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Holden Caulfield is the Fictional , teenaged Protagonist in J.D. Salinger 's 1951 novel '' The Catcher In The Rye '' and other Salinger works. Physically, Holden is gangly and tall. Though he appears to be older than he actually is, even having some gray hair, he often acts immaturely and capriciously. He has a strong disdain for people he sees as "phony". Holden is the second of four children, with two brothers, D.B. and Allie, and one sister, Phoebe; Allie is deceased at the time of the story. Holden's parents are unnamed. The most important thing about Holden's Character was his resistance for the conventional. He would question every single value that he was asked to inculcate and would sometimes oppose something merely for the sake of opposition. His state of mind can be described as rebellious and he viewed hypocrisy very strongly. This kind of mindset was seen widely prevalent in the '60s but when this book was written, the attitude to query everything was considered impertinent and disrespectful. This was a major reason for his repettitive expulsions from schools because he was unable to endear himself to most. One of the ground breaking work by Robert Pirsig 'Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance' explored basic values and conventions decades after Holden appeared. The similarity was that Pirsig was also known to be mentally ill and spent time in an asylum(or mental hospital) just like Holden. The name "Holden Caulfield" might be symbolic itself. A "caul" is a membrane that covers a baby's head at birth. The name might now be interpreted as "'Hold On Caul' field." This could be a message of how Holden wants to hold on to his childhood and resist becoming an adult. ''IN THE CATCHER IN THE RYE'' In the book, Caulfield is 17 years old. He narrates the story, which had occurred over several days during the previous year (when he was 16), as a First-person Narrative Flashback . During the course of the novel, Caulfield fights with his roommate, flunks out of the fictional Pencey Preparatory School in Pennsylvania (said to be based on the Valley Forge Military Academy , which Salinger attended), and travels by himself to New York City , where he undergoes experiences that throw him into a deep depression and eventually lead to a Mental Breakdown . Among his adventures: he sends for a Prostitute to come to his hotel room so he can lose his Virginity , but loses his nerve at the last minute and sends her away. He is disturbed by the fact that she is a young girl and is approximately the same age as him. She mentions that she just bought the dress she is wearing and Holden begins to think about the girl going to the store and buying it, while the salesperson has no idea she is a prostitute. This "depresses the hell out of" him. Later, he returns home to see his beloved little sister Phoebe, whose honesty and disappointment in him profoundly disturb his previously cocky, superior attitude. HOLDEN IN OTHER WORKS The character, as Holden Morrisey Caulfield, also appears in '' Slight Rebellion Off Madison '' by J.D. Salinger, published in the December 22 , 1946 issue of '' The New Yorker ''. An earlier version of this story titled "Are You Banging Your Head Against A Wall?" was accepted for publication by ''The New Yorker'' in October 1941 but was not published then because editors found the tone to be too disaffected for its readership. An edited version of this Short Story later became the basis of several chapters in the middle-late section of '' The Catcher In The Rye '' dealing with Holden's disasterous date with Sally Hayes during which he confesses his desire to run away with her, his meeting Carl Luce for drinks, and his drunken phone call to the Hayes home. In contrast to the novel, Holden is simply on Christmas break from school and the date is split into two dates in the story. Also, the meeting with Carl Luce is considerably more brief than in the novel. Holden also figures as a character in the short story "I'm Crazy", published in Colliers (December 22, 1945), and other members of the Salinger family are featured in "Last Day of the Last Furlough", published in " The Saturday Evening Post " (July 15, 1944) and the unpublished short stories "The Last and Best of the Peter Pans" (ca. 1942) and "The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls" (ca. 1945). "I'm Crazy" is closely related to what would become the first chapter of "The Catcher in the Rye." It is similar to the novel in that it begins with Holden standing on a hill at "Pencey Prep" watching a football game being played down below and then develops as Holden visits with his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, for a talk about his failure, his expulsion from school, and his future. Several other details match the details found in the first chapter of "Catcher", including a reference to a mother of one of Holden's schoolmates and his mother sending him a