Holden Caulfield's Troubles with Others

A detailed Summary of Holden Caulfield's Troubles with Others

The irrational Holden Caulfield in the novel Catcher in the Rye, has many problems. A significant one he has is his difficulty in dealing with others. This is because Holden does not behave in socially appropriate ways. This is shown when Holden is on his date with Sally Hayes, when Holden fights with Ward Stradlater, and when he meets Carl Luce at the Wicker Bar. All these situations will be discussed in this essay.

One of Holden's first difficulties is with the arrogant Ward Stradlater. Stradlater is Holden's older roommate and is dating Holden's friend Jane. Holden becomes upset with him after he goes out with Jane one night. He thinks that Stradlater "gave her the time" (Salinger 43). Stradlater refuses to tell Holden what he did with Jane. This action upsets Holden and he takes a punch at Stradlater and misses. Stradlater then knocks Holden down and sits on his chest with his knees. Holden starts crying and calls Stradlater a moron. Stradlater promises to let him up if he does not call Stradlater any more names. After Stradlater lets him up Holden calls Stradlater "a dirty stupid sonuvabitch moron" (Salinger 44). This time Stradlater knocks Holden out. Holden woke up soon after on the floor covered in blood. Holden did not

One of Holdens last difficulties is with Carl Luce at the Wicker Bar. Carl is one of Holdens old friends at the Whooton School. The first thing Holden says is "Hey I got a flit for you, at the end of the bar" (Salinger 144). Carl responds with "Same old Caulfield, when are you ever going to grow up?" (Salinger 144). After Holden talks about Carl's sex life for a while, Carl leaves. This makes Holden so lonely that he drinks too much and causes a scene. When most people meet with an old friend they would like to make a good impression on them. Holden does just the opposite. He shows Carl how immature he still is by talking about flits and Carl's sex life. Another thing Holden has done wrong is that he gets too upset over little things like Carl leaving. Carl told Holden that he had only a little time to chat when they first met at the Wicker Bar. Holden then makes a big mistake and drinks away his sadness and this makes his situation worse. People tell Holden to go home because he is making a fool out of himself. He then goes to Central Park, which is one of the worst places to go when you are under the influence because Holden could have been easily mugged or attacked. Furthermore Holden could have died from passing out and freezing to death all alone or pneumonia because of the cold. Holde

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Approximate Word count = 875
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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