Holden's Relationships in The Catcher in the Rye Essay Example

Do you think relationships help people gain communication skills?Holden's relationships teach him which qualities to avoid and how to communicate more effectively.There are examples throughout the entire book of character in the rye showing this.Throughout Catcher in the Rye, Holden's relationships with other people play an enormous role in the plot of the story.

One of the first interesting relationships that Holden has with another character is with his roommates, Stradlater and Ackley.Stradlater was in my mind was the handsome,and the popular kid, but Holden calls him a “secret slob,” this is because holden says he appears clean to everyone else but in reality all his toiletries are disgusting and he has terrible hygiene.Opposite of Stradlater there is holden's other roommate ackley,Ackley is very “well groomed” in holden's words and is well put together.During the time holden is with them you can tell he doesn't like to be around them.An example of this is when holden finds out Stradlater has a date with Jane and he said”All I know is I got up from bed, like I was going down to the can or something,and then I tried to sock him,with all my might,right smack in the toothbrush,so it would split his godam throat open(p.49)”.Most people don't ever have relationships with their roommates like that.

Another unique relationship Holden has is with his parents.You barely hear anyone talk about his parents throughout the entire book.This shows that Holden and his parents don't have a close relationship at all.A example of this is when holden sneaks into his house for money and talks to phoebe while he's there and when she finds out holden  got kicked out of school she said,”Daddy's going to kill you”.That quote shows that holden's parents do love him but dont or cant connect with him.

Even though holden's parents and roomates played a big role in the book his brothers DB and Allie was one of the greatest parts of the book to create Holden's character.The main details Holden gives us about DB is that he lives in hollywood and writes books and is in movies.This means that DB and Holden dont have a solid relationship as well because they never talk,it also shows this throughout the book because Holden never talks about DB.On the other hand Holden would talk about Allie through the entire book.Allie is Holden's other brother who died of leukemia.The night Allie died Holden slept in his garage and broke all the windows.He was unable to move on with Allie it shows this in the story too because he talks to Allie as if he was still there.An example of this is when Holden says,”Boy,I felt miserable.I felt so depressed,you can't imagine.What I did,I started talking,sort about loud to allie.I do it sometimes when I feel depressed(pg.110)”.That shows that Holdens best relationship was Allie in his life.

In conclusion, after reviewing all those relationship examples and noticing a pattern of Holden not having the best relationships do you think Holden's relationships helped him to become a better person and gain communication skills.I believe that throughout the book Catcher in the Rye it shows that Holden's relationships had a HUGE impact on him and shaped him into a better person to gain communication skills.