Holden Caulfield is clearly portrayed as an existentialist as illustrated through his lack of confidence, the distinct ways he isolates himself from the world, and his different personal beliefs.
While reading the book "Catcher in The Rye" one could not help but to notice the issue that seems to be the lack of confidence in Holden's life. Very early on in the book, Holden states a few facts that explain what seems to be a jealousy issue towards his brother D.B. "D.B is my brother. He just got a Jaguar⦠It cost him damn near four thousand bucks. He's got a lot of dough" (Salinger 1). Here, Holden is describing his brother's luxurious lifestyle and how he is able to afford an extravagant car; while Holden flunked four subjects and got expelled from his current school Pency Prep. Not only did Holden feel a struggle living in the shadow of his now famous brother, but his parents also did not make things better.
Also on the opening page, Holden very briefly brushes the topic of his "lousy childhood" (Salinger 1) and how his "parents were occupied and all before they had me" (Salinger 1). Holden always felt as if he was never commented on positively, that he never received and encouragement from his parents, but instead he was more looked down upon, while his siblings were constantly gaining confidence from his parents positive reinforcements. " I was only thirteen, and they were going to have my psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage" (Salinger 38-39) Instead of his parents recognizing the hard time Holden is having dealing with the loss of his brother Allie, they think he has a problem that needs to get dealt with. It was true; Holden...