The Catcher in the Rye - the Dead Poets Society

The Catcher in the Rye/The Dead Poets Society

Holden Caufield, narrator and main character in The Catcher in the Rye, is a young man coming of age, searching for who he is and what he wants to be in life. Holden wants to escape the conformity and others expectations. He came from a fairly wealthy family whose parents are estranged in a way. John Keating, a new English instructor played by Robin Williams in The Dead Poets Society, uses bold teaching techniques to motivate his pupils. This causes his students to rebel against school and parental norms. Could a teacher like Keating with his un-uniformed teaching methods tap into Holden's potential? In this essay I will argue that he could not.

Holden Caufield is a troubled young man, alienating himself from his peers and the world around him. He also manages to get kicked out of prep school for the third time. I think Holden failing every class except English is not due to a lack of intelligence, but a way of rebelling against the expectations of others and avoiding becoming like everyone else. He feels most people are phony, yet in a way Holden is a phony also. According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, "Phoniness is described as artificial, counterfeit, or hypocritical." These are all actions displayed by Holden at several times throughout the novel. Phony is one of the words heavily used by Holden to describe the actions of others, but not himself. Before judging others he should take a look at himself to evaluate his faults. Throughout all the encounters with different people in the book he is easily the phoniest of all the characters. For example, he says cruel things about people such as Ackley, yet still wants to be around and hang out with Ackley. Claiming dislike for another person while simultaneously behaving like a friend is a phony trait. Also, he stresses his hate for movies, yet talks about catching a movie every chance he gets. He even acts out his own movie scenes.

Holden exhibits psychotic actions throughout the book that could be described as madness. He knows he has become mad and even tells himself this several times in the book, but I don't think he really believes it. Holden displays this madness when he says,

"But I'm crazy I swear to God I am. About halfway to the bathroom, I started pretending I had a bullet in my guts. Old Maurice had plugged me. Now I was on the way to the bathroom to get a good shot of bourbon or something to steady my nerves and help me really go into action. I pictured myself coming out of the goddam bathroom... with my automatic in my pocket, and staggering a little bit. Then I'd walk downstairs... couple floors-holding on to my guts, blood leaking all over the place... As soon as old Maurice opened the doors he'd... start screaming at me... But I'd plug him anyway." (Salinger 135-6).

It's no wonder in my mind that