Catcher In The Rye And A Heartbreaking Genius

813 Words4 Pages
Similar to familial relationships and friendships, romantic relationships become equally compromised in “Catcher in the Rye” and “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”. Just as Holden constantly seeks out friendships, he pursues relations with female characters, hoping to find connections in the form of love. Holden’s sought after love interest manifests in the form of Jane Gallagher, a girl with whom Holden spent a summer in Maine. Holden discusses Jane constantly throughout his story and always claims he is going to contact her, yet for one reason or another, never goes through with it. There exists for Holden a level of self-awareness that becomes noticeable in his self-preservation. However, there lacks a sort of connection that…show more content…
On some level, Holden must recognize that if Jane will not reciprocate the fondness that he feels for her, his fragile mind would have a difficult time recovering from a disappointment that sizeable. Holden’s relationship with Jane suffers in the same way Holden’s relationship with Allie suffers, he idolizes her to the point where she appears as a shell of a real person and continues to live in Holden’s mind as an idyllic representation of femininity. Holden, on the other hand, also introduces his reader to Sally Hayes, whose relationship significantly differs from that with Jane. Where Holden exalts Jane, he barely tolerates Sally. Despite that Sally appears on page as a standard representation of a female adolescence, Holden chooses to describe her as he describes everyone else: phony. Yet despite this negative evaluation of Sally, Holden still says he wants to marry her. Holden says, “I didn't even like her much, and yet all of a sudden I felt like I was in love with her and wanted to marry her” (123). Holden barely tolerates Sally, yet is desperate enough to ask her to go away with him because that is how gravely he needs to feel loved. Furthermore, in Chapter 12, Holden solicits the company of a young prostitute, Sunny. However, he ultimately chooses not go through with the act, claiming he is “not in
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