Is holden caulfield gay

Holden Caulfield is gay because of the way he speaks about women, his interests, and his overall demeanor. Although J.D. Salinger never explicitly stated that Holden was homosexual, there are many clues throughout the book that suggest this to be true. Holden is not struggling with his sexuality since he is still able to have crushes on others. He only struggles to be intimate with people he doesn't trust, proving he needs an emotional connection to have sexual feelings.

He isn't gay or molested. The story is based on and titled after a poem "Comin thro the Rye" from the late s.

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The poem is about the questionability of having casual sex with strangers. When Holden rejects the prostitute it's because he's questioning having casual sex in reference to the poem. It has nothing to do with him being gay. Following this logic, it is understandable why Holden is so upset at the idea of the very sexual Stradlater making advances towards Jane, who may have been sexually abused by her father in the past.

Another interpretation of the novel is that Holden is a repressed homosexual. Holden Caulfield (identified as " Holden Morrisey Caulfield " in the story "Slight Rebellion Off Madison", and " Holden V. Caulfield " in The Catcher in the Rye) is a fictional character in the works of author J. D. Salinger.

After a span of some 40 years, I recently got around to rereading J. I came away from this novel with a very different interpretation of its meaning than when I first read it in English class, oh so long ago. The character of Holden Caulfield has been interpreted variously, primarily by most as a tale of teenage angst. He is angry, cynical, snarky, tearful, raging, full of sexual energy, confused, depressed, and crazy.

He is intelligent, but lies constantly. He alternates between moments of great tenderness and insight, and extremely provocative behavior. He is bothered by changes in his sixteen year-old body, desirous of women but suspicious of their motives, is outwardly homophobic, but fascinated by perverted behavior. It is from this outward appearance of Holden Caulfield that we think that this is a coming-of-age novel or teenage rebellion.

David marries the woman he should have married all along and lives happily ever after. Candide retires to his farm in America, a sadder, but wiser country gentleman. Holden Caulfield, on the other hand, winds up in what appears to be a mental hospital, his spirit subdued, perhaps due to the crude psychiatric treatments available in the s. Antolini, a friend of his parents and a former English teacher at Elkton Hills, one of three prep schools Holden attended, and the one he hates the most — Pency Prep and the Whooton School being the other two.

Prior to this point, which is near the end of the novel, Holden makes no mention of this teacher who had encouraged him in developing his obvious writing skills. It also turns out that Mr. It is refreshing to read about an adult character that Holden actually likes. But we are being set up by the author to place our trust in an evil man, just as Holden was misled by Antolini.

In chapter 24, though it is the middle of the night, Antolini invites Holden in and provides him with an understanding ear, some comforting life advice, and a place to sleep. Antolini, who is much older than her husband and seemingly in a marriage of convenience, makes them coffee and goes off to bed. Antolini prepares himself a series of strong alcoholic drinks and smokes several cigarettes.

Holden is asleep within minutes. Holden is startled and awakes only to find Mr. Antolini sitting on the floor beside him and touching him. Boy, it really scared hell out of me. What it was, it was Mr. What he was doing was, he was sitting on the floor right next to the couch, in the dark and all, and he was sort of petting me or patting me on the goddam head. Frightened by this obviously sexual advance, Holden immediately dresses and hurriedly leaves the apartment, while Antolini makes some feeble excuses for his behavior.

I was sweating, too. When something perverty like that happens, I start sweating like a bastard. Though he has a penchant for exaggerating his numbers, his claim that he has had multiple encounters with pedophiles throughout his childhood is a major alarm bell. Like many victims of child sexual assault, he start to doubt himself — perhaps he was wrong — wonders if he should return to the Antolini household, and blames himself for what just happened.

In Penn Station, he becomes unreasonably afraid to cross the street, has a bout of diarrhea, and collapses unconscious to the floor of a public bathroom. Rereading chapter 24, Mr. It becomes clear that Antolini is grooming Holden and, through innuendos, leading him into considering the homosexual lifestyle.