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.severaldaysbeforehe'sexpectedhomeforchristmasvacation，heleavesschoolplanningtospendsome
timeonhisowninnewyorkcity，wherehelives.thoughholdenisfriendlywithmanypeopleatschool，andthoughhehasseveralfriendsinnewyork，heisconstantlylonesomeandinneedofsomeonewhowillsympathizewithhisfeelingsofalienation.thepersonholdenfeelsclosesttoishistenyearoldsisterphoebe，buthecan'tcallherforfearoflettinghisparentsknowheleftschool.hespendshistimewithavarietyofpeople，butcan'tmakemeaningfulcontactwithanyofthem.afteradayoffutility，hesneaksintohishometoseephoebe，butshedisappointshimbybeingannoyedathisbeingexpelledfromschool.holdendecidesthetheonlysolutiontohisoverwhelmingproblemistorunawayandestablishanewidentityasadeaf-mutewhowillnotneedtocommunicatewithanyone.onthevergeofnervouscollapse，holdenchangeshismindanddecidestorejoinhisfamily.hethenentersahospitalnotfarfromhollywood，andheistellingushisstorywhileinthisinstitution.atthenovel'sclose，holdenisn'tsurewhetherhe'llbeabletohandlethingsbetterwhenheleavestheinstitution，andheissorrythathetoldhisstoryatall.
thereareseveralthemesinthisnovel.
innocence-holdentriestoprotecttheinnocenceofchildren.
family-holden'srelationshipswithhisparentsandsiblingshavedeteriorated.
loss-holdenlosthisbrother，allie.
betrayal-holdenconstantlyfeelsbetrayedthroughoutthenovel.alienation-holdenfeelsalienatedfromsociety.
adolescence-holdenisanadolescentinsearchforanidentity.maturity-holdenisveryimmature，butbelievesthatheismature.mentaldeterioration-holdenendsupinapsychiatrichospital.failure-holdenisconstantlybeingkickedoutofschools.
sexualexperiences/frustration-holdenisatypicalhormonalteenagemale，yethedoesn'thavesexwiththeprostitutewhensheoffers.
alsothereareseveralkeyissuesthroughoutthewholestory.
firstofall，holdenisalienatedfromsociety.hefeelsthatnooneunderstandshimandthateveryoneisa"phony".hethinksthatnooneishonest，andeverybodywantstobesomethingelse.hefeelsthattheonlypersonwhounderstandshimisphoebe.hedoesnothaverelationshipswithgirls，oranyonebecausehefeelsthatheistheonlygenuinepersonintheworld.
second，holdenhastodealwithloss.heloseshisbrother，allie，to
leukemia，andfeelsatremendousloss.alliewrotepoemsonanoldbaseballglove，andholdencherishesthis，andspeaksaboutitingreatdetail.hisbrotherd.b.livesinhollywood，andisascreenwriter.holdenregardshimasa"phony"andhaslittlecontactwithhim.heregardsd.b.asafigurativeprostitute，whowritesonlytomakemoney，andnotforintellectualredemption.
anotherissueincatcherisbetrayal.holdenconstantlyfeelsbetrayed，andthatisapossiblecauseofhisproblems.earlyinthenovel，mr.spencerbetrayshim.hewasoneofthefewteachersatpencythatholdenliked.spencerbrokethenewsofholden'sexpulsion，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.holden'sgoalistoprotectinnocenceintheworld.whenhehearsthe"catcherintherye"songbeingsungbyalittleboy，hedecidesthathewantstobethepersonthatkeepschildrenfromfallingoffacliff.thatcliffsymbolizesthetransitionfromchildhoodtoadulthood，andhewantstokeepthemasinnocentchildren，notphonyadults.
intheend，thecatcherintheryewillcontinuetobeapointofgreatpublicandcriticaldebate.onemustremember，however，inthestudyandcritiqueofthenovel，particularlyforaresearcherorcriticnow，thatthestorywaswritteninadifferenttime.iforiginallypublishedtoday，thenovelwouldprobablycreatelittlepublicityandgarneronlyaveragebooksales.
thefactthatanovelofsuchradicalsocialopinionandobservationwas
writteninatimeofconservatisminamericamadeitallthemorecontroversial.somecriticsscoldedthenovelasbeingtoopessimisticorobscene，tooharshforthesocietyofthe1950's.others，however，nominatedsalingerhimselfasthetop-flight"catcherintherye"forthatperiodinamericanhistory（peterson3）.theyarguedthatsalinger'sconcernsrepresentedanentiregenerationofamericanyouth，frustratedbythephoninessoftheworld，justlikeholdenwas.
thepopularityofthenovelanddebateoveritssocialvaluehaveneverstoppedsinceitsinitialpublication，dueinnolargeparttothefactthatj.d.salingerisnowarecluse.itwouldbeconclusivetosaythatcriticsofthecatcherintheryehavelegitimatecriticismsofthenovel，whileadvocatesandsupportersofthestory'smessagealsohaveexpressedveritablepraise.
accordingtomostanalyses，thecatcherintheryeisa
bildungsroman，anovelaboutayoungcharacter’sgrowthintomaturity.whileitisappropriatetodiscussthenovelinsuchterms，holdencaulfieldisanunusualprotagonistforabildungsromanbecausehiscentralgoalistoresisttheprocessofmaturityitself.ashisthoughtsaboutthemuseumofnaturalhistorydemonstrate，holdenfearschangeandisoverwhelmedbycomplexity.hewants
everythingtobeeasilyunderstandableandeternallyfixed，likethestatuesofeskimosandindiansinthemuseum.heisfrightenedbecauseheisguiltyofthesinshecriticizesinothers，andbecausehecan’tunderstandeverythingaroundhim.butherefusestoacknowledgethisfear，expressingitonlyinafewinstances—forexample，whenhetalksaboutsexandadmitsthat“[s]exis
somethingijustdon’tunderstand.isweartogodidon’t”（chapter
9）.
insteadofacknowledgingthatadulthoodscaresandmystifieshim，holdeninventsafantasythatadulthoodisaworldofsuperficialityandhypocrisy（“phoniness”），whilechildhoodisaworldof
innocence，curiosity，andhonesty.nothingrevealshisimageofthesetwoworldsbetterthanhisfantasyaboutthecatcherintherye：heimagineschildhoodasanidyllicfieldofryeinwhichchildrenrompandplay;adulthood，forthechildrenofthisworld，is
equivalenttodeath—afatalfallovertheedgeofacliff.hiscreatedunderstandingsofchildhoodandadulthoodallowholdentocuthimselfofffromtheworldbycoveringhimselfwithaprotectivearmorofcynicism.butasthebookprogresses，holden’sexperiences，particularlyhisencounterswithmr.antoliniandphoebe，revealtheshallownessofhisconceptions.
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