In The Catcher in the Rye, does Holden Caulfield like anything?

After Holden leaves Pencey, he sneaks into his home and has a serious conversation with his younger sister, Phoebe. Although Holden struggles to list things he genuinely likes, he tells his sister that he likes his deceased brother Allie. Even though Allie is dead, Holden finds his memory comforting and enjoyable. In addition to liking Allie, Holden also likes Phoebe. Since Phoebe is an innocent child, Holden can relate to her and appreciates Phoebe's sincerity and youthful personality. Holden also likes Jane Gallagher, who seems to be his only close friend. Throughout the novel, Holden contemplates calling Jane and having a genuine conversation with her but chooses to confide in callous, selfish individuals like Carl Luce.

Holden mentions that he likes the Museum of Natural History because it always stays the same and also enjoys playing games with his peers. Before Holden leaves Pencey, he recalls a happy memory of throwing the football around with Robert Tichener and Paul Campbell. Holden also enjoys reading and writing. He is an avid reader, he enjoys writing Stradlater's composition, and English is the only course he passes at Pencey.

In The Catcher in the Rye, does Holden Caulfield like anything?

Holden actually likes a lot of things; he just doesn't know to articulate them.  He knows, for example, that he likes his little sister Phoebe and his dead brother Allie.  The obvious reason he likes these two is that they are young and innocent.  Phoebe is still very much a child, even though she sometimes seems very grown up for her age, and Allie is forever young, because he died before he could be corrupted by society.  But it's also clear that Holden likes the rest of his family too, so much so that he doesn't want to see bad things happen to them.  

For example, when Holden's mom sent him skates for Christmas, he didn't return them or tell her they were the wrong kind of skates, because he felt bad.  He knew that the lack of communication between him and his parents was the cause of the problem.  He doesn't want to disappoint his parents.  He doesn't want to tell them his got kicked out of school (again), because he knows it will hurt them so much.  The same rings true of his older brother, DB.  Holden talks about what a wonderful writer his brother is, but he laments the fact that his brother is prostituting his talent in Hollywood writing for movies.  This shouldn't be read as an attack on DB, but rather as a reflection of Holden's idealism.  Holden is so often disappointed by people because he sees the potential of humankind, and then he sees people not live up to their potential.

 He likes Mr Spencer, or he never would have shown the respect to go to his home before he left Pencey.  He likes Mr Antolini or he wouldn't have felt so bad for running out of his apartment.  He likes the nuns or he wouldn't have given them so much money for their collection.  He likes Mrs. Morrow or he wouldn't have made up such an elaborate lie about her lousy son.  He very much likes Jane, which is why he refuses to go talk to her - his deepest fear is that society has corrupted her too.  

Holden is a good guy who sees the world as it COULD be, so it just seems as though he doesn't like people.  A kid who doesn't like people certainly wouldn't rub profanity off the walls in public places just so little kids didn't have to see it; he'd leave it there. 

In The Catcher in the Rye, does Holden Caulfield like anything?

Holden Caulfield, protagonist of J.D. Salinger's magnum opus The Catcher in the Rye, is 17 years old and alienated from almost everything. Famously, he harbors a pathological hatred of what he terms "Phonies," people who he believes to be deliberately adopting affectations, mannerisms, or beliefs in order to acquire respect and prestige. Because of his youth and family's wealth, he believes himself superior to normal people and therefore in a position to criticize everything he encounters. In the middle of the book, he returns to his family's home, where he meets up with his ten-year-old sister Phoebe. Although they connect, she is fed up with his constant complaining and refusal to enjoy anything in life, and she gives him an ultimatum:

"...You don't like any schools. You don't like a million things. You don't."
"I do! That's where you're wrong--that's exactly where you're wrong! Why the hell do you have to say that?" I said. Boy, was she depressing me.
"Because you don't," she said. "Name one thing."
"One thing? One thing I like?" I said. "Okay."
(Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, sleeplessinmumbai.files.wordpress.com)

However, he cannot think of anything he likes except for her and his deceased brother Allie. She continues to push him, and he finally comes out with this:

"...I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around--nobody big, I mean--except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff--I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be."
(Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, sleeplessinmumbai.files.wordpress.com)

Holden is so isolated from life and reality, and so committed to his nature of criticism and superiority, that he cannot enjoy anything in life, and the one dream that he can focus on is something strange and outlandish, something unlikely in reality.

