麦田里的守望读后心得.docx

麦田里的守望读后感 thenovelthecatcherintheryehasasettingintheearly1950s.thebeginningofthenoveltakesplaceatpencyprepschool.holdenleavespencyandgoestovariousandsundryplacesinnewyorkcity. thebackgroundofthisnovelisactuallyinamentalhospital.theentirenoveliswritteninflashback.thereaderdoesnotknowthisuntiltheendofthenovel.holdenfailsoutofpency.itisnotthefirstschoolthathasexpelledhim.holdenhasayoungersister，phoebe;anolderbrother，d.b.whoisascreenplaywriterinhollywood;andayoungerbrother，alliewhodiedyearsagoofleukemia.aftergettingkickedoutofpency，holdenmustgohomeandtellhisparents.insteadofdecidingtofacethemwithhisfailure，hewandersaroundthestreetsofnewyorkcity，andcomesintocontactwithsomeinterestingcharacters. holdencaulfieldisa16-year-oldprepschoolstudentwhohasfailedoutofschooltwoweeksbeforechristmas.severaldaysbeforehesexpectedhomeforchristmasvacation，heleavesschoolplanningtospendsome timeonhisowninnewyorkcity，wherehelives.thoughholdenisfriendlywithmanypeopleatschool，andthoughhehasseveralfriendsinnewyork，heisconstantlylonesomeandinneedofsomeonewhowillsympathizewithhisfeelingsofalienation.thepersonholdenfeelsclosesttoishistenyearoldsisterphoebe，buthecantcallherforfearoflettinghisparentsknowheleftschool.hespendshistimewithavarietyofpeople，butcantmakemeaningfulcontactwithanyofthem.afteradayoffutility，hesneaksintohishometoseephoebe，butshedisappointshimbybeingannoyedathisbeingexpelledfromschool.holdendecidesthetheonlysolutiontohisoverwhelmingproblemistorunawayandestablishanewidentityasadeaf-mutewhowillnotneedtocommunicatewithanyone.onthevergeofnervouscollapse，holdenchangeshismindanddecidestorejoinhisfamily.hethenentersahospitalnotfarfromhollywood，andheistellingushisstorywhileinthisinstitution.atthenovelsclose，holdenisntsurewhetherhellbeabletohandlethingsbetterwhenheleavestheinstitution，andheissorrythathetoldhisstoryatall. thereareseveralthemesinthisnovel. innocence-holdentriestoprotecttheinnocenceofchildren. family-holdensrelationshipswithhisparentsandsiblingshavedeteriorated. loss-holdenlosthisbrother，allie. betrayal-holdenconstantlyfeelsbetrayedthroughoutthenovel.alienation-holdenfeelsalienatedfromsociety. adolescence-holdenisanadolescentinsearchforanidentity.maturity-holdenisveryimmature，butbelievesthatheismature.mentaldeterioration-holdenendsupinapsychiatrichospital.failure-holdenisconstantlybeingkickedoutofschools. sexualexperiences/frustration-holdenisatypicalhormonalteenagemale，yethedoesnthavesexwiththeprostitutewhensheoffers. alsothereareseveralkeyissuesthroughoutthewholestory. firstofall，holdenisalienatedfromsociety.hefeelsthatnooneunderstandshimandthateveryoneisaphony.hethinksthatnooneishonest，andeverybodywantstobesomethingelse.hefeelsthattheonlypersonwhounderstandshimisphoebe.hedoesnothaverelationshipswithgirls，oranyonebecausehefeelsthatheistheonlygenuinepersonintheworld. second，holdenhastodealwithloss.heloseshisbrother，allie，to leukemia，andfeelsatremendousloss.alliewrotepoemsonanoldbaseballglove，andholdencherishesthis，andspeaksaboutitingreatdetail.hisbrotherd.b.livesinhollywood，andisascreenwriter.holdenregardshimasaphonyandhaslittlecontactwithhim.heregardsd.b.asafigurativeprostitute，whowritesonlytomakemoney，andnotforintellectualredemption. anotherissueincatcherisbetrayal.holdenconstantlyfeelsbetrayed，andthatisapossiblecauseofhisproblems.earlyinthenovel，mr.spencerbetrayshim.hewasoneofthefewteachersatpencythatholdenliked.spencerbrokethenewsofholdensexpulsion，andholdenfeltbetrayed.stradlaterbetraysholdenbydatinghisbestfriend，jane，whomholdenalsohadacrushon.whenholdenreturnshometoseephoebe，sheisdisappointedinhimthathefailedoutofpency.hethinksthatsheshouldaccepthimunconditionally，sohefeelsbetrayed.severalfactsshallnotbeneglectedinthisnovel. first，holdenisanatypicalteenager.heisalienatedmorethanmostadolescents.healsoisinthemidstofanidentitycrisis.allteenagersgothroughthesephases，soeveryonecanrelatetoholdentosomeextent.holdenissociallyinept.althoughhehasmanyfriendsandacquaintances， hecannotformlasting，meaningfulfriendships.mostteenagers， althoughtheydohaveinsecurities，areabletofunctioninrelationships.second，holdendoesnotmaturethroughthenovel.heactually