"Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with

hoops of steel" (qtd. in Davidoff 106). As long as man has existed, man has strived to

have companions: to feel the love of friends and family. In J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in

the Rye, protagonist Holden Caulfield rose from his sadness and found happiness only

when he realized the importance of the love and companionship offered by friends and

family. Holden faced many obstructions in his quest to find the joy that was missing in his

life. Unfriendly and non-understanding people seemed to attack Holden's life from all

directions, yet Holden ultimately discovered happiness through the kindness of his sister

Phoebe. By learning from Holden's quest for happiness, we as humans will be able to peer

deeper into our own quests for joy and our own understandings of where happiness

actually comes from. In order to find happiness, one must first recognize his sadness and

ultimately acknowledge the supreme importance of friends, family, and every companion

Sometimes one notices the void of sorrow only when he realizes that he is without

first foreseeable options. One escape Holden contemplated in the novel is running away

of an unrealistic idealized lifestyle where he finds happiness by being alone. This bubble of

happiness, one can acknowledge for himself that friends, family, and loving companions of

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1258
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)