The hero in The Catcher in the Rye is the main character, Holden Caulfield. Holden is not much of a hero to anyone else but himself in this story. He does not help anyone or save anybody. He is focused only on himself. Because the story is all about him finding his way in life I think this is a good thing. If had been focusing all of his energy on other people his life would probably still be a mess. As for being a hero, he does not have many heroic traits. He is one of the most straight forward characters I have read about. He tries to be real at all times and thinks that everyone is a 'phony.' But at the same time he is very caring and loving towards his sister, Phoebe, and he does show real emotion about the loss of his brother, Allie. At other times he can be rude and crass but then switch to caring and sympathetic. When describing Holden it almost feels as though he is bi-polar, but then I remember that he is a teenage boy. If Holden was not the hero I think that Phoebe could be the closest thing to it. She shows Holden love and patience and he learns a lot from her. Heroes do not always have to be the most obvious character in the book and Phoebe could be an example of that.
That being said, Holden has a very unclear mind. He is never sure of what he wants to do and he can not get away from his own thoughts. School does not help him and the relationship with his parents is hard enough. If this book were based on a true story, I would have recommended that Holden see a therapist or a guidance counselor. I loved reading about the heroic journey that Holden went on to save himself.
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.
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