Holdens Lonliness Catcher In the Rye :: essays research papers

Many young people often find themselves struggling to find their own identity and place in society. This search for self worth often leaves these young people feeling lonely and isolated because they are unsure of themselves. Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger's main character in the book The Catcher In the Rye, is young man on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. One contributor to this breakdown, is the loneliness that Holden experiences. His loneliness is apparent through many ways including: his lack of friends, his longing for his dead brother, and the way he attempts to gain acceptance from others. To Holden, everyone is either corny of phony. He uses these terms to describe what a person is if they do not act naturally and follow other people?s manners and grace. Holden dislikes phonies and thinks of them as people who try to be something they are not. He loathes people who showed off because it seems unnatural every time they do not act like themselves. Holden does not allow himself to have friendship because of his dull attitude. In the beginning of the book, the reader knows that Holden is lonely when he separates himself from the rest of the Pencey students by watching the football game from Thomsen Hill and not the grand stands. Holden is not a very sociable person partly because he finds himself better than many others. He dislikes his roommate because of his generic leather luggage. His next door roommate Ackley does not seem to want a friendship with him either. Holden finds Ackely?s zit crusted face ridiculous and doesn?t want him in his room at first. This shows the reader that Holden is a lonely person because he chooses to be lonely and does not want anything to do with people who do not fit into his perception of normal. Holden?s loneliness is apparent in more than just his lack of friends. His loneliness is made apparent by the way he misses his deceased brother, Allie. Holden makes several references to Allie and how the two used to get along and acted more like friends than brothers. Holden deeply misses his brother and even talks to him out loud to comfort himself because he still feels a void inside of him. Holden misses his brother more than others because Holden never had the final closure to his brother?s death, Holden never went to Allie?s funeral, and because Holden didn?

Color and Gatsby Essay

Convey The Jazz Age: overwhelming parties, dresses and a variety of colours to symbolise the vibrant and colourful (maybe garish? ) lives/culture of people during The Jazz Age. Yellow and Gold: Money, Money, Money. Oh, and Death. First off, we’ve got yellows and golds, which we’re thinking has something to do with†¦gold (in the cash money sense). Why gold and not green? Because we’re talking about the real stuff, the authentic, traditional, â€Å"old money† – not these new-fangled dollar bills. So you have Gatsby’s party, where the turkeys are â€Å"bewitched to dark gold,† and Jordan’s â€Å"slender golden arm[s]† (3. 19), and Daisy the â€Å"golden girl† (7. 99), and Gatsby wearing a gold tie to see Daisy at Nick’s house. But yellow is different. Yellow is fake gold; it’s veneer and show rather than substance. We see that with the â€Å"yellow cocktail music† at Gatsby’s party (1) and the â€Å"two girls in twin yellow dresses† who aren’t as alluring as the golden Jordan (3. 15). Also yellow? Gatsby’s car, symbol of his desire—and failure—to enter New York’s high society. And if that weren’t enough, T. J. Eckleburg’s glasses, looking over the wasteland of America, are yellow. White: Innocence and Femininity. Maybe. While we’re looking at cars, notice that Daisy’s car (back before she was married) was white. So are her clothes, the rooms of her house, and about half the adjectives used to describe her (her â€Å"white neck,† â€Å"white girlhood,† the king’s daughter â€Å"high in a white palace†). Everyone likes to say that white in The Great Gatsby means innocence, probably because (1) that’s easy to say and (2) everyone else is saying it. But come on – Daisy is hardly the picture of girlish innocence. At the end of the novel, she’s described as selfish, careless, and destructive. Does this make the point that even the purest characters in Gatsby have been corrupted? Did Daisy start off all innocent and fall along the way, or was there no such purity to begin with? Or, in some way, does Daisy’s decision to remain with Tom allow her to keep her innocence? We’ll keep thinking about that one. Blue: This One’s Up For Grabs Then there’s the color blue, which we think represents Gatsby’s illusions — his deeply romantic dreams of unreality. We did notice that the color blue is present around Gatsby more than any other character. His gardens are blue, his chauffeur wears blue, the water separating him from Daisy is his â€Å"blue lawn† (9. 150), mingled with the â€Å"blue smoke of brittle leaves† in his yard. His transformation into Jay Gatsby is sparked by Cody, who buys him, among other things, a â€Å"blue coat†Ã¢â‚¬â€and he sends a woman who comes to his house a â€Å"gas blue† dress (3. 25). Before you tie this up under one simple label, keep in mind that the eyes of T. J. Eckleburg are also blue, and so is Tom’s car. If blue represents illusions and alternatives to reality, maybe that makes the eyes of God into a non-existent dream. As for Tom’s car†¦well, you can field that one. Grey and a General Lack of Color: Lifelessness (no surprise there) If the ash heaps are associated with lifelessness and barrenness, and grey is associated with the ash heaps, anyone described as grey is going to be connected to barren lifelessness. Our main contender is Wilson: â€Å"When anyone spoke to him he invariably laughed in an agreeable colorless way† (2. 17). Wilson’s face is â€Å"ashen,† and a â€Å"white ashen dust† covers his suit (2. 17), and his eyes are described as â€Å"pale† and â€Å"glazed. † We’re not too surprised when she shows up with a gun at the end of the novel. Green: Life, Vitality, The Future, Exploration Last one. We’re thinking green = plants and trees and stuff, so it must represent life and springtime and other happy events. Right? Well, the most noticeable image is that green light we seem to see over and over. You know, the green light of the â€Å"orgastic future† that we stretch our hands towards, etc.   (9. 149). Right before these famous last lines, Nick also describes the â€Å"fresh, green breast of the new world,† the new world being this land as Nick imagines it existed hundreds of years before. Green also shows up—we think significantly—as the â€Å"long green tickets† that the rich kids of Chicago use as entry to their fabulous parties, the kind of parties where Daisy and Tom meet, and where Gatsby falls in love. So green does represent a kind of hope, but not always a good one. When Nick imagines Gatsby’s future without Daisy, he sees â€Å"a new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about†¦ like that ashen fantastic figure gliding toward him through the amorphous trees. † Nick struggles to define what the future really means, especially as he faces the new decade before him (the dreaded thirties). Is he driving on toward grey, ashen death through the twilight, or reaching out for a bright, fresh green future across the water?

