Catcher in the Rye 2

Question two for Catcher in the Rye asks what are the causes gains and losses of the conflict dealt with in the book?

There are many side-conflicts going on in the Catcher in the Rye, but the main one would probably be him leaving his private school, Penecy. The many things that caused this to happen began with the fact that he was getting bad grades. He was failing everything except for English class. He is extremely uninterested towards school. If he is annoyed by the teachers or students or doesn't like the subject, he isn't going to try. He also didn't like most of the people there. They were all "phonies" in his eyes. He got in fights every now and again, both physical and verbal, and he was just fed up with everything.

This led to some major losses. One loss is this is another school that he has gotten kicked out of. It would be almost impossible if he wanted to continue his education. Also, his parents and family is going to very upset with him as well. On top of all this he's going to have to enroll into another new school which can be stressful and hard as well.

There were some physical losses mentioned in the book,  that did not deal with the conflict. One was the death of his brother. Holden’s brother, Allie, died from leukemia. Also, a boy from one of the schools he attended committed suicide. I think these two deaths made Holden sad and caused him to question why things happen.  

 
There are some gains from the conflict in this book.  First off Holden got to go back to New York a few days sooner. He got to discover himself a little bit better. His relationship with Phoebe has improved so much. They already loved each other, but a couple hearts to hearts changed their relationship and made grow even more. Another gain is that he isn't as depressed anymore. At the end of the book he was very happy during the carrousel part, again, because of Phoebe!

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Print.