The novel The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, is about Holden Caulfield, an emotionally unstable, lonely sixteen-year old boy, who fights against the societal norms and struggles to maintain his individuality. He wants to escape the repressive expectations that his parents set out for him. He can not figure out his future and believes the people around him are phonies. This causes him to isolate and alienate himself from others. Salinger incorporates many factors in his novel that cause Holden’s alienation, some of which are Allie’s death, and Holden’s inability and desire to be authentic.
One factor that causes Holden to alienate himself is Allie’s death. Allie is Holden’s younger brother who dies of leukemia. The night of his death, Holden breaks his garage windows with his bare hands and gets hospitalized. This shows how much Holden idolizes his younger brother and how much he means to Holden. In the novel, Holden gets beat up by Maurice and he is in a vulnerable state. He gets depressed and miserable and states, “I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed” (Salinger 98). Allie’s death is the catalyst for Holden’s depression and alienation. Holden does not allow himself to connect with people anymore because he does not want more emotional pain. Holden thinks about Allie as a source of comfort and considers him as his guardian angel.
Another factor that causes Holden to alienate himself is his inability and desire to be authentic. Holden consistently judges and talks about how he hates people who are hypocritical. Holden thinks his school is full of phonies, even his headmaster Mr. Haas. When he gets asked why he left school, he thinks to himself, “One of the biggest reasons why I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That’s all….For instance, they had this headmaster, Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life” (13-14). Holden witnesses Mr. Haas treat parents differently based on their looks and gives phony smiles which drives Holden crazy because he can not stand the phoniness. Holden feels dissatisfied with the world around him and believes he is surrounded by phonies to the point that he feels the need to quit school. This alienates him from others because it shows he is very unique and judges everyone around him. He pushes people away and has no solid relations with anyone.
Even though Holden sees the phoniness of others, he is unaware of his own phoniness. Holden is inable of authenticity and comes up with lies on the spot, even when talking to an adult. In the novel, Holden strikes up a conversation with a woman on the train whose son, Ernest Morrow, goes to his school. During the conversation, Holden lies about his identity, and states his name is Rudolf Schmidt and claims he has a brain tumor. He feeds Mrs. Morrow lies about what a wonderful boy her son is even though he believes, “Her son was doubtless the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey…He adapts himself very well to things…he’s too shy and modest” (54-57). Holden clearly thinks differently of Ernest but because he is talking to his mother, he feels the need to lie about her son to keep her from asking questions about himself. This shows that he is alienating himself because he is lying and deceiving a stranger, just so he does not have to answer questions about himself and get involved.
Holden’s inner rebellion against accepting the way people think or act leads him to alienation. Holden struggles to figure out his identity after Allie’s death and believes everyone is hypocritical or phony. Similarly, Holden lies to others as well, just so he does not have to get himself involved in others conversations or communicate with anybody. These two aspects are crucial in causing Holden to alienate himself.