Mask Of Civility In Lord Of The Flies - 1226 Words

â€Å"Is there worse evil than that which goes in the mask of good?† (Alexander) Evil and cruelty often conceal themselves behind the mask of polite civilization. When the mask is removed, the true savagery is revealed. In William Golding s dark novel, Lord of the Flies, humanity’s true savage nature is covered by a mask of civility. The group of boys crash onto a deserted island. And in order to survive, the boys attempt to recreate civilization and designate the conch as a symbol of authority. However, when the natural instinct to survive seizes the boys, resulting in the removal of their civilized masks, the savagery inside the boys emerges. Throughout the boys’ adventure on the island, Jack loses his mask of innocence and civility,†¦show more content†¦Their masks hide the evil dwelling within their innocent souls, waiting to be set free. It emits human personalities and behaviors, allowing it to be impenetrable by visual perception. With these masks as a cover, Jack and his tribe members interact nicely; chaos rips through their society when they allowed their masks to fall off throughout many sequences of events. When they first arrive at the island, Jack and the rest of the boys wears the same mask of innocence as every other human being, but it soon begins to slip. Throughout a massacre of pigs, Jack and the other boys releases their animal nature. Initially, the boys try to set up an island society that mimics the English society, with discipline and authority. The behavior of the boys is the same as they showed at school back home, but the need to be the survival of the fittest pushes the boys’ past their humanized nature. The children want to have familiar rules. Piggy says, â€Å"We’ll have rules!† he cried excitedly. â€Å"Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks ‘em--† (Golding 25). Everyone follows the rules in the beginning, hoping that it will lead their rescue. But when their hopes dwindle, they soon fall out of order, becoming two independent and opposed groups. To become superior to the others, Jack kills pigs and humans and earns the place of a t ribe leader. His actions show that humans act toShow MoreRelatedDefects Of Human Nature In William Goldings Lord Of The Flies1551 Words   |  7 PagesAn individual’s behaviour can have a substantial impact on a societys outcome. There is a common notion that humans are nurtured to be peaceful and civil. However, this belief is contradicted by the action of the boys, in William Golding’s, â€Å"Lord of the Flies†. A group of schoolboys are abruptly thrown out of their controlled and civil circumstances into an inhabited tropical island in the middle of the Pacific. The novel is Golding’s attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects ofRead MoreLord Of The Flies Human Nature Analysis1537 Words   |  7 PagesOne’s behaviour can have a substantial impact on a societys outcome. There is a common notion that humans are nurtured to be peaceful and civil. However this belief is contradicted by the action of the boys, in William Goldingâ⠂¬â„¢s, â€Å"Lord of the Flies†. A group of schoolboys are abruptly thrown out of their controlled and civil circumstances into an inhabited tropical island in the middle of the Pacific. The novel is Golding’s attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human natureRead MoreLord of the Flies Essay1901 Words   |  8 PageseGrant Johnson Per 4 Final Draft0- The Allegory of Life William Golding’s Lord of the Flies repeatedly contrasts with the morality-driven views of the controversial philosopher Frederick Nietzsche. Golding’s allegorical novel tells the story of a group of young boys who remain stranded on an island and left to their own instincts. Golding and Nietzsche would argue the issues the boys face are based on the morality and nature of man. 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When Ralph sees Bill, he says that â€Å"this is not Bill (183).† The boy behind the mask isRead MorePower In Lord Of The Flies1899 Words   |  8 Pagesones lead mostly by respect, there would be competitiveness between the two. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, there is often competition for power. There will always be leaders in the world, and a role of the citizens is to recognize the good and bad ones to keep civility in place. Without dutiful and strong leadership, society can crumble and become chaos. William Golding, author of the novel Lord of the Flies, demonstrates a pessimistic view on human nature by showing the instinct of savageryRead MoreLord Of The Flies Literary Analysis1534 Words   |  7 Pagesthe most scrutinous detail to his plethoric of symbolism seen throughout the novel, it is clear that he is an experienced writer. From his other books li ke The Inheritors and The Scorpion God it can still be seen that one of his earlier books, Lord of the Flies, is truly one of his greatest masterpieces. That book would also be the topic of this essay, and from the very beginning was obviously a piece of literature that has aged well despite its year of publish. From the stranding on the island to theRead MoreLord of the Flies by William Golding2631 Words   |  10 PagesThe English novelist William Golding often reflects on the common theme of man’s savagery and inability to avoid one’s evil and primitive nature. Man often tries to avoid this return to a basic state just like the boys in Lord of the Flies: â€Å"Weve got to have rules and obey them. After all, were not savages. Were English, and the English are best at everything† (40). One cannot escape the inevitable however as seen in Golding’s next novel, The Inheritors: â€Å"They killed Nil and threw her into theRead More Comparing Nature of Man in Island of Dr. Moreau and Lord of the Flies4645 Words   |  19 PagesNature of Man Exposed in Island of Dr. Moreau and Lord of the Flies  Ã‚        Ã‚   Throughout the natural history of mankind, the human race has always held a notion of its predominance over all other creations of nature. Man has long believed that he is somehow morally superior to all other creatures, motivated by a higher source than basic instincts. Yet, the history of man is marked by an interminable string of events that would seem to contradict that theory: war, genocide, segregation, suppression