Holden Caulfield’s Internal Monologue and External Persona in Catcher in the Rye
Holden Caulfield’s Internal Monologue and External Persona in Catcher in the Rye In Catcher in the Rye we are shown a main character whose external world and internal monologue show two vastly different perceptions and understandings of the world around him. He often says one thing out loud or experiences one thing in real life, while understanding these things completely differently in his head. Oftentimes, this also shows his deep rooted insecurity about himself and his place in the world, which could both point to mental problems. Not only are his outlooks on life bleak, his past is not exactly pleasant either. He misses his childhood, and now has to try to understand his place in a world he doesn’t feel he is accepted in—and without his favorite person, Allie, immortalized in the past he so desperately clings to. One example of the disconnect is when he goes to his parents’ house at night to talk to his sister Phoebe. Throughout the book he has talked her character up, saying...