An Analysis of Protagonist Holden’s Growing Confusions in The Catcher in the Ryedoc

1、an analysis of protagonist holdens growing confusions in the catcher in the ryeacknowledgmentswith the composition of my thesis coming to end, i have at last obtained a chance to express my appreciation to my supervisor, du manli, who has encouraged and supported me in writing this novel, the catche

2、r in the rye. ms. du has not only given me her instructive and valuable advice, but also spent much time revising my thesis. for without her help, there would have many problems on my paper and i cannot complete this thesis successfully.besides i would like to thank other teachers of english departm

3、ent, whose courses i have attended and from whom i have benefited a lot.i am also thankful to my classmates for their encouragement and help throughout the four years, making my college life meaningful and wonderful.last but not least, my sincere gratitude also extends to my parents. they provide me

4、 with privileged conditions to continue my college study and they give me selfless care and love all the time.abstractthe catcher in the rye is regarded universally as modern classic which is written by a “reclusive writer” in america, jerome david salinger. as a novel about growth, the author succe

5、eds in shaping this rebellious youth image of the protagonist holden. in this novel, holden recalls his life experience of wandering in new york after being fired by the school in first person. however, the experience has become a journey in which he loses himself. the fiction reflects vividly holde

6、ns spiritual world experienced and confusion of growth in the process of entering the adult experience in the story to escape. this paper plans to analyze holdens the contradiction and conflicts in the growing process from his living environment and character and other aspects, combined with the fam

7、ous american psychologist erikssons identity crisis theory to analyze the confusion of holdens growth and reasons. holden has suffered from indispensable confusions of growth that all youth met in adolescence during his growing process which he explores hopelessly and helplessly, but at the same tim

8、e he has gained ideological change and spiritual insight in the process. his growth experience has a profound practical significance for the young people of all age.key worlds: holden; youth; growth; confusion; identity crisis摘要美国“遁世”作家杰罗姆大卫塞林格所著的麦田里的守望者是公认的美国现代文学经典。作为一部成长小说，作者成功塑造了主人公霍尔顿这一叛逆的青少年形象。

9、小说中霍尔顿以第一口吻回忆了自己被学校开除后在纽约流浪的生活经历，然而这段流浪的经历却成为一段迷失自我的旅程，在这个逃离的故事中，真实生动地折射出了霍尔顿在步入成人的过程中所经历的精神世界和成长困惑。本文将从霍尔顿生活环境和性格等方面来分析霍尔顿在成长过程中所遭遇的矛盾与冲突，并结合美国著名心理学家埃里克森的认同危机理论来分析霍尔顿的所遭遇的成长困惑及其困惑的成因。霍尔顿在其无助且无望地探索成长的过程当中，既遭遇了所有青少年在青春期必不可少的成长困惑，但同时又在探索和追寻的过程当中获得了思想的转变和精神的顿悟。他的成长经历对于各时代的青少年都有着深刻的现实意义。关键词：霍尔顿；青少年；成长；困

10、惑；认同危机contents1. introduction 11.1 introduction of jerome david salinger 11.2 introduction of the catcher in the rye 21.3 introduction of identity crisis 32. holdens performance in the confusions of growth 32.1 holdens confusion about sex 32.2 holdens confusion about death 52.3 holdens confusion abo

11、ut social identity 62.4 holdens confusion about adult world 73. the main reasons of holdens growing confusions 83.1 holdens character 83.2 the influence of holdens surroundings 93.3 holdens nostalgia about childhood 104. the impact of holdens growing confusions on his growth 114.1 cognitive barrier

12、114.2 resistance to growth 124.3 a catcher in the rye 125. conclusion 13bibliography 1514an analysis of protagonist holdens growing confusions in the catcher in the ryeintroductionjerome david salinger enjoys a high prestige in the world with his first and only novel the catcher in the rye. the nove

13、l describes the ugliness and loss of the capitalist world after world war ii in the first person and a youths tone, which has aroused great empathy among readers especially teenagers and many adults also regard it as a key to understanding the younger generation. there is no tempestuous plot, there

14、is no special writing skills in the fiction. but it portrays an image of youth who is reluctant to follow others and hopes to enjoy life by a natural and sincere attitude. many critics have approached this book with different perspectives，such as society, history, culture and religion. their critica

15、l reviews, however, focus more on the psychological and linguistics to analyze the hero and the contradiction between people and authority. this article mainly uses the related theory and the content reproduction and the opinion statement to analyze the heros growing confusion. there is some enlight

16、enment for youth growing in ideological problems by in this paper.1.1 introduction of jerome david salingerjerome david salinger, was born in new york in 1919.his father was a jewish importer, who made cheese and ham. his family is rich. salinger was sent to a military school in pennsylvania by his

17、parents when he was 15. in1936, salinger graduated from this military school and got diploma which is said to be his only diploma in his life. the catcher in the rye is said that it described the life of that boarding school.in 1937, salinger was sent to poland to make ham. after returning home to c

18、ontinue to study, he has entered the three different colleges but he has not graduated. when salinger was in new york, he began to contribute to the magazine，most of which are in order to make money, but there are some good articles. salinger interrupted his writing in world war ii.salinger joined t

19、he army in 1942 and he was dispatched to the european engaging in counter-espionage work after more than one year of special training .the war made salinger frightened, then he wrote many books about war. he got back to new york until after his demob and concentrate on writing.in 1951, salinger firs

20、t novel the catcher in the rye, obtaining a great success and this make his name a household world. however, he became more withdrawn after the success of this novel. he bought 90 acres of land that was closed to the river of the hill in the new hampshire. he built a cottage on the top of the hill a

21、nd has lived out of the world. although he never gave up writing, he rarely published his work after 1951. he later works were not as successful as the catcher in the rye. salinger is good at shaping the image of precocious, outstanding young people. his later works are more and more inclined to ori

22、ental philosophy and zen.in january 27, 2010, jerome david salinger died at the age of 91 at his home in new hampshire.1.2 introduction of the catcher in the ryein the story, anger and anxiety are the two main themes of the book. the catcher in the rye, which wrote a 16-year-old boy, called holden,

23、who was born in a rich middle class family .he escaped from school after being expelled in the fourth time .then he went to the united states of new york city in one day and two nights. the whole story tells about his such a special experience. it not only vividly depicted a delicate restlessness of

24、 the middle class childrens depressed, lonely and cynical spirit world, and the psychological characteristics of adolescents a mass of contradictions, but also criticized hypocrisy in the adult society.the author used the writing method of the stream of consciousness to explore the inner world of a

25、teenager. the catcher in the rye has given solace to countless young people around the world since its publication in 1951. as soon as the novel came out, holdens image of the young boy who hated the false surroundings was regarded as a charming new hero by millions of readers. in this article, the

26、warm language of advocating freedom was warmly welcomed. and this novel reflects the concept of life and morality of american teenagers in their contradiction and confusions after the world war ii, it also represents thought and situation of a number of people at that time. in america, people read t

27、he catcher in the rye is just as important as getting a mentors approval when they graduate. later, the catcher in the rye has a direct impact on the creation of this kind of novel.holden caulfield is leading character in the catcher in the rye and he is one of the earliest anti-heroic images in con

28、temporary american literature. as a rebel of the society, he is cowardly, timid and rebellious, but he looked down on material enjoyment and fame, and he pursues innocence and kindness all the time. holden hangs out in new york for three days after is expelled from school, he sees all kinds of pheno

29、mena in the society. he hates this world but unable to change it. his character is destined that he can only fall into the contradiction of growth even fails to finding a way to save himself. but holdens image that he defends childrens soul and keeps beautiful ideal deeply shocked generations of ame

30、rican readers.1.3 introduction of identity crisiserikson, the father of the self-psychology, who puts forward identity crisis in his theory of the eight stages of socialization. from his viewpoint, identity crisis refers to people will encounter various psychological problems in various stages of gr

31、owth or socialization, they need to respond to the specific social demands of the environment, if people successfully solve these problem, they will show a positive reaction, if not, there will be a crisis, this crisis is called identity crisis.(23-24)holdens performance in the confusions of growthi

32、ndividuals grow from birth to growth as a mature member of society, they has experienced a process that gradually transforms from a near-pure organism to a social entity with rich psychological content. in the process, individuals are affected by a variety of factors. for holden, because he reached

33、a mature in the body gradually, but in the psychological he still in an immature. he suffered some confusion about sex, death, social identity and adult world in his growth. these confusions tell about the long life journey in which holden are looking for his location.2.1 holdens confusion about sex

34、the perplexity of sex is an important theme in the catcher in the rye. freud said, adolescence is not only the reproductive period, but also the last stage of psychosexual development. at this stage, the individuals psychological object is transferred from the opposite sex parent to the other opposi

35、te sex.(beckett 117).this is fully reflected in the protagonist holden. he is a wealthy and handsome young man. as the same age as most boys of the adolescence age,he is naturally curious and interested in the opposite sex. in the article, he rarely mentions his mother. so it is not difficult to see

36、 that he no longer has a childlike attachment to his mother. more often than not, hes talking about his concerns about the opposite sex. he once frankly said, women kill me. they really do. i dont mean im oversexed or anything like that-although i am quite sexy.” (salinger 54)for him, it seems that

37、contacting with the opposite sex has become an indispensable part in his daily life. he likes the purity, the connotation of qin(a girls name), but does not refuse date with the vulgar, but very charming sally .and he even looks forward to getting married and has his own children as adults. with the

38、 growing maturity of physiology and the awakeness of sexual consciousness, he is keen to talk about the topic of sex, to understand sex, which is also the general psychological characteristics of adolescent boys. for adolescent boys, they are eager to learn more about sex. sexual intercourse is a te

39、st of ones abilities.(beckett 126) the holden repeatedly said, sex is something i just dont understand. (salinger 63)when he meets carleloos, he keeps asking loos questions about his personal privacy like innocent children, in order to get the relevant knowledge regarding sex. the main reason for hi

