The Catcher in the Rye Question 4

            Woohoo! Eighteen blogs done and I have thirty-two blogs to go.  There are five more questions that I have to answer.  Right now I am on question four!  “Who is the hero in this book and what are some of his or her traits?”  That is the first part of the question that I am going to answer now.

            In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, I believe that the hero is Holden Caulfield.  Although he seems to be messed up, he delivers such a strong point that it makes up for it.  Holden comes across as a kid who does not care about his future.  He has failed out of four schools within a couple of years. Holden is not dumb but he just does not apply himself at all.  When people do not apply themselves, it bugs the heck out of me because they can get somewhere in life if they did.  Some of Holden’s traits are tall, careless, hateful and unhappy.  As it says in the beginning of the novel, Holden says, “I’m six foot two and a half” (Salinger 9).  I said he was careless because he does not care about his education; he just lets himself fail all his classes.  Throughout the novel, you are able to see his true colors, especially when he is annoyed with some.   Holden becomes hateful to the world.  The trait is unhappy.  If I were him, I would be unhappy too.  He does not have his family to turn to, and he cannot stay in one school for very long.

            Holden Caulfield accomplished staying out of to much trouble even though he did get kicked out of four different schools.  Holden is portrayed as a troubled teenager who is trying to deal with life.  He represents the idea of struggle.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.