In The Novel Catcher In The Rye How Many Times Does Holden Alienate Him Self As A Form Of

In "The Catcher in the Rye", why does Holden feel alienated from society?

He thinks people are weird in a way they behave, they are many faced. That is why he does not care much about them and has his own way of thinking, which is “don’t give a sh*t to anything, because it is not worth it”. I wouldn’t say he feels completely alienated. He just has his own world where only a couple of people live with him, such as his little sister

How is Holden alienated in the "Catcher in the Rye" book?

The best way that I know how to answer your question is to refer to Plato's analogy of the shadows on the walls of the Cave. Without going into a lot of detail, Plato argues that we see images of reality as images on the walls of a cave, as opposed to seeing the realities themselves. Salinger has Holden seeing the realities behind the images. The same sort of literary assertion is found in Salinger's Nine Stories.

In "The Catcher in the Rye", why is Holden Caulfield depressed?

The death of his brother would be a major catalyst. His brother died at a young age (11), he seemed have been close to Allie, and it was a traumatic death (leukemia while they were away for the summer in Maine, a happy time turned tragic for him), at least for a 13 year old. His parents seem to be fairly disinterested in him (he describes them as "occupied" before he was born), they don't let him grieve for his brother properly, they just shuffle him from school to school without realizing that he may have a real problem. Even as he's telling the story, he is in a hospital in California. They sent him across the country, which seems like another way to keep him distant. They seem to regard him as a screw up.  He obviously has some issues with his self esteem, he refers to himself as the only dumb one in the family. He is quick to put down Stradlater for being handsome. He is an underachiever. He talks about suicide a few times. He thinks that it would be a good life to live in the woods and not have to deal with other people. He is obsessed with a Jane, a gal that never really showed affection for him in return. It is a good way for him to avoid intimacy.

In The Catcher in the Rye, why does Holden use the word "phony"?

Holden labels almost everyone a “phony,” excepting Phoebe, Allie, and himself. In Holden's eyes, a “phony” is someone who embraces the world’s mundane demands and tries to make something out of nothing—that is, just about everyone who studies in school or who puts on airs in order to do a job or achieve a goal. The fact that no one is acknowledging how trivial and fleeting life is, compared with the grand things we tell one another about reality—how difficult it is to truly love and share oneself with people knowing that all, like Allie, will eventually die—causes him to burn with frustration, even rage and label most people "phony."

In the book “Catcher in the Rye” what’s wrong with Holden Caulfield?

Holden Caulfield suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. The fictional cause is the death of his beloved little brother, Allie.The reason that The Catcher in the Rye is so powerful is that it is a true book (I don’t say that it is a true story). Holden is J.D. Salinger, himself, and Holden’s PTSD is Salinger’s PTSD.Salinger was on Utah Beach on D-Day, and he was in the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Hurtgen Forest. When he returned to the U.S., he was suffering from the effects of the intense battles he had experienced and withdrew from most society in an attempt to find relief from what we would now call PTSD.Holden has suffered such a loss in his brother that he has become terrified he will lose something else, but he does not know exactly what, so he tries to convince himself that he is beyond all of the attachments associated with the phony world. This gives him an emotional catbird seat from which to criticize everyone and everything as a prophylactic against any possible further loss.Salinger suffered such losses in the course of WWII as only other combat veterans can fathom. So, his horror of further loss became Holden’s horror.Notice that the life that Salinger actually lived in New Hampshire was remarkably similar to the fantasy life that Holden describes, in which he would live in the country, pretending to be mute and only communicating through written notes.Holden Caulfield is J.D. Salinger, and the disorder is real.

In "Catcher in the Rye," how does Holden relate himself to the rest of society?

A very brief answer: Holden is an intelligent , highly sensitive young person ( sixteen years old) who sees the lack of integrity in the world around him , whether it is at home, his prep school or the streets of New York. He is disillusioned. He questions everyone's motivation, including his own . He is able to see the fake nests of most of the characters he comes across. This leads him to feeling alienated from the rest of society and an inability to relate to his classmates, teachers, family( except his little sister) . His inability to relate to society leads him to a breakdown. I see aspects of a young Hamlet in his character.