Character Analysis: Absence Of Allie

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Rusty Worley Mrs. Rich English 110 March 12 2013 Absence of Allie For any teenager, the transition of coming into adult hood and going out of child hood is never easy. For many, it can be a very stressful time and it can be seen through their actions. In the Catcher in the Rye, this is the biggest problem Holden Caulfield faces along with losing his little brother. Throughout the novel, J.D. Salinger presents Holden as a young man who is trying to find himself in the world. The only problem is that Holden can’t decide which world he really belongs in. He finds himself in a limbo between two worlds. The child hood he’s been living in or the adult hood he is coming into. He acts childish at times, and at other times he acts years beyond…show more content…
He is in the elevator going back up to his room when in the elevator with him, a man asks if he wants to have a little fun and offers him a prostitute. At first he is very excited at the thought of having a prostitute. Things change when she finally arrives in his room and right away, he gets a feeling of sadness. “The trouble was, I just didn’t want to do it. I felt more depressed than sexy, if you want to know the truth.” (125). After the prostitute left, Holden began to feel absolutely miserable. He was thinking about what had just taken place and he thought about why it happened. His mind automatically went straight to Allie. “I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed. I keep telling him to go home and get on his bike and meet me in front of Bobby Fallon’s house.”(129). In moment’s like these, it shows that even though Allie isn’t alive anymore, he still has a very big impact on Holden’s life. The only problem is that this impact seems to be more negative than positive. The things that Holden are choosing to do are very childlike and then when he does decide to try to be somewhat of an adult, he always cowers down just like a little child would. When this occurs, he always talks about Allie. This seems to make him feel better but at the same time, it shows that Holden can’t move on from Allie. This is why he can’t move…show more content…
“Boy, when you’re dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except stick me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you’re dead? Nobody.” (201). This goes to show that death itself doesn’t really bother him, it’s the thought of what happens after you are dead. People coming to visit you while you’re not even there. Allies death contributes to this a lot and also the way he see’s Allie now that he’s gone. “In the first place, I certainly don’t enjoy seeing him in that crazy cemetery. Surrounded by dead guys and tombstones and all.” (201). “I know it’s only his body and all that’s in the cemetery, and his soul’s in Heaven and all that crap, but I couldn’t stand it anyway. I just wish he wan’t there. You didn’t know him. If you’d known him, you’d know what I mean.”(202). This evidence right here says it all. Holden would not act the way he does or make the choices that he has made if Allie was still alive. He would rather have his brother alive by his side rather than Allie resting in piece in Heaven. Holden wouldn’t face so many problems in life and wouldn’t have to go through so much to find which world he belongs in if Allie never
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