Essay on Catcher in the Rye

Mariah Lindsey A. P Literature & Composition 9/7/12 Catcher in the Rye Analysis Essay Elizabeth Norton once used a quote that’s states “To be depressed is to be lonely; to have a friend is to be happy. ”” Start each day by affirming peaceful, contented and happy attitudes and your days will tend to be pleasant and decided to look beyond the imperfections, so you want feel the need of a friend”. In Catcher in the Rye, Salinger uses Holden to suggest children around the world are depressed and want to gain a relationship with anyone who’s willing to talk to them.

During depression people may appear unfriendly to and irritate others, unfortunately in Holden case he was friendly to others because he was so depressed for a relationship and a friend. In the illuminating moment In the Hotel, the author J. D Salinger shows how depress Holden was to gain a relationship with someone by using imagery. “Ya got a hanger? I don’t want to get my dress all wrinkly. It’s brand-clean. ” The prostitute asked Holden for a hanger to hang up her dress as if the dress was expensive and clean. Holden says “I took her dress over to the closet and hung it up for her.

It was funny. It made me feel sort of sad when I hung it up. ” It relates to imagery because of how Holden was describing her dress and how he hung it up. “I thought of her going to the store and buying it, and nobody in the store knowing that she was a prostitute. Holden is imagining the prostitute going to buy the dress and how it’s funny that’s nobody know what type of person she was when she bought it. This connects to the theme of him being depressed for a relationship because it shows him trying to imagine a state of affairs existing between him and the prostitute.

Salinger also uses idiom to show how depress Holden is for a relationship and a friend. “Innarested in having a good time fella? or is it too late for you. ” Idiom is beginning use because the man in the hotel uses a different language to take on a different meaning on the text, so Holden try’s to relate to him by talk in the same format, which shows him trying to make a relationship. “Uh huh. Well how about it? Y’innarested? Five bucks a throw. 15 bucks the whole night. The man interrupts a different language so that you can understand what a throw was and how much it cost. Five bucks a throw, 15 bucks til noon. “Okay “I said. “It was against my principles and all but I was feeling so depress I didn’t even think. ” This also shows idiom because of the words they used to describe that Holden was paying for a prostitute to come up to his room. The relationship the literary device has to the theme I created is that, Holden is so depressed and lonely that he has a long conversation with the man who works in the hotel about paying for a prostitute that he really doesn’t want have sex with just to gain a relationship with someone.

This is an illuminating incident because he paid for a prostitute to come and have a conversation with him. He didn’t even have sex with her. Holden was just so depressed and lonely that he wanted to build a relationship with a women who sales her body for money and man who tries to get men to buy a prostitute. He really didn’t care who he talked to, he really just needed someone who’s going to listen to him and talk to him so they can have a relationship.