What are the things Holden likes and dislikes in The Catcher in the Rye?

In chapter 22, when Holden sneaks into his sister Phoebe's bedroom in their Manhattan apartment after fleeing Pencey, she accuses him of not liking anything. He denies it, and she challenges him to come up with something he likes. The dialogue goes as follows:

"You don't like anything that's happening."

It made me even more depressed when she said that.

"Yes I do. Yes I do. Sure I do. Don't say that. Why the hell do you say that?"

"Because you don't. You don't like any schools. You don't like a million things. You don't."

"I do! That's where you're wrong—that's exactly where you're wrong! Why the hell do you have to say that?" I said. Boy, was she depressing me.

"Because you don't," she said. "Name one thing."

Holden thinks and thinks, telling the reader he has trouble concentrating, but when Phoebe presses him, he can only come up with liking Allie and liking where he is here and now, sitting with Phoebe. She dismisses both as not counting: Allie is dead, and being with her, she exclaims, "Isn't anything really!" She then asks him what he would like to be, and he tells her he would like to be the catcher in the rye, saving innocent children from running off the edge of a cliff. The passage goes as follows:

Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around—nobody big, I mean—except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be.

In a broader sense, however, we learn that Holden likes several things: he likes to write and is good at it, which we know because Stradlater asks him to write an essay for him and we witness Holden enjoying doing so. He likes literature, for example, genuinely enjoying a conversation about Romeo and Juliet. We also know he likes writing and literature because English is the only class he passes at Pencey. He likes children and people who he feels are genuine or have an innocence about them, like Jane. He dislikes people he feels are phonies, who are fixated on themselves and how they present themselves to others (Stradlater) and lacking in empathy, thus potentially destructive and predatory.

What are the things Holden likes and dislikes in The Catcher in the Rye?

Holden Caulfield is largely self-defined in The Catcher in the Rye according to his many likes and dislikes. His nervous state is expressed in his hyper-opinionated personality. There are many, many opinions put forth by Holden and some of these provide significant insight into the turmoil of his character. 

Early in the novel, Holden expresses his dislike for situations where he does not have a chance to get a real good-bye. Being kicked out of as many schools as he has, Holden is used to departure but he strongly prefers a formal end to things. 

"I don't care if it's a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know I'm leaving it."

We can connect this opinion to the death of Holden's younger brother Allie. 

Holden also says that he likes Jesus but dislikes the disciples. Jesus, in Holden's opinion, made all the sacrifices while the disciples did nothing until after Jesus' death. No one helped Jesus when he needed help and Holden holds that against the disciples.  

This set of opinions relates to Holden's fixation on integrity. Many of his likes and dislikes have to do with integrity, as he likes the people who demonstrate conviction and honesty despite the circumstances and dislikes those who change in beliefs and behavior according to the situation. His brohter D.B. is a nice example of the way Holden groups people into two categories based on integrity. 

When D.B. is writing his stories, he is alright in Holden's mind, but when he goes to Hollywood to write movies D.B. is a phony. 

What are the things Holden likes and dislikes in The Catcher in the Rye?