gift of ski boots, but the story ends with Holden returning home instead of running away from school. Once home, Holden is not shown confronting his parents who, according to the maid, are playing bridge. Instead, Holden goes to speak to Phoebe. Their dialog is very similar to what appears in the later chapters of "The Catcher In The Rye." Also notable is that another Caulfield child gets her first, and only, mention in the Caulfield saga, Viola. "Last Day of the Last Furlough" relates the final day of Babe Gladwaller before he is shipped off to fight in World War II . Gladwaller spends part of the day with his little sister before Vincent Caulfield (later renamed D.B. in the novel), a fellow soldier about to leave for the war, arrives. Vincent announces that his brother, Holden, was declared missing in action. Gladwaller's relationship with his little sister can be seen as a parallel to Holden's relationship with Phoebe in "Catcher". This may be the first published account of Holden's character's name. "The Last and Best of the Peter Pans" relates the story of Vincent's (D.B.) draft questionnaire being hidden by his mother. The events occur just after the death of Kenneth (later renamed Allie)and reveal the anxiety of Mary Moriarity, an actress and Holden's mother. The story is notable for the appearance of Phoebe and Vincent's statements about a child crawling off of a cliff. "The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls" is told by Vincent (D.B.) and relates the final day of Kenneth (Allie). The story, set at the Caulfield summer home on Cape Cod, is a reminiscence on the part of Vincent. Holden is away at camp on what will be Kenneth's final day. Several details make their way from this story into "Catcher" including: the characterization of Allie, Allie's poetry-inscribed left-handed baseball mitt, Vincent's girlfriend, Helen, who keeps her kings in the back row (like Jane Gallagher), and Holden's critical view of others. Unlike Allie, who Holden tells the reader dies of Leukemia, Kenneth is described as having an unspecified heart condition. As the story nears its end, Kenneth and Vincent are on the beach. Kenneth decides to go swimming and is overcome by a wave. Vincent races home with Kenneth's unconcious body and Kenneth dies later that night. Holden is waiting on the porch with his suitcases when Vincent arrives with Kenneth's body. This story was reportedly sold to a magazine only to be taken back by Salinger before publication. Another short story of note with relationship to Holden is "The Boy In The People Shooting Hat" which was submitted to The New Yorker sometime between 1948 and 1949 but was not published. If focuses on a fight between two characters named Bobby and Stradlater over Bobby's feelings about June Gallagher. This story likely forms the basis for several key scenes in the first several chapters of "The Catcher in the Rye." HOLDEN'S CULTURAL IMPACT Holden Caulfield is one of the most enduring characters in 20th Century American Fiction . ''The Catcher in the Rye'' is required reading in many High School English courses today, although it has been Banned from school libraries in some Conservative areas of the United States. Holden's principles in the novel were influential in the lives of Mark David Chapman , the former mental patient who murdered John Lennon , and John Hinckley, Jr. , who attempted to assassinate former U.S. President Ronald Reagan . Chapman considered Lennon a "phony", akin to Holden's accusations, and had reenacted prominent events in the novel, including frenetically walking along city streets and of hiring a prostitute without instigating copulation. Hinckley, Jr. had a copy of the novel in his Washington, D.C. hotel room, along with other books and items, found by investigators after his assassination attempt. POPULAR CULTURE REFERENCES Holden Caulfield was mentioned in the song "Trinity" by Jedi Mind Tricks , "Get it Right" by The Offspring ,"Save Yourself" by Aesop Rock , "SuperPowers" by Five Iron Frenzy , "Here's To Life" by Streetlight Manifesto , "Magna Cum Nada" by The Bloodhound Gang and was the subject of "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield" by Green Day , and "I Wrote Holden Caulfield" by Screeching Weasel . Holden is also a character in '' Family Guy '' who sees Peter Griffin playing a keyboard and proclaims him immensely talented, but upon realizing that the keyboard is playing itself, he proclaims Peter a "big fat phony" and hounds him for the remainder of the episode. There is also a Free Verse Poem in David Levithan's The Realm of Possibility entitled "My Girlfriend's in love with Holden Caulfield." In the episode of the Dilbert TV series titled " The Return ", a Call-center operator gives the fake name "Holden Callfielder" (reading the word "Hold" from a button on his phone and referring to himself as a "call-fielder"). EXTERNAL LINKS Salinger's uncollected short stories
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