and hints that he is bitter towards D.B. because he believe that he has become a sell out to Hollywood. One of the most noticeable things about Holden is his ability to be extremely judgemental of almost everyone and everything around him, he criticizes and philosophizes about people who he considers boring, insecure and phony, in Holden’s story he implies that he is the only noble character in a word that is full of superficial and phony adults. Another part of Holden’s personality that is noticeable is his attitude towards sex, Holden is a virgin but he spends most of his time in the novel trying to lose his virginity. Holden is disappointed to find that sex can be casual as he strongly believed that it should be between two people who deeply care and love each other.
The Source does not make it clear whether More did torture those people or not, but does make him seem uncompassionate and cruel. Source N is somewhat trustworthy, due to it being more factually based, because Ackroyd would have had much more information when he wrote the Source, however, despite him clearly stating that More was a cruel man, it is unclear whether or not this is true or even trustworthy. Source O also agrees that More had little compassion for other people as it says he was not pleasant to talk to and that he was always ‘taunting and mocking’. The Source is written by someone who was around at the time of More’s
Last Exit to Brooklyn, Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn is Selby Jr's first book and is a book finished in the 60's - a series of short stories all loosely connected to each other through characters and settings. Each story is dark and sometimes it grows to become unbearable. It garnered it a massive amount of controversy, and became the subject of obscenity trials and book burnings. Selby hit the literature world with a book so blunt, so brutally honest in its depictions of the lowest forms of society that people weren't able to handle it because it really does knock the wind out of you the first time around. In this book, Selby brings out prostitutes, pedophiles, drug addicts, abusive husbands, psychotic wives, and all lowlife trash that you could possibly imagine and places them under a harsh light, explaining their sides and everyone else's yet allowing us to grow to hate these characters.
Another example where it shows that Thomas is alienated is when they talk about him wandering the corridors by himself. The author says “Nobody wanted to be anywhere near him because of all those stories.” (Alexie, 1994, para
Holden informs the reader of how he is receiving treatment in a mental hospital, describes some of the things he does not like about his school Pencey Prep, and discusses how he has recently been expelled from it. During his final days at Pencey Prep Holden becomes increasingly irritated by the people there such as his history teacher Mr. Spencer, his disgusting neighbor Ackley and his cocky roommate Stradlater. These annoyances push Holden’s mind to the edge, and he decides to leave Pencey Prep early and stay somewhere in New York City by himself for three days before he is expected to arrive at home (Salinger, “The Catcher in the Rye”). Holden’s trip to the city is an adventure filled with angry cab drivers, a heartless prostitute, and a series of Holden’s realizations and memories of life. From getting punched brutally in the gut by a hotel “pimp”, to conversing with nuns about Romeo and Juliet Holden’s trip reveals many inner aspects about himself.
~Throughout the novel the reader witnesses several situations where Holden acted out on pure impulse. His decision to wander around New York was completely out of the blue as were many of his little adventures in the novel. It seems that he finds it difficult staying in one place for an extended period of time. This quote effectively displays this impulsiveness and prepares the reader for other random acts throughout the novel ~These two quotes definitely caught me off guard. They revealed a vulnerable side of Holden.
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield, can be described as morally ambiguous. We are first introduced to him when he is kicked out of school, and about to embark on a journey into the “adult” world. As he dabbles through the various stages of maturity and immaturity, Holden drinks, uses foul language, and even solicits a prostitute. These activities, which harm no one but possibly himself, are considered both illegal and immoral to our society.
This development in Charlie's personality is ironic since his ambition in the beginning of the story is to get enough mental prowess to be included in the same community that he distances himself from when he criticizes the average human as being limited and slow. Mr Keyes draws a unfortunate parallel between intelligence and arrogance turning Charlie into a elitist snob without much compassion for the people around him. His mental awakening is constantly portrayed as being at the expense of others. In my opinion this draws on the cliché of the book smart know-it-all. There is no attempt to try to explain why Charlie loses his good natured care for those around him other than that he can expose those who have been insincere to him.
Holden’s self inflicted isolation contributes to his fear of growing up and his negative attitude toward others and the world around him. The novel opens with the discovery that Holden has been expelled from his current boarding school for unacceptable grades and effort. This is not the first time Holden had been expelled from a school. Holden is fearful of arriving home earlier than expected and copping with his parent’s disappointment. He decides to stay at a hotel in New York City, close to his home, rather than return early from school to face his parents.
I didn’t have anything else to do” (Salinger 61). He had no one to spend time with so he had nothing to do. The lyrics “Sometimes I sleep, sometimes it's not for days/and the people I meet always go their separate ways/Sometimes you tell the day/by the bottle that you drink/and times when you're alone all you do is think” (Bon Jovi) from the song “Wanted Dead or Alive” fits Holden’s character very well. The song is about how he is when he’s alone he thinks and his relationships never last and how he drinks to forget everything. This is very much accordant to Holden’s character in the sense that he is alone through most of the book and he is quite the alcoholic.