Examples Of Maturity In Catcher In The Rye

Throughout the story Holden emphasizes his love for childhood innocence. In a passage he says “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the golden ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything.” (Salinger 211) This immediately points to his affinity for innocence and not having the limits of being and adult. The

In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden, cannot accept that he must move out of childhood and into adulthood. One of Holden’s most important major problems is his lack of maturity. Holden also has a negative perspective of life that makes things seem worse than they really are. In addition to Holden’s problems he is unable to accept the death of his brother at a young age. Holden’s immaturity, negative mentality, and inability to face reality hold him back from moving into adulthood.

When we grow up we’re raised to do our best and to be mature. People know their right from wrongs. Throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye by, J.D. Salinger the main character goes through a difficult life and time growing up. Growing up too fast is not the answer for everything. The main character Holden Caulfield is a misfit because he is very dramatic, he avoids facing things, and he shows reckless behavior.

The Catcher in the Rye is one of J. D. Salinger's world-famous books about the disgruntled youth. Holden Caulfield is the main character and he is a seventeen- year-old dropout who has just been kicked out of his fourth school. Navigating his way through the challenges of growing up, Holden separates the “phony” aspects of society, and the “phonies” themselves. Some of these “phony” people in his life are the headmaster whose friendliness depends on the wealth of the parents, and his roommate who scores with girls using sickly-sweet affection. This book deals with the complex issues of identity, belonging, connection, and alienation. Holden senses these feelings most of the time and is guilty about many things in

It takes many experiences in order for an immature child to become a responsible, well-rounded adult. In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger’s main character Holden Caulfield matures throughout the course of the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Holden is a juvenile young man. However, through his experiences, Holden is able to learn, and is finally able to become somewhat mature by the end of the novel. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield’s story represents a coming of age for all young adults.

There are certain qualities that define maturity, and they vary from person to person. Throughout the story, Holden Caulfield, the sixteen year old protagonist of “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger is slowly but surely becoming a mature, young boy. He battles through his teenage life because he is caught between two worlds; one of pure bliss and innocence, the other of a mature adult. As he aspires to be “the catcher in the rye”, he wants all children to hold on to their innocence as long as they can because he feels the world is full of “phony” adults. However with the help of some friends and family, he is able to realize that he cannot save all children and that they will eventually have to grow up. Jeannette Walls, the author and main character of the memoir, “A Glass

Another time that Holden cares about other people is when Stradlater is on a date with Jane the girl that Holden feels lover for her. Stradlater didn’t know how her name was pronounced and Holden said he was a moron(100) Holden wanted to protect Jane from getting hurt by Stradlater. Holden didn 't want to see her suffer since he really cares about her and he didn 't want just anyone to play around with her feelings. Holden wanted to keep her away from the bad and to not suffer the way she did when she was in her house and started crying because of her dad. Holden wants her happy and will do anything to make it happen. Holden has achieved the need of self actualization and he demonstrates it through his actions throughout the book.

From the start of the book, it is clear that Holden has a special love for Jane. In his many digressions about Jane, from the way she plays checkers to her dancing ability, to the countless times Holden wants to call Jane, it is evident that Holden has an obsession for Jane. Also, the fact that Jane was only one of three people that Holden had in his address book shows that Jane is an important part of his life.

The Catcher in the Rye is considered a classic, yet controversial novel which centers around a 16-year-old boy named Holden Caulfield. After being expelled from Pencey Prep due to his academic failure, Holden finds himself in situations that are caused by his gregarious behavior. Holden is a rather popular individual in literary fiction, and can be described as many things. But in my opinion, I believe Holden is a very ambivalent character, meaning that he has contradictory ideas about the people he socializes with and his environment.

A disparate situation is presented to readers in The Catcher in the Rye. Early in the novel, Holden expresses the reason for his difficulties in school as his being: “always surrounded by phonies.”(Salinger 13) Holden is correct; he is completely incapable of relating to his peers. However he takes no time to consider potential solutions to his problem. During his conversation with Mr. Spencer, Holden communicates that he deals with his troubles by simply quitting; putting minimal effort into academics and socialization. Since Holden never addresses his emotions directly, he fails to realize

J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is very much a story about a man who starts out quite judgemental and impulsive, but by the end of the book he has started to be more responsible all the way to where the story ends with him in his hospital bed, like it began. In the story the reader gets a close up view of the life of an upper middle class boy who has been kicked out of several schools already by the time the novel begins. This boy is Holden Caulfield, a troubled boy who seems to have a certain stigma against people who he deems to be “phony.” To begin with, Holden’s ability to be kicked out of school begins at the very start.

J.D. Salinger embodies immaturity in Holden's character in order to demonstrate his desire to hold onto his depleting adolescent years. Salinger demonstrates Holden's juvenile outlook as he incorporates other characters of similar age throughout the novel. These characters, when compared to Holden, help Salinger portray a clear difference between their maturities. This was apparent after Salinger had Holden shy away from engaging in sexual intercourse with a prostitute, "I don't feel very much like myself tonight...I'll pay you and all, but do you mind very much if we don't do it." His immaturity is clearly exposed as he fails at a task that other kids in his Pency Class, like Stradlater, had already completed.

Coming of age stories are an essential aspect of American Culture. Understanding and accepting one’s blossoming sexuality is considered an important aspect of growing up. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a novel that narrates the struggles of a troubled young man with coming of age given his situation and emotional instability. In the text, Holden, our narrator, has a tendency to portray most of the women he meets as shallow and superficial. This certain portrayal of women is one of the ways in which Holden’s fear of growing up is depicted in the novel. He is afraid of growing up and ultimately of his emerging sexuality and that is why he had grown to dismiss most women as beings without depth.

Throughout the novel, Salinger provided numerous clues indicating his message to the readers about his belief about the American society. One clue is when Holden mentions the phoniness in the adult world, he can’t help but judge a person based on his or her speech and appearance. For example, in the novel, Holden decided that he is not fond of a businessman, therefore, he states: “You should see old Ossenburger... He started off with about fifty corny jokes, just to show us what a regular guy he was…That killed me… He was telling us all about what a swell guy he was, what a hot shot and all. I can just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking Jesus to send him a few more stiffs” (Salinger 23). From this

Holden is a profoundly negative person, he is constantly judging other people, calling them ‘phonies’ and criticising them. For instance when he says “I was surrounded by phonies.” of his time at Elkton Hills. (CITR, 14) Throughout the novel, Holden repeatedly behaves immature and makes irresponsible and destructive decisions, even if he knows it is the wrong thing to