Authors often use death to show a revelation in another person's life. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger, Holden Caulfield has changed since the death of his brother. After the death of Holden Caulfield's brother Allie, Holden's education, personality and sociological position change for the worse. After Allie's death, Holden gives up his academic studies. Holden doesn't apply himself to his academics, even after receiving warnings about his academic performance: They kicked me out. I wasn't supposed to come back after the Christmas holidays because I was failing four subjects and I wasn't applying myself and everything. They often advised me to start applying myself, especially during midterms, when my parents came to an interview with old Thurmer, but I didn't. (4) Holden's callous personality and dissolute attitude make it difficult for Holden to make friends. Holden refuses to try to make friends and instead calls everyone fakes. Holden claims that his bad grades and lack of social life are due to the fakes that make up his school: You should go to an all-boys school sometime. Try it sometime, it's full of impostors, and all you do is study so you can learn enough to be smart enough to buy a damn Cadillac one day, and you have to keep pretending you care about football. the team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and alcohol and sex all day, and everyone sticks together in these dirty little damn cliques. (131) Holden's hindered view of the world makes it difficult for him to be happy. After Allie's death, Holden thinks that everyone is fake and that no one can be as innocent as Allie was. In Holden's mind, Allie was perfection: but it wasn't just that he was the most... middle of the card... hallucinating and going a little crazy. While walking down Fifth Avenue in New York City, Holden begins to have delusions. These disappointments serve as the main sign of the decline of Holden's sociological position. Proceeding with Allie's death, Holden changes his personality, social life, educational stance, and sociological stance. Holden becomes withdrawn and angry at the world, blaming everyone for being fake. The Catcher in the Rye, through the life and actions of Holden Caulfield, truly portrays the role that the death of a loved one can play in a person's life. Works Cited Bryan, James. The psychological structure of the young hunter in the rye. New York: Modern Language Association, 1974. Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951.Vanderbilt, Kermit. “Salem Press: The Young Catcher in the Rye.” July 1963. Salem Press. 02 April 2014.