Some may say that the main character of J.D. Salingers novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, is merely the average teenager, although he seems to think about sex and women quite a lot for his age of sixteen. This point can be easily argued in many ways, one example being the time Holden called a perfect stranger, Faith Cavendish, to get together at an unruly time of night. Another example of the main characters perversion is when he hired a prostitute named Sunny, and never actually accomplished anything. One last example could be Caulfields overall impression and cockiness when it comes to sex and women. In conclusion Holden Caulfield is engrossed in sexual thought. The protagonists fixation with members of the opposite sex can first be argued when he phones a girl whos number he received from a guy he meet once at a party; he said that the girl was not exactly a whore or anything but didnt mind doing it once in a while. After Holden had spent a good amount of time trying to persuade her to meet him, because he was feeling pretty horny, the girl, Faith Cavendish, finally got him to register the answer of no into his brain.
At this point Faith asked the main character if he would like to meet for drinks the next day, but he declined, because the next day he may not be feeling horny anymore. Obviously, the main character was so determined to do something sexy that night he turned down a friendly invitation, which proves that Holden Caulfield is fascinated by sex and women. Over all because the protagonist called an unknown woman for sex, then refused her proposal for a get together the next day; Holden is obviously fixated with both sex and women. Second, another example of Holdens perversion is when he hires a prostitute named Sunny from the elevator man at his hotel. Although some may say that calling a stranger in the middle of the night, like Holden did with Faith, is normal, but hiring a prostitute when one is sixteen years old is far from average. After the prostitute, Sunny, arrived in Holdens room and had stripped off her dress Holden lied to her saying that he had an injured clavichord so that he could back out of doing the deed, instead of admitting that he didnt want to; this caused vexation from both Sunny and the elevator man (Sunnys pimp), Maurice, and resulted in Holden getting beat up by Maurice because he didnt pay the full price. While this may seem less unusual at the present time, in the mid-nineteen hundreds this behavior was completely unsuitable.
All in all, Holdens unruly behavior shows that he is obsessed with women and sex. A final example of Holdens fascination with sex and females is his over all attitude toward people. This can be supported when Holden runs into some nuns at a sandwich shop and they start talking about Romeo and Juliet, a timeless classic by a distinguished writer, and Caulfield starts to think, it was sort of embarrassingto be talking about Romeo and Juliet with her [the nuns]. I mean that play gets pretty sexy in some parts; this indicates that the main character couldnt even keep his thoughts away from sex, even when with nuns. Another case is when Holden is waiting for Sunny to come up to his room and he starts saying such things as Ive had quite a few opportunities to lose my virginity and all, which shows that he is obviously a little more then confident about his suavity. One last incident was when Caulfield was staying at his ex-teacher, Mr. Antolinis, house (which was very generous of Antolini), and when Holden was jolted awake because Antolini was patting his head and Holden immediately left Antolinis house, thinking that Antolini was being flitty and thinking to himself that I know more damn pervertsthan anybody youve ever met, and theyre always being perverty when Im around.
In conclusion, the central character is an abnormal youth because of his overall actions and feelings towards girls and sex. In retrospect, Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger may be the standard teenager however his unruly behavior for sixteen proves otherwise. This is evident for many reason, one of which being Caulfields bizarre conduct when he phones a complete stranger at an insane time of night hoping that she would come over and have sex with him. Also, Holdens sexually odd behavior can be further verified when he does an outrageously crazy thing for his age and time and hires a prostitute. In addition the main characters obsession with women and sex is evident by his distasteful behavior when it comes to the subject. Over all, what could be argued as normal for a minor is obviously not in the case of sixteen year old Holden Caulfield, the main character in J.D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye..