Character analysis plus theme analysis essays

Character analysis plus theme analysis essays The main character in The Catcher in the Rye is Holden Caulfield. The most noticeable trait about Holden is how extremely judgmental he is about everything. He criticizes and people who are boring, insecure and phony. He said, For instance, they had this headmaster, Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life. (Salinger page 13) He then goes on and describes how Mr. Haas treats people whos parents are rich better than other parents. He hates the way phony people treat rich people like kings and queens just because they are rich. Another aspect of Holdens personality is his child-like behavior. This is evident when he says, Ask her if she still keeps all her kings in the back row. (Salinger page 34) This quote shows Holdens childlike behavior. He is a 17 year old boy yet he is still amused by childish memories. Holden is also a character with a lack of self confidence. He has always believed that he was the one that did not belong. In his family he always mentions h ow much of a success his brother is or how smart his little sister is or his dead brother was, but he is always putting himself down. We can see this when Holden says, "My brother D.B.s a writer and all, and my brother Allie, the one that died, that I told you about, was a wizard. Im the only really dumb one." (Salinger page 67) Holden, the protagonist, is also the narrator of the story and these traits play a very important part of the novel. Another important character in the novel is Phoebe Caulfield, Holdens younger sister. Phoebe is a very bright, young child. She is a very intelligent child for her age. This is shown when Holden asks her if she a song and she corrects him by saying, "It's 'If a body meet a body coming through the rye'! It's a poem. By Robert Burns." (Salinger page 172) This shows a great deal of intelligence as you do not expect a young...