Hero's Quest Archetype in Catcher in the Rye

Much like other stories, Catcher in the Rye has an archetype. Archetypes are patterns in stories and mythology that does is not limited to one culture or area of the world. There are many different types of archetypes but the one I will be talking about is the hero's quest archetype with Holden as our hero. Before we get to the story we need to determine what type of hero Holden is. I believe Holden is an unbalanced hero. Unbalanced heroes generally have some kind of emotional or mental loss. An example of this could be Hamlet as he was a depressed character. Holden is an unbalanced hero because he is obviously depressed and the way he treats other people could be seen as problematic and abnormal. In the beginning of the novel, he describes that he is in a place where he is taking a break. This place is a hospital where he is being treated for his depression. There is also a need to consider the type of quest the hero is going on. In Catcher in the Rye, the most likely journey is the quest for identity. Holden wants to fit into society and uses the experience of leaving Pencey Prep as the starting point.

Stage 1 Departure: The starting point of this quest is obviously when he leaves Pencey and takes the train to New York where he slowly matures and grows. Even though he was reluctant to leave Pencey because he had a few friends, he was forced to because he failed.
Stage 2 Initiation: His initiation could be the conversation he had with Ernest Morrow's mother. For most of the conversation, he was lying about how good of a student and person Ernest was. It is an instant jump from the less mature preparatory world that he knows to a "phony" world where flattery and deception are natural.
Stage 3 The road of trials: Although there are no supernatural trials or strength tests that Holden has to go through, most of the story is the "road of trials" that Holden goes through. From the prostitute in his room to the 3 women he meets in the hotel bar, even his date with Sally Hayes, all of this helped Holden grow and mature to become the person he is at the end of the story. Despite getting more and more depressed with the world after each experience, they ultimately prepare him for maturity and the end of his journey.
Stage 4 The innermost cave: The innermost cave can be the climax of the story. In the case of Catcher in the Rye, the innermost cave is when Phoebe asks if she can go with Holden when he leaves town. They get into an argument and it eventually leads to Holden taking Phoebe to the zoo where Phoebe rides the carousel. Holden changes after the carousel ride. He realizes that his whole view on life and growing up is wrong. This is displayed through the symbolism of the carousel and rings. Holden realizes that "The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them." (211) Holden changes mentally.

Stage 5 Reinstating back to society: In the last chapter of the book, Holden says, “I don’t know what I think about it. I’m sorry I told so many people about it. About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about…. Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” (214) After being changed by the experiences he’s had in his journey, he is ready to accept society and now realizes how immature he’s been. Holden even thinks he is going to start applying himself in school starting next September, a complete opposite to how he was at the beginning of the book. He also begins to regret all the things he said and did to people because he is now missing them. Overall, Holden is changed and matured due to the journey and quest he has had over the entirety of the book.

The entire journey as a whole covered a lot of content which can be reflected upon. The journey included many symbols and themes which contribute to the depth of the hero's quest archetype. The theme of isolation that Holden experiences further develops the quest for identity. Holden likely realizes his defense mechanism of pushing away people who try to help him and in his quest, this wall slowly breaks down until it is completely destroyed. The theme shows progress from the beginning to the end of the book. There is also the symbol of the red hunting hat that Holden bought in New York. He was very dependent on this hat for his comfort and security but in the end, he didn't feel like he needed it anymore. Holden was wearing the hat when the sudden rain pour happened at the zoo, "My hunting hat gave me quite a lot of protection, in a way, but I got soaked anyway." (213) The rain symbolizes his new mindset and even though the hunting hat blocked some of the rain for him, he is slowly changing his mindset and improving his personality.

How have the many experiences he’s had changed him specifically?

Holden’s many experiences during the book are all unique and change him in many ways. One example is the incident with the prostitute. When he calls the prostitute up to his room immaturely and impulsively, she gets upset which leads to him being beaten up by the elevator boy. This experience teaches Holden to be more mature with his decisions and to think them through properly.

Even though a hero is supposed to have comrades that they can trust, does Holden have any?

