The Catcher In The Rye: The Perfect Bildungsroman

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usually ending in a `setting forth' on a journey alone, which is true of Holden's experiences in Catcher in the Rye. The narrator Holden Caulfield faces the loss of his younger brother Allie. This event leaves Holden in a state of depression: "I don't blame them. I really don't. I slept in the garage the night he died and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it" (Salinger 39). The loss of a family member is generally a difficult feat to deal with; often people can manage to accept the death of their loved one. While others can become angered pushing them into a destructive mindset. In Holden's case this is what has happened to him. The death of his brother Allie has filled him with anger and breaking the windows of his garage being the only relief. After Holden's loss he had never managed to form relationships with any of the other kids besides his relationship with Jane Gallagher. At school Holden was roommates with a boy named Stradlater. Holden had ...

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of awkwardness because he is still trying to talk to his late brother. Holden only seems to ever want run away from his problems: "All of the sudden, I decided what I'd really do, I'd get the hell out of Pencey-right that same night and all. I mean not wait till wednesday or anything" (Salinger 51). Holden continues the stages of a Bildungsroman by leaving his school and setting off on his journey to discover what the real world is truly like.
The second stage of a bildungsroman is when the protagonist is in the process of their journey alone and people they meet or events they experience challenge their previous ways of thinking. This stage is very important in the development of a ...

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