"The Cather in the Rye" Question 2

The conflict dealt with overall in this book is that Holden thinks almost every person in this world is a phony and not worth 
his time, but at the same time he is determined to connect with someone, anyone, and just have them listen and understand him.  Definitely conflicting I'd say.  The whole conflict is summed up in one happenstance:  "The first thing I did when I got off at Penn Station, I went into this phone booth. I felt like giving somebody a buzz […] but as soon as I was inside, I couldn't think of anybody to call up. My brother D.B. was in Hollywood. My kid sister Phoebe […] was out. Then I thought of giving Jane Gallagher's mother a buzz […]. Then I thought of calling this girl […] Sally Hayes. […] I thought of calling […] Carl Luce. […] So I ended up not calling anybody. I came out of the booth, after about twenty minutes or so."  Okay, let us summarize.  Holden gets off the train in the Big Apple and immediately finds a phone booth and enters with intentions of calling someone up to hang out and chat.  He goes through a mental list of possibilities, but in the end calls no one.  So going into the phone booth, metaphorically, is Holden making an effort to connect with someone.  Those twenty minutes spent in the phone booth are his time spent with any said person trying to talk to them and trying to get them to talk to him.  Him leaving the phone booth before calling anyone is him inevitable ending his efforts all together with said person and ending up lonely and depressed, again.  He goes through this little ritual many a times through out the novel, wanting and needing someone to just be there and to care for him, but always tapping out early before he can forge any tangible relationship.  One of the causes of this conflict is most likely the death of his little brother, Allie, to leukemia three years earlier.  He doesn't seem to think very highly of his parents and most likely would not go to them to be consoled and it appears he never really found anyone to talk to at all.  It went down hill from there.  A gain of this conflict may be that he is a very independent person, for the most part.  On most days he doesn't need others to function.  A loss of this conflict is he badly wants others to function.  He has adapted himself and doesn't need them,which can be good to be independent, but it has also made him direly miss normal human interactions. He wants someone to listen to him sooo bad but has, over time, taught himself to tap out just before he can get anywhere. 



Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1991. Print.


Salinger, J. D. "Chapter 9." The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1991. 59. Print.