In Catcher in the Rye, novel by JD Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield has just been expelled from school because he almost failed all his classes. Some may consider Holden a failure since he was kicked out of school, but I believe he is not a failure and his expulsion was due to personal reasons. If you look up the definition of failure, you will find that failure is a lack of success. People can have different views of success. For Holden, he can define success as simply passing a class or two in school. Others view success as getting an A in every class, always doing your homework, and showing up to class every day. The view of failure and success varies from person to person. After failing all but one of Pencey Prep's classes, Holden was kicked out of school. Holden wasn't afraid of being expelled, he was just afraid of telling his parents. Being nervous about telling his parents about his expulsion shows that Holden cared enough to make his parents proud. By definition, Holden's parents and siblings were successful. Holden's poor academic performance was likely caused by the death of his brother Allie, who died of leukemia. Holden had not learned how to deal with this traumatic event which, in turn, caused him to fail classes. The article, “A New Focus on the Post; in Post-Traumatic Stress” by David Dobbs, talks about trauma as a whole and how some people react to it. Dobbs writes: “Both culturally and medically, we have long considered this to result from a single, identifiable disturbance. You witness or experience a life-altering event - and as the poet Walter de la Mare said, "the human brain works slowly: first the blow, hours after the bruise." Holden suffered trauma ex...... middle of paper...... being a failure. Holden passed a class, which shows that if Holden applied himself and cared about school, he would succeed. Holden has the support of his parents and family to help him succeed, but in the end, it's really up to him. Holden makes this more difficult at school and in social situations, as he cannot accept advice from others and does not trust anyone but himself to make decisions. If Holden were able to follow the advice of others and learn from his mistakes, he would be much more successful. Holden cannot be considered a failure at all. Yes, he was kicked out of school, but that was probably due to lingering grief over his brother's death. If Holden sets a goal and gets proper treatment to deal with his brother's death, he will be able to go to school and succeed if he applies himself..