Holden’s so-called comrades are not normal for a hero. Normally, these people would be close to the hero and reflect some of the hero’s characteristics or contrast them which allows the hero to trust them. Holden’s comrades are often abused by Holden, but more than likely, abuses him, such as Stradlater who treated Holden as a lesser person. Despite all this, Holden still hangs out with them due to his nature of being someone who likes to please others. Therefore, Holden might not have comrades that would trust him or rely on him, but Holden does trust them as he feels that he has no other options.

This video if very good at illustrating the hero's journey archetype. It explains how the archetype was created and also why it is so effective at telling a story. Though Holden's journey may not include fighting monsters or getting a treasure, many of the stages in the hero's quest archetype can be symbolic to the experiences Holden has gone through.

Motifs in Catcher in the Rye

Before I even start to talk about the numerous motifs in Catcher in the Rye, what are motifs in the first place? They are a term that is constantly used in the literary world but often misunderstood. Motifs are, simply put, something that in repeated in the story, and holds some form of symbolism. They can be abstract or literal and can be anything that the reader will recognize. Motifs are especially important in literature because they are the author's way of imparting a symbol and theme to the reader. Motifs are also a creative way for readers to understand the story on a deeper level without the author having to literally state it in the story. Not only can we understand the story better with the use of motifs, in some cases, the characters themselves use motifs which we can interpret as part of their character. This allows us to understand the deeper part of the character that the author wants to display. Overall we study motifs because they are a unique and creative way to reach a deeper understanding of what the author is trying to tell us.

In Catcher in the Rye, motifs of loneliness are quite common. One of these examples is the date with Sally Hayes. On that date, he was having a good time with her and they went to Radio City Hall. While they were there, Holden gets the crazy idea of running away with Sally to some remote place where they can live away from society. Sally rejects and this leads to a fight where the conclusion is Holden being alone and lonely yet again. The motifs of loneliness display the themes of isolation. The example of Holden being rejected by Sally and feeling lonely is because of his isolation to prevent from being hurt. He says, "You give me a royal pain in the ass if you want to know the truth." (Salinger 133) He rebukes her because she had rejected him and instead of feeling the pain of rejection again, he instead decides to isolate himself from her by lying to himself that she is not someone he likes. That way he won't get hurt when he gets rejected on his crazy idea of running away.

There are also motifs of relationships/intimacy/sexual. Holden often encounters different relationships and people who he could become close with, such as Sunny. Sunny is a prostitute that Holden called up to his room in the hotel. He does this impulsively and when she arrives, instead of having sex, he just wants to talk to her. Holden is always seen talking about and imagining sex, however, even after a prostitute comes up to his room, he is too depressed to have sex. The author uses the motif of relationships/intimacy/sexual to once again light up the theme of isolation but also the theme of growing up. The act of Holden rejecting having sex with Sunny is him trying to protect himself from being hurt. He said in a conversation with Luce, "I can never get really sexy with a girl I don't like a lot." (148) He's afraid of having sex with Sunny and then coming to like her which would lead him to be hurt once again. It also lights up the theme of growing up because sex can be seen as a step into adulthood. He is afraid of growing up because it is confusing and Holden prefers things to be simple and unchanging. This is also reflected by his desire to become the catcher in the rye. He wants to save children who fall into adulthood and preserve their innocence.

Lying and deception could be called one of Holden's strong points. He is so good at lying that he himself would not be able to see through them. He lies to deceive both other people and himself for both good and bad reasons. He lies to other people in order to fit in or get people to like him and he lies to himself to protect his self-esteem and his sense of self. For example, he says, "I was sort of crying. I don't know why. I put my red hunting hat on and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, 'Sleep tight, ya morons!'" (52) Salinger uses the motif of lying and deception to show the theme of isolation and phoniness. Holden lies to himself to make it seem like he isn't getting hurt when people leave him or reject him. He even goes to such lengths of lying to himself about what people's characters are so that he wouldn't feel bad when he does rude things to them. Lying and deception are another way of describing phoniness. Holden says that everyone in the adult world is a phony when ironically he is the biggest phony in the story. He changes his personality to fit others and acts in certain ways to make people accept him and like him, like when he did Stradlater's composition in hopes of having Stradlater like him.

This photo represents Holden's aversion from growing up. The photo shows a caterpillar growing and changing into a butterfly and eventually flying away. This is something that Holden wish he could stop for kids. He believes that if children were able to fly away, they would become part of the phony adult society and lose the innocence that they had when they were kids.