“Catcher in the Rye”: Not a Bildungsroman Essay

Bildungsroman a coming-of- era novel. Many critics and readers alike have argued that JD Salingers Catcher in the rye is a superb example of a bildungsroman. The novel is a narration by Holden Caulfield, a troubled and psychically unstable cardinal year-old that has just been expelled from his fourth prep school. Holden, who is undergoing treatment in a psychogenic institution, recounts the fib of his mental breakdown and the events leading up to it. He concludes the story with brief hints at his recovery. Though one assumes that Holden is receiving and responding to treatment, his location and tone atomic number 18 unchanged through pop the novel.If the protagonist has not matured since story began, how idler Catcher in the Rye be considered a bildungsroman?The novel opens with Holden incautiously tossing around the fact that he has been expelled from Pencey Prep (page 2). Though Holden has previously been kicked out of three other prestigious schools, he is completely apat hetic most the situation. He has no drive no concern or observation post for his future whatsoever. Even after everything that Holden experiences throughout Catcher in the Rye, his attitude is unchanged at the conclusion and what school Im supposed to go to future(a) fall, after I get out of here, but I dont discover like it. I really dont. That stuff doesnt interest me too ofttimes right now (page 213). That statement unequivocally proves that Holden has not matured at all.Contemptuous, bitter, judgmental take your pick. Each word describes Holden to a tee not just in the beginning, but throughout the entire narration. Holden is constantly judge everyone he comes into contact with. He speaks about Mr. Spencer (page 10), a professor at Pencey Prep, in the same patronizing tone that he describes a event psychoanalyst with (page 213). Though the events take place several months apart, Holdens attitude is consistent. He continues to have a cynical, patronizing, and overall pessi mistic outlook on battalion and life in general.If Holden is just as immature and mentally budding at the end of the novel as he was at the beginning, how butt one argue that he has come of age? Having a mental breakdown and needing treatment for said breakdown may very well up be considered a rite of passage. However, to be considered a coming of age story, Holden would need to be changed for the better because of hisrite of passage. One can distinctly tell from his consistency in tone, attitude, and maturity level (or lack thereof) that Holden has not changed in the least. Though many critics and readers alike have claimed Catcher in the Rye to be an excellent bildungsroman, there is certainly a substantial argument to be made against this claim.Catcher in the Rye By JD Salinger (1951)Pamela Hunt Steinle (2000). In Cold Fear The Catcher in the Rye Censorship Controversies and Postwar American Character. Ohio State University Press.