Holden and His Problems

There are many times in the book where Holden thinks that he is a saint and all of the things that are happening to him are somebody's fault other than himself. Holden likes to view himself as perfect person however, in order to do that he must point out everyone's flaws to make himself look good and cover up all of his other mistakes that he has done in the past. He can't accept the fact that it is okay to be wrong every once in a while or to make mistakes because that is a part of growing up and being human. Because of this Holden can be very hard on himself and gets mad that he isn't as perfect as he would like to be.

In the beginning of the book Holden gets into a fight with his roommate Stradlater because he was talking down about this girl Holden likes and just being flat out disrespectful about her. Holden does the same thing and thinks so horrible things right along with it. He may not do it to that girl in particular but he does it to random people like the hooker he picked up.

Holden calls everyone around him a phony and cruel but he is the same way at times. He may not see it at times but he does it often. Holden doesn't like it when people aren't real around him but yet when he talks to his authorities He either acts like he cares and feeds them lies about his life or anything that they want to hear. He will also just be rude and brush them to the side like he is better than them even if he is younger than them. Holden treats people with disrespect but makes an attitude when they do it to him. As you read the book you find out that the more he sort of breaks down that the less he is able to handle it. However I do think that he starts to realize as time goes on that he is very hypocritical and not only hard on himself but also expects more out of others than really necessary.

Holden is a good person at heart overall but at the same time he can be very rude toward people. All people can be that way though. Everyone does judge one another and have bad days where they come across rude or disrespectful. It is about how you go about it though. You can spread roomers, go insane, fly off the wall on some random person at the store, or become isolated and try to end your life because you are having a hard time or you can keep your opinions to yourself, try to work it out with someone, or do what you can to handle things in an appropriate manner. Either way it must come from you and I believe that Holden is beginning to recognize that.