Holden Caulfield, the main character of J.D Salinger's, The Catcher In the Rye does not exemplify the conduct of a code hero. Although Holden does in fact exhibit some resemblance of the code hero's personality, more often than not he displays quite the opposite. Holden is at a very young age during his time traveling the streets of New York City. At just sixteen years old, Holden is exposed to violence and sex in an unknown world. He is beaten up, depressed, and losing his sanity. Through all this, Holden pretends to act mature, but when serious events occur, Holden’s real personality comes through. He is shown to be very immature and doesn’t know how to handle his own emotions or decision making. Through acting like this, Holden ultimately…show more content… He experienced several traumatic events throughout his childhood, including the loss of his younger brother Allie to leukemia. The thoughts around his brother's death deeply affected him, ultimately leading him to a mental hospital. While Holden reminisces about visiting his brother's grave he states, “All the visitors could get in their cars and turn on their radios and all and then go someplace nice for dinner--everybody except Allie. I couldn't stand it. I know it's only his body and all that's in the cemetery, and his soul's in Heaven and all that crap, but I couldn't stand it anyway.” (Salinger 156). It is apparent that Holden can not handle death or serious events like a code hero must do in order to achieve their goals. Holden is extremely emotional and sentimental, going to great lengths regarding his past, the experiences he had as a child, and his general feelings towards the world. In a way, he is trapped in his own head, keeping him from his true potential. Holden himself wants to be a hero, but through his hatred of the world and difficulty coping, as well as his inability to handle many events, he simply can not do
