Victoria Horne

Ms. Smit
12 AP Lit & Comp.
October 31, 2014
Isolation Consuming Holdens Life;
a close reading of Salingers The Catcher in the Rye
Holden, the main character of The Catcher in the Rye, constantly struggles with isolation.
Some of Holdens struggles occur when he is kicked out of school and trying to hide it from
everyone. He tries to socialize with people and fit into other places but still pushes himself
away. This idea is clear in the passage on pages 95-96 where Holden is with the prostitute. J.D.
Salinger uses dialogue and literary devices to reveal his concept of isolation following Holden
everywhere he goes.
Salinger uses Holdens inability to communicate as a way to describe how he constantly
isolates himself. Holden avoids interacting with the prostitute by trying to hold a conversation.
`Do you work every night? I asked her-it sounded sort of awful, after Id said it(Salinger 96).
While still having a conversation, Holden doesnt realize at first that he should not ask something
like that. Holden is doing his best to communicate but is unable to truly connect with her. In
this way, Holden continues to isolate himself by his inability to communicate with others. Once
the prostitute tries to interact with Holden, Holden continues to push himself away, `The thing
is, I had an operation very recently.[Holden](96). Holden returns to his natural tendency of
lying in order to create a barrier between him and the prostitute. Even when Holden is
guaranteed an even somewhat social opportunity, he still tries to remove himself from it.
Salinger uses symbolism to convey Holdens struggle with isolation. Salinger describes
the prostitute as wearing a green dress, She was depressing. Her green dress hanging in the
closet and all(96). Green symbolizes greed and envy. The color of the dress is specified in
order to emphasize Holdens struggle with isolation through being greedy and envious. Since
Holden is constantly looking for ways to be social, having the prostitute over gives Holden a
social situation that he can use to not feel as alone. Holden is so desperate to be social that hell
take whatever he can get, like the prostitute. Although Holden thinks that working with any
social situation will help him, it just ends up making him feel more isolated and lonely. This is
parallel to when people are greedy for things like power or money, it just ends up hurting them
more in the end. Holden is also envious of people who can easily interact in social situations or
are able to be in many social situations. Since the prostitute is in many social situations, though
not ideal ones, Holden envies her and her ability to be social. This greed and envy consume
Holden and make him continue to feel isolated.
Through the use of literary devices and dialogue, J.D. Salinger illustrates his theme of
isolation. Although trying to hold conversation with the prostitute, Holden still manages to
isolate himself from her because he is unable to connect with her. Salinger uses literary devices
like symbolism to describe the isolation Holden constantly feels. The green dress symbolizes
greed and envy, which reflect Holdens greed for social situations and the envy he has for the
prostitute and her ability to be social.