regressesbacktoachild-likestateofmind.heisconstantlydwellingonthedeathofhisyoungerbrother，andavoidshisparents，andfeelsliketheonlypersonhecantalktoishistenyearoldsister. anotherfactthatisessentialisthatholdenholdsallieandphoebeinsuchhighesteembecausetheyareinnocent.holdensgoalistoprotectinnocenceintheworld.whenhehearsthecatcherintheryesongbeingsungbyalittleboy，hedecidesthathewantstobethepersonthatkeepschildrenfromfallingoffacliff.thatcliffsymbolizesthetransitionfromchildhoodtoadulthood，andhewantstokeepthemasinnocentchildren，notphonyadults. intheend，thecatcherintheryewillcontinuetobeapointofgreatpublicandcriticaldebate.onemustremember，however，inthestudyandcritiqueofthenovel，particularlyforaresearcherorcriticnow，thatthestorywaswritteninadifferenttime.iforiginallypublishedtoday，thenovelwouldprobablycreatelittlepublicityandgarneronlyaveragebooksales. thefactthatanovelofsuchradicalsocialopinionandobservationwas writteninatimeofconservatisminamericamadeitallthemorecontroversial.somecriticsscoldedthenovelasbeingtoopessimisticorobscene，tooharshforthesocietyofthe1950s.others，however，nominatedsalingerhimselfasthetop-flightcatcherintheryeforthatperiodinamericanhistory（peterson3）.theyarguedthatsalingersconcernsrepresentedanentiregenerationofamericanyouth，frustratedbythephoninessoftheworld，justlikeholdenwas. thepopularityofthenovelanddebateoveritssocialvaluehaveneverstoppedsinceitsinitialpublication，dueinnolargeparttothefactthatj.d.salingerisnowarecluse.itwouldbeconclusivetosaythatcriticsofthecatcherintheryehavelegitimatecriticismsofthenovel，whileadvocatesandsupportersofthestorysmessagealsohaveexpressedveritablepraise. accordingtomostanalyses，thecatcherintheryeisa bildungsroman，anovelaboutayoungcharactersgrowthintomaturity.whileitisappropriatetodiscussthenovelinsuchterms，holdencaulfieldisanunusualprotagonistforabildungsromanbecausehiscentralgoalistoresisttheprocessofmaturityitself.ashisthoughtsaboutthemuseumofnaturalhistorydemonstrate，holdenfearschangeandisoverwhelmedbycomplexity.hewants everythingtobeeasilyunderstandableandeternallyfixed，likethestatuesofeskimosandindiansinthemuseum.heisfrightenedbecauseheisguiltyofthesinshecriticizesinothers，andbecausehecantunderstandeverythingaroundhim.butherefusestoacknowledgethisfear，expressingitonlyinafewinstancesforexample，whenhetalksaboutsexandadmitsthat“sexis somethingijustdontunderstand.isweartogodidont”（chapter 9）. insteadofacknowledgingthatadulthoodscaresandmystifieshim，holdeninventsafantasythatadulthoodisaworldofsuperficialityandhypocrisy（“phoniness”），whilechildhoodisaworldof innocence，curiosity，andhonesty.nothingrevealshisimageofthesetwoworldsbetterthanhisfantasyaboutthecatcherintherye：heimagineschildhoodasanidyllicfieldofryeinwhichchildrenrompandplay;adulthood，forthechildrenofthisworld，is equivalenttodeathafatalfallovertheedgeofacliff.hiscreatedunderstandingsofchildhoodandadulthoodallowholdentocuthimselfofffromtheworldbycoveringhimselfwithaprotectivearmorofcynicism.butasthebookprogresses，holdensexperiences，particularlyhisencounterswithmr.antoliniandphoebe，revealtheshallownessofhisconceptions.第9页 共9页