40、s confusion is that although he is almost mature in the physiology, but psychologically, he is not ready. he yearns for and cherishes pure love, but detests pure sexual relations. he said, you dont always have to get too sexy to get to know a girl” (salinger 76). he tries several times to hang out w

41、ith some girls, but every time he couldnt have an affair with them. ive had quite a few opportunities to lose my virginity and all, but ive never got around to it yet.”(salinger 92) finally, he would rather give money and blood, but to preserve his own virginity.it is particularly worth mentioning t

42、hat the harassment of homosexuals further deepens holdens confusion about sex. that kind of stuffs happened to me about twenty times since i was a kid. i cant stand it (salinger 193) he witnesses the ugly behavior of perverts in the hotel, and suffers a homosexual harassment from his teacher who he

43、admires. for a teenage boy, it is apparently unexpected, difficult to accept. in addition to the unique psychological characteristics of adolescence, society, school or family could not give him guidance regarding sexual problems , which is also one of the most important factors that causes the prot

44、agonist holdens confusion on sex.2.2 holdens confusion about deaththe confusion of death is the basic theme of the novel. life is good, and death is the ending of all good things. the love of life, the fear of death, is human. at the same time, in real life, we often see and hear the death of others

45、, and this deepens our fear of death. the adolescent has a deeper understanding of death than before.(deng weizhi 200) to be exact, the individual realizes that death is not governed by nature, that death will come at any time, and therefore he or she has the fear of death. for death, holden has had

46、 two memorable experiences. one scene was about his classmate kaiser: he jumped out of the window to commit suicide because of unbearable humiliation .holden had just heard him fall out of the room, and when he went out to look, kaiser was already dead. it can be said that his death makes holden awa

47、re of the fragility of life, which gives him a psychological shadow. in the article, he mentions the death of kaiser three times, especially after holden was robbed in the hotel, he also wanted to be like kaiser to jump out of the window to commit suicide. another memorable moment for holden was the

48、 sudden death of his beloved little brother. in holdens view, airy is the embodiment of all the good in the world, but the good time between he and airy spent together quietly terminates because of the sudden arrival of death of god .there is no doubt that the sudden departure of such a close family

49、 member has made the thirteen-year-old child, who has just entered puberty, turns view of death from abstraction to reality. throughout the text, he has been unable to let it go on the death of airy. but because he is afraid of death and hates death, he has only been to the tomb one or twice. and ev

50、en when he had imagined his own death, he was very upset. he is afraid of death, so he refuses to grow up. in his view, growing up means approaching death, and death is cruel. even four years later, when he tells his psychologist about his experiences,he said he was acting like a child of the age of

51、 thirteen, which means that he sincerely hopes that time will forever stop at the moment of his little brothers death. in the inner world of holden, the child is father of spirit, the old age does not represent wisdom, but the blind spot in spirit and the senescence of flesh. therefore, he does not

52、want to face the old and sick history teacher, refuses to accept his old knowledge, and even for his grandmother, who loves him so much, calls a dotard.he is puzzled by the fear of death, but at the same time, also has an infinite yearning of death. holden does not attend airys funeral at the time f

53、or he is ill in hospital, so there is no chance to see the process of the ending of life, which makes the death a bit more mysterious in his eyes. whenever he feels lonely and fear, he will try to dialogue with his deceased little brother airy, hoping for the dead brothers bless. besides, he is fasc

54、inated by the dead, especially the mummies. in his helping his roommate to write a descriptive essay, he even forgets his original intention of writing and cam not help himself, making a description of airys remains -a pair of softball gloves. in the history examination a free choice of the paper to

55、pic, he chooses to write about the egyptians. and he knowingly writes about the egyptian mummy preservation method on the topic questions regarding egypt. his fascination with death is evident. in particular, in the art museum, he asks two little boys to find the location of the mummy. he said, boy,

56、 i used to know exactly where they were, but i hadnt been in that museum in years.(salinger 203), and then he introduces the preservation of the mummy to them. when the two boys, because of fear, quickly run away, holden is alone in a mummys tomb, just beside the mummy. he feels a refreshing quietne

57、ss in his inner heart and is reluctant to leave. even when his little sister asks him to say what he likes, the only answer he could give was airy-a dead man. in addition, he mentions several times that he imagined his death, or suffering from an incurable disease, or shot, or a suicide.it can be se

58、en that , on the one hand, death has become a lingering shadow of his heart, let him hate, fear; on the other hand, death is full of mystery and temptation for him, let him infinitely be longing for it.2.3 holdens confusion social identityeriksson is a first figure who put forward the views: establi

59、shing personal identity is the main feature of adolescence and also is a crucial step towards adulthood. and the establishment of identity involves the establishment of self-awareness, values and outlook on life. (beckett 586). according to erikssons view, identity for adolescents brings negative consequence is identity confusion. once they can not agree with the identity given to them by society, they will