Holden Caufield as Untrustworthy Narrator in The Catcher in the Rye :: Catcher Rye Essays

Holden Caufield as Untrus tworthy Narrator in The Catcher in the Rye     The problem with most first person narratives is that there is alone one point of view. In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caufield shares his quondam(prenominal) experiences as a distressed teenager. The entire story is told through his profess troubled mind, which often distorts the experiences. Salinger portrays the reason behind Holdens immaturity by demonstrating his devious qualities.   Most of Holdens views contradict themselves because of Holdens own confusion. This confusion blinds him from being able to score that most of his criticism is against himself. Salinger clearly presents this after Stradlader hits Holden. All that blood and every sort of made me look tough. Id only been in more or less two fights in my life, and I lost both of them. Im not too tough. Im a pacifist, if you want to know the truth(46). Even though Holden enjoys to see himself sh ell up, he contradicts himself by proclaiming he is a peaceful person. Salinger utilizes these contradictions to reveal how f exclusivelyible Holdens observations are.   Salinger also depicts Holdens immaturity through the judgment of his peers and elders. Holdens disillusionment of good heap alters the true personality of each person he meets. Holden even criticizes his newfangled classmates, whom he has not even meet yet. Its full of phonies/.../and you have to living making believe you give a damn if the football police squad loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day(131). Just because Holden is uncomfortable in his school, he feels the need to pass judgment of everyone. Salinger exploits this immaturity to illustrate the reason for Holdens loneliness and confusion.   Throughout the story Salinger introduces characters that in reality appeal to Holden, which give him guidance and make him feel better about himself. Mr. Antoli ni is one of these people. Holden seems hopeless in his quest for happiness, but Mr. Antolini guides him in the in force(p) direction. Even after all the help, he still finds a flair to scrutinize Mr. Antolini. What he was doing was, he was sitting on the floor sound next to the couch, in the dark and all, and he was sort of petting me or patting me on the goddam head(192).