Friday, August 20, 2010

Causes of Conflict in "The Catcher in the Rye"

There was quite a bit of conflict in The Catcher of the Rye. It came in many different forms, but it was constantly there. The first main cause of conflict was Holden Caulfield leaving Pencey Prep boarding school. Nothing else in the rest of the story would have even happened if Holden had not left Pencey, so that is the main cause of all of the conflict in the book. Holden was a very curious boy, so he did not necessarily enjoy staying put. Holden would have been going home on Wedsnesday anyway, but he decided that he did not want to wait until then. He decided that he was going to leave Pencey Prep boarding school earlier than he was supposed to, becasue he thought it would bring him much more enjoyment. Holden Calufield always caused a lot of conflict when he left anywhere. When he left Pencey, he caused conflict as to where he would go, what he would do, how he would keep away from his parents, and how he would stay hidden from the people that should not know he had left school early. When he left the bar drunk, he caused conflict about having nowhere to go and trying to find somewhere to go while still being able to stay hidden. He caused conflict when he decided to leave New York, because when he told Phoebe that he was leaving, she decided to come with him. Holden was also another main cause of conflict. Everything that he did caused some chain of events to happen that brought quite a lot of conflict to everyone that was associated with him. Holden did many things without thinking about anyone but himself, and because he did not think about anyone else, quite often those other people were joined into the conflict he brought to his everyday life. Many people do not have very good luck, but not many do bad things to themselves and the others around them. Holden Caulfield brought conflict to everyone and everything around him, and J. D. Salinger chronicled that in The Catcher in the Rye.

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