Holden loves anything connected to a sense of innocence, mainly children, and he dislikes anything that tries to rob people of their sense of innocence, mainly "phonies."  For example, in the last few chapters, Holden goes to meet Phoebe and he takes her to the park to ride the carousel.  While she rides, he watches her and is glad that she is taking a risk so that she can learn from her childhood experiences.  Holden appreciates the sense of innocence that Phoebe has, and this is why he likes being around her.  On the other hand, Holden hates people who steal the innocence away from others.  In Chapter 4, Holden learns that Jane is going on a date with Stradlater.  Holden hates Stradlater because Stradlater does not consider the feelings of others.  Holden has a crush on Jane, yet feels inadequate and does not tell her his true feelings.  He knows that Stradlater does not genuinely like Jane and that he is simply going to use her by going out with her.  So Holden likes anything that reminds him of childhood innocence and hates anything that tries to take that away.

Name 10 things that Holden hates in The Catcher in the Rye.

J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye follows the main character, Holden, on a weekend of unadulterated partying. Holden is a partial participant in life, but mostly an opinionated observer who writes down everything that he hates and likes about people or life. As far as what Holden hates, it's usually people who he thinks are not behaving down-to-earth. He calls people phonies who either think highly of themselves or who are social climbers--anyone who seeks their own glory rather than caring about those around them, basically. He also dislikes those who are unclean, when people annoy him, and things he doesn't quite understand.

Here's a list of a few things that Holden hates:

1. Slobs. Stradlater was a "secret slob"(27).

2. Pimple-popping people. Ackley was always "squeezing this big pimple on his chin. He didn't even use a handkerchief"(35).

3. Stradlater. "I didn't even answer him. God, how I hated him"(42).

4. Ackley's room. "I hardly ever went over to his room. It had a funny stink in it, because he was so crumby in his personal habits"(46).

5. Being lonely. "I just didn't want to hang around anymore. It made me too sad and lonesome"(51).

6. Ernest Morrow. ". . .I wouldn't visit that sonuvabitch Morrow for all the dough in the world"(58).

7. People who show off. "I hate a guy that does a lot of show-off tricky stuff on the dance floor"(71).

8. Being asked his age. "That annoyed me, for some reason"(72).

9. Feeling out of control with women and stupid women. "Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them!"(73).

10. Too much attention. ". . .if I were a piano player or an actor and all those dopes thought I was terrific, I'd hate it"(84).

Name 10 things that Holden likes in The Catcher in the Rye.

J.D. Salinger's main character, Holden, is certainly an interesting guy. The text is full of every opinion every imagined by him during his AWOL weekend. If, however, one had to list ten things that Holden liked, it would be one of the more difficult tasks because he seems to be disgusted with everything and everyone. Looking more closely, though, there might actually be ten things or people he does like.

Holden's likes:

1. The presence of girls. "I like to be somewhere at least where you can see a few girls around once in awhile. . ."(3).

2. Selma Thurmer (Headmaster's daughter) "What I liked about her, she didn't give you a lot of horse manure about how great her father was"(3).

3. The red hunting hat. "I swung the old peak  way around to the back--very corny, I'll admit, but I liked it that way"(18).

4.  Allie's mitt with poetry on it. "I wrote about my brother Allie's baseball mitt"(38). It represents his connection with his brother whom he loved.

5. Phoebe, his sister. "You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole life"(67).

6. Jane Gallagher--the one that got away and who he is always thinking about. "All of a sudden, on my way out to the lobby, I got old Jane Gallagher on the brain again"(76).

7. Joking around with girls and not joking around. "I think I really like it best when I can kid the pants off a girl when the opportunity arises, but it's a funny thing. The girls I like best are the ones I never feel much like kidding"(79).

8. Mr. Antolini--before he was caught watching Holden sleep. "Mr. Antolini was very nice. He said I could come right over if I wanted to"(174).

9. Sally Hayes--ex-girlfriend. "What I did do, I gave old Sally Hayes a buzz"(105). He takes her out and ends up yelling at her, but she's a good friend to him.

10. Discussing Beowulf and Romeo and Juliet with nuns at breakfast. "I said I enjoyed talking to them a lot, too"(112).