Catcher in the Rye, a novel written by J.D. Salinger, is centered around the thoughts of a 17 year old boy named Holden. Holden is in type of a psychiatric ward, which is not revealed until the very end of the book. Although Holden may be described by some as a "madman," he truly is not. He is a normal teenage boy who suffers from stress and anxiety. Oftentimes his conflicts with others and within himself are caused by his underlying low self confidence and constant self critisism.
             Holden is not ready for adulthood. School was suppoused to be preparing him for the real world. However, he flunked out of every prep school he attended. He was constantly agitated by those around him. He is driven crazy by phoniness. He seems to believe that everyone is phony. It seems that sometimes he judges people quickly. He is superficial in many of his judgements of people. I think this is a result of his feelings of inadequacy. He often refers to himself as a liar, a moron, and a madman. I think he is truly a good person. He is driven crazy by his surroundings, because he sees that there are many people who are, in fact, "phonies." He, himself, must resort to phoniness at times. He comments that although he hates the standard "Glad to've met you," sometimes "if you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff though." In his fight with Stradlater, he is fearful of his roomate's motives with his former friend, Jane. He does not want to think about her innocence being violated. He is very protective of children, such as his beloved sister Phoebe. Phoebe is one of the only people Holden does not constantly complain about. He sees her as pure and good. He sees children in general as good. ""God, I love it when a kid's nice and polite when you tighten their skate for them or something. Most kids are. They really are." This opinion is very different from the observations he shares regarding people in general. He wants to ke...