and comparison. In order to show themselves in front of the teacher, everyone will deliberately please the teacher and say something against their will. Before the exam, some students would cheat secretly and use any means to achieve good grades. In the dormitory, students will also show off their family background and material wealth to each other, but will disdain for things that have truly connotations.

The fuse of being fired: Holden failed four of his five subjects, among which his most annoying history and composition achievements were even more terrible. In history class, he had no interest in those boring historical events and characters, and could not remember what the teacher said. In composition class, he did not like the questions set by the teacher, and felt that those questions restricted his imagination. He was more willing to write some topics that he was really interested in, but the teacher did not recognize his writing style, which led to his writing grades being very poor. In addition, he had a fierce clash with his roommate Stradletta. Stradletta's attitude towards Jane made Holden angry and dissatisfied after a briefing with Holden's friend. Stradletta just treats Jane as a tool to show off, and does not respect Jane completely when she is dating. Holden questioned Stradletta, and the two had a fierce quarrel over this and even almost fought. These things eventually led to his expulsion from the school and his life at Pansy Middle School was completely failed.

Leaving school to New York: After learning that he was fired, Holden did not go home immediately, but decided to spend a few days in New York. He took the train to New York, where he met the mother of classmate Ernest Morrow. The mother was very enthusiastic about Holden and asked him about the school. Out of hypocritical imitation of the adult world, Holden concealed the fact that he was fired and made up some lies, saying that he was the main player of the basketball team in school, often participated in various competitions, and had good academic performance. On the one hand, he did not want others to know his failure, and on the other hand, he was also a mockery of hypocritical behavior in the adult world.

All kinds of experiences in New York: In New York, he stayed in a cheap hotel. The hotel room was small and dim, with lots of stains on the walls, and the bed sheets were emitting a odor. The guests in the hotel behaved strangely. Some people got drunk in the middle of the night, sang loudly and made noise in the corridor, which affected others' rest. Some people behave frivolously and chat with strangers in hotels. Holden tries to date a prostitute Sunny, who feels like this is an attempt to rebel against the adult world. But when Sunny comes to his room, his inner conflict and disgust for this deal makes him back. He started chatting with Sunny and found that Sunny also had his own helplessness and pain, which made him even more disgusted with this trading behavior. He refused to have sex with Sunny and had a clash with the pimp for refusing to pay the extra fee, and was beaten by the pimp, leaving bruises on his face. He also went to the bar to discuss with the taxi driver where the ducks were going in winter. He was curious about where the ducks in the Central Park pond would go in winter, but the taxi driver showed indifference and impatientness about his problems, thinking that his problems were boring, which made him feel even more indifferent and ruthless in the adult world.

Looking for her sister: After wandering in New York for a few days, Holden missed her sister Phoebe very much, so he decided to go home and see her secretly. He took advantage of his parents going out and sneaked into the house to meet Phoebe. Phoebe was very happy at first when she saw her brother, but when she found out that her brother was fired, she was very angry. She said to her brother, "How can you do this? You will make your parents very sad, and you will also ruin your future." Holden confides her in school and New York, and her confusion and dissatisfaction with the adult world. After hearing this, Phoebe understood her brother's inner pain. The two hugged each other tightly, and their relationship became deeper.

Insights and Growth: Phoebe hopes to run away from home with Holden to find a place without worries. She felt that her brother had suffered too much outside and wanted to escape from this world that made them unhappy with her brother. Holden rejected her and said to Phoebe: "We can't do this, you are still young, you need a stable life and a good education, I can't take you into chaos." While accompanying Phoebe to the zoo, Holden saw his sister playing happily on the carousel. At that moment, he felt the beauty and innocence of life. My sister's innocent smile made him realize that there are still things worth cherishing in life and that he cannot just escape. He looked at his sister and secretly swore in his heart that he would face life again for his sister and for himself, and no longer escape from reality.

Confusion and resistance to the adult world: The adult world in Holden's eyes is full of hypocrisy, selfishness and indifference. In school, in order to maintain their authority, teachers will lie to students and perfunctorily deal with students' problems. For the sake of interests, classmates will deceive and exploit each other. In society, interactions between adults are full of utilitarianism, and they do anything to do for money, status, etc. Holden was confused and dissatisfied with adult values ​​and behavior, and he didn’t understand why people couldn’t treat each other sincerely. Therefore, he expressed his resistance through rebellious behavior, and smoking, drinking, truant school and other behaviors became his way of confronting the adult world. He tried to prove his existence through these actions and find his own value, but in fact he fell into deeper confusion.

The exploration of self-identity: Holden constantly searches for his identity and value as he grows up. He tries to break free from the shackles of school and family, and pursues freedom and independence. He didn't like the rules and regulations in the school, and felt that these rules and regulations restricted his personality development. He also does not agree with his parents' values, believing that his parents only care about his achievements and future prospects, and do not care about his inner feelings. He wants to find a world that truly belongs to him, where he can be his real self. But he didn't know what he really wanted, and he kept exploring in confusion, his heart was full of struggle. He tried different lifestyles and interacted with different people, but never found his direction. This exploration of his self-identity made him feel painful and confused.

Phoebe's symbolic innocence: Phoebe's innocence, cuteness, kindness and innocence represent the beautiful qualities that Holden longs for protection in his heart. Her smile, her curiosity, and her love for the world all made Holden feel the power of innocence. In Holden's eyes, Phoebe is like an angel, not tainted by the hypocrisy and ugliness of the adult world. Her existence allowed Holden to see the untainted side of life and became his motivation to stick to his inner innocence. He hopes to protect Phoebe so that she can always maintain this innocence and not be hurt by the outside world.

The meaning of the Wheat Field Watcher: Holden imagines that he is a watchman who protects children in the Wheat Field and prevents them from falling off the cliff. This fantasy has profound meanings, the wheat fields symbolize the innocence and beauty of the world, the children symbolize people as pure as Phoebe, and the cliffs represent the ugliness and depravity of the adult world. Holden hopes to protect the innocence of children like Phoebe and not let them get too early to get into the ugliness of the adult world. He believes that he has a responsibility to protect these innocent souls and allow them to grow in a safe and beautiful environment. This protection of innocence reflects Holden's deep yearning and pursuit of beautiful things.

Repression of the cultural environment: The social and cultural environment at that time was depressing and single, lacking inclusiveness of personality and innovation. The fields of literature, art, etc. are bound by traditional concepts, and new trends of thought are difficult to emerge. Holden loves literature, but cannot find literary works that resonate with it. In his opinion, the classic literature taught in the school is out of touch with real life and cannot reflect the true emotions and confusion of teenagers. Popular culture is full of commercial atmosphere, shallow and vulgar, further aggravated his disappointment with the cultural environment. This repressed cultural environment limits the ideological development of teenagers and makes it difficult for them to find an outlet for self-expression. It is also an important factor leading to the rebellion of teenagers such as Holden.

The impact of social class differences: The book also shows the impact of social class differences in obscurely. Holden was born in a middle-class family. Although he did not worry about material life, he was extremely empty on the spiritual level. He saw the difficult lives of the people at the bottom of society, such as poor children and prostitutes on the streets, and was deeply angry at the injustice of society. At the same time, he was unable to truly integrate into the upper class, and the arrogance and hypocrisy of those rich children made him disgusted. This social class barrier made him unable to find a sense of belonging in society, further deepened his criticism of social reality and also revealed the negative impact of social class differences on the formation of adolescent